National Endowment for the Arts

Artists in 

the Workforce

1990–2005

Executive Summary
America tends to see its artists as visionaries, rebels, outsiders, and eccentrics. These 

long-standing stereotypes have become mainstays of popular culture—perhaps 

because they are so entertaining. A troubled dreamer, a footloose bohemian, or 

a charming deadbeat can steal the scene from any workaday character. Presented from 

whatever perspective—adoring, puzzled, bemused, or even hostile—these stereotypes 

almost always portray artists as outsiders, fascinating creatures who somehow manage to 

survive on the margins of society. 

The purpose of the new NEA report, Artists in the Workforce, is to demonstrate—in 

cold, hard, unpoetic facts—that such caricatures misrepresent American artists and even 

contribute to their marginalization in society.

The time has come to insist on an obvious but overlooked fact—artists are workers. They 

make things and perform services, just like other workers, and these goods and services 

have value—not merely in lofty spiritual terms but also in dollars and cents. Without 

denying the higher purposes of the artistic vocation, this report shows that artists play an 

important role in America’s cultural vitality and economic prosperity. 

There are now almost two million Americans who describe their primary occupation as 

artist. Representing 1.4 percent of the U.S. labor force, artists constitute a sizeable class of 

workers—only slightly smaller than the total number of active-duty and reserve personnel 

in the U.S. military (2.2 million). Artists represent a larger group than the legal profession 

(lawyers, judges, and paralegals), medical doctors (physicians, surgeons, and dentists), or 

agricultural workers (farmers, ranchers, foresters, and fishers). 

The size of the artistic community gives the group enormous aggregate income—

approximately $70 billion annually. In terms of sheer numbers, artists represent a powerful 

labor force whose economic contributions go largely unrecognized by both the general 

public and the government.

Compared to other U.S. workers, American artists tend to be better educated and 

more entrepreneurial. Artists are twice as likely to have earned a college degree as other 

members of the U.S. labor force, though they receive relatively less financial compensation 

for their educational level. Artists are also 3.5 times more likely to be self-employed. 

American artists have learned to be creative not merely in their chosen fields but also in 

how they manage their lives. 

Artists in the Workforce also documents the maturation of American cultural life. The 

number of artists in the U.S. has remained constant as a percentage of the population for 

the past 15 years. Between 1970 and 1990 the number of artists doubled in the United 

States—reflecting the great expansion of theaters, galleries, orchestras, and presenting 

venues as well as the steady growth of both university programs and the entertainment 

Photo by Vance Jacobs
industry. In that heady climate, artists grew at nearly twice the rate of the overall labor 

force. As the current survey demonstrates, the number of artists is now growing at 

approximately the same rate as the total labor force. The stability of this measurement 

suggests the place of artists in the American workforce has achieved a point of equilibrium.

American artists continue to cluster in large metropolitan areas. The greater Los Angeles 

area is now the major employer of artists in the U.S., followed by New York, Chicago, 

Washington, and Boston. More than one-fifth of American artists live in those five areas, 

and artists and arts organizations play a major role in local economies. Not surprisingly, 

artists gravitate to areas where there are employment possibilities from cultural institutions 

and creative industries. 

Yet artists continue to spread across the country. The West and the South have 

experienced the greatest recent growth in artist populations—reflecting larger 

demographic and economic trends. Sunbelt cities dominate the list of metropolitan areas 

with the highest per capita concentration of artists. Nine of the top fifteen cities with 

the highest concentrations of artists are now in the Sunbelt: San Francisco, Santa Fe, Los 

Angeles, Boulder, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Nashville, Orlando, and San Luis Obispo.

While American artists are not unemployed, they remain conspicuously underemployed. 

One-third of artists work for only part of the year. Actors, dancers, choreographers, 

musicians, and other entertainers are especially vulnerable to seasonal unemployment. 

These statistics reveal a huge loss of cultural and creative expertise. Such widespread 

underemployment seems almost tragic in a nation whose public schools have increasingly 

eliminated arts education.

There is no way to understand the new American economy without recognizing the role 

of its two million creative workers. In the 21st century, entertainment is an American global 

industry. Design is an essential element of all consumer products and services. Writers, 

broadcasters, actors, animators, musicians, and producers create the programming that 

drives the new electronic media. In cities across the nation, performing arts centers occupy 

key civic positions of enormous economic impact, and the arts have become indispensable 

to local community identity. Communities have also discovered that attracting creative 

workers and industries bolsters their economies. 

From global exports to local investments, the new American economy depends on 

imagination, innovation, and creativity, and those are the skills that artists develop, nurture, 

and promote. Isn’t it time that the nation notices? 

Dana Gioia

Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts
This report uses United States census occupation data to analyze artists’ demographic 

and employment patterns. It represents the first comprehensive look at the nation’s 

working artists in the new century. The study also marks the first use of American 

Community Survey data to profile artist occupations. 

See www.nea.gov/research/ResearchReports_chrono.html to obtain the full report.

Key Findings

1. Nearly two million Americans 

are artists.

n 1.99 million Americans identified an artist 

occupation as their primary job. 

n The total excludes many people with secondary 

employment as artists––an estimated 300,000 

Americans. 

n Designers are the single largest group of artists, 

followed by performing artists such as actors, 

dancers, musicians, and announcers.

2. The number of artists has kept 

pace with the growth in the overall 

labor force.

n After doubling from 1970 to 1990, artists 

have begun to hold steady as a proportion of 

American workers (1.4 percent).

n Writers were among the fastest growing artist 

occupations from 1990 to 2005—growing at 

twice the rate of the total labor force.

Designers

39%

Performing artists

17%

Photographers

7%

Producers 

and directors

7%

Writers 

and authors

9%

Architects

10%

Fine artists, art directors,

and animators

11%

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

0

40,000,000

60,000,000

80,000,000

100,000,000

120,000,000

140,000,000

160,000,000

20,000,000

1970 1980 1990 2000 2005

Artists

Labor Force

Labor Force

Artists

Artist occupations, 2003–2005
3. Artists remain highly concentrated 

in urban areas.

n Half of all artists live in 30 metropolitan areas.

n More than one-fifth of all U.S. artists live 

in 5 major metropolitan areas: Los Angeles, 

New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, and 

Boston.

n But as a percentage of the labor force, artists 

cluster in a diverse array of towns and cities.

Musicians

1. Nashville, TN 0.65

2. Lawrence, KS 0.31

3. Los Angeles-Long Beach, 

CA (PMSA) 0.29

4. Bloomington, IN 0.29

5. New York, NY (PMSA) 0.27

6. Sarasota-Bradenton, FL 0.27

7. Hattiesburg, MS 0.26

8. Myrtle Beach, SC 0.25

9. Trenton, NJ (PMSA) 0.24

10. Punta Gorda, FL 0.24

Writers and authors 

1. Santa Fe, NM 0.41

2. San Francisco, CA 

 (PMSA) 0.39

3. Boulder-Longmont, CO 

(PMSA) 0.37

4. New York, NY (PMSA) 0.36

5. Bloomington, IN 0.36

6. State College, PA 0.32

7. Los Angeles-Long Beach, 

CA (PMSA) 0.32

8. Stamford-Norwalk, CT 

(PMSA) 0.31

9. Missoula, MT 0.30

10. Corvallis, OR 0.29

Total artists 

1. San Francisco, CA (PMSA)* 3.71

2. Santa Fe, NM 3.36

3. Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (PMSA) 3.26

4. New York, NY (PMSA) 3.12

5. Stamford-Norwalk, CT (PMSA) 3.01

6. Boulder-Longmont, CO (PMSA) 2.64

7. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA (PMSA) 2.37

8. Danbury, CT (PMSA) 2.28

9. Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, CA 2.25

10. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA (PMSA) 2.16

Actors

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, 

CA (PMSA) 0.34

2. New York, NY (PMSA) 0.17

3. Medford-Ashland, OR 0.13

4. Orlando, FL 0.08

5. Wilmington, NC 0.07

6. Ventura, CA (PMSA) 0.07

7. Jersey City, NJ (PMSA) 0.07

8. Stamford-Norwalk, CT 

(PMSA) 0.06

9. San Francisco, CA (PMSA) 0.05

10. Santa Barbara-Santa 

Maria-Lompoc, CA 0.05

Fine artists, art directors,

and animators

1. Santa Fe, NM 1.12

2. San Francisco, CA (PMSA) 0.55

3. Santa Rosa, CA (PMSA) 0.39

4. Los Angeles-Long Beach, 

CA (PMSA) 0.38

5. New York, NY (PMSA) 0.38

6. Barnstable-Yarmouth, 

 MA 0.37

7. Stamford-Norwalk, CT 

(PMSA) 0.37

8. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, 

 CA (PMSA) 0.37

9. Fort Collins-Loveland, CO 0.36

10. San Luis Obispo-Atas- 

 cadero-Paso Robles, CA 0.35

Selected artist occupations: Top 10 metropolitan areas ranked by percentage of artists in the labor force

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Special Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Tabulation.

*PMSA = Primary metropolitan statistical area, as defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget.

Top 10 metropolitan areas ranked by percentage 

of artists in the labor force
4. The artist population, like the labor 

force, is becoming more diverse.

n The percentage of non-Hispanic white artists 

dipped from 86 percent to 80 percent between 

1990 and 2005.

n In 2005, Hispanic, Asian, and NativeAmerican artists accounted for nearly 15 

percent of all artists—up 6 points from 1990.

n Over a 15-year period, the proportion of 

African-American artists has remained steady, 

at 5 percent. 

5. Artists are generally more educated 

than the workforce as a whole.

n Artists are twice as likely as the overall labor 

force to have graduated from college.

n The proportion of artists with degrees is 

rising—from 51 percent in 2000 to 55 percent 

in 2003-2005.

n Architects, writers, and producers show the 

highest education levels.

6. Artists are 3.5 times more 

likely than other workers to be 

self-employed.

n More than one in three artists is selfemployed, compared with less than 10 percent 

of the labor force.

n 40 percent of all musicians work in the nonprofit sector—far more than any other artist 

group.

7. Fewer artists have full-year, fulltime jobs than other workers.

n One-third of all artists work fewer than 

50 weeks a year.

n 28 percent of artists work for less than 

35 hours a week.

n Actors have the lowest level of full-year, fulltime employment—15 percent.

8. Artists generally earn less than 

workers with similar levels of 

education.

n Artists earn $6,000 less annually than other 

“professional” workers. 

n Dancers have the lowest median annual 

income—$15,000. 

9. Women remain underrepresented 

in several artist occupations.

n Four out of five architects and announcers, 

and almost two-thirds of musicians, producers, 

and photographers, are men.

n Yet three out of four dancers are women, as are 

more than half of all designers and writers.

Percentage with a 

bachelor’s degree or higher

Overall labor force 28%

All artists 55%

Percentage 

self-employed

Overall labor force 10%

All artists 35%

Percentage of full-year, 

full-time workers

Overall labor force 61%

All artists 55%
10. The West and South have seen the 

greatest growth in artists by state.

n The West was led by Nevada, Utah, Oregon, 

and Arizona. In these states, the artist 

population grew at 2.5 to 5 times the rate 

of that of the U.S. labor force (11.6 percent) 

from 1990 to 2000.

n Florida and Georgia led the South with a 

23 percent growth in artists—double the 

national average. 

n 29 percent of all artists now live in the West, 

and another 29 percent in the South. 

Selected artist occupations: Top 10 states ranked by number of artists per 10,000 people

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Special Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Tabulation.

Total artists 

1. New York 101.1

2. California 97.6

3. Massachusetts 91.0

4. Vermont 87.4

5. Colorado 85.4

6. Hawaii 84.1

7. Connecticut 84.0

8. Oregon 80.5

9. Washington 78.8

10. Nevada 77.9

Actors

1. California 5.3

2. New York 4.2

3. Nevada 1.3

4. New Jersey 1.1

5. Florida 1.0

6. Minnesota 0.9

7. Illinois 0.9

8. Utah 0.9

9. Oregon 0.9

10. Connecticut 0.9

Architects

1. Massachusetts 12.9

2. Colorado 12.7

3. Washington 11.7

4. Vermont 10.7

5. Hawaii 10.3

6. New York 9.3

7. Connecticut 9.1

8. Oregon 9.1

9. Maryland 9.0

10. California 8.5

Fine artists, art directors, 

and animators

1. New Mexico 18.1

2. Vermont 16.2

3. Hawaii 14.9

4. Montana 13.0

5. New York 12.6

6. California 12.4

7. Alaska 12.3

8. Maine 12.1

9. Oregon 11.4

10. Colorado 10.9

Dancers and 

choreographers

1. Nevada 6.9

2. Hawaii 4.7

3. Alaska 2.0

4. Arizona 1.5

5. Utah 1.4

6. Florida 1.4

7. New York 1.4

8. Nebraska 1.2

9. Texas 1.1

10. Oklahoma 1.1

Designers

1. Massachusetts 36.9

2. Connecticut 36.5

3. Rhode Island 36.2

4. New York 34.5

5. California 34.1

6. Michigan 32.8

7. Colorado 32.6

8. Minnesota 31.9

9. Oregon 31.6

10. Washington 31.4

Entertainers and 

performers

1. Nevada 8.9

2. Florida 3.4

3. Hawaii 2.9

4. California 2.0

5. Arizona 1.8

6. New York 1.5

7. Colorado 1.5

8. Tennessee 1.4

9. Texas 1.3

10. Vermont 1.3

Musicians

1. Tennessee 11.8

2. Hawaii 10.1

3. Nevada 8.9

4. New York 8.6

5. California 7.8

6. Florida 6.9

7. Massachusetts 6.9

8. New Jersey 6.8

9. Colorado 6.4

10. Minnesota 6.2

Writers and authors 

1. Vermont 11.3

2. New York 10.8

3. Massachusetts 9.8

4. California 9.0

5. Oregon 8.6

6. Connecticut 8.1

7. Colorado 8.1

8. Maine 7.9

9. Maryland 7.7

10. Montana 7.5

Top 10 states ranked by number of artists 

per 10,000 people
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