Artist income statistics vary sharply by country, work status, occupation, and whether a measure includes all household income or only money earned from art practice. In the United States, 2023 median annual earnings were $70,170 for artists working full time and $20,380 for artists working part time. In England, a 2015 survey found median total income of £12,500 for visual artists, while median income from art practice was £2,000. Canadian census figures based on 2015 income put median individual income at C$20,000 for visual artists.
Contents
- U.S. artist income by work status
- U.S. earnings across artist occupations
- Education and U.S. artist earnings
- England: total income versus art-practice income
- How visual artists in England earn
- Canadian artist and visual artist income
U.S. artist income by work status
The National Endowment for the Arts reported that U.S. artists employed full time had median annual earnings of $70,170 in 2023. Artists employed part time had median annual earnings of $20,380 in the same year. These are earnings measures, not household-income measures. The NEA defines earnings as wage-and-salary income plus net self-employment income before deductions from all jobs. For this indicator, full time means at least 35 hours per week and 50 weeks per year; part time means less than 35 hours per week and/or less than 50 weeks per year.
The household figures show a different scale. The median annual household income for U.S. artists was $122,550 in 2023. For comparison, median annual household income was $107,020 for non-artist cultural workers and $111,940 for all U.S. workers. Household income can include the earnings of other people in the household, so it should not be read as the typical artist’s personal income.
The same NEA report recorded a rise in median annual earnings for U.S. actors employed full time, from $45,380 in 2019 to $60,610 in 2023. That comparison covers a four-year measurement span and applies specifically to actors working full time.
| U.S. measure | Median annual amount | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artists, full time | $70,170 | 2023 | NEA, Indicator A.7 |
| Artists, part time | $20,380 | 2023 | NEA, Indicator A.7 |
| Artists’ households | $122,550 | 2023 | NEA, Indicator A.7 |
| Non-artist cultural workers’ households | $107,020 | 2023 | NEA, Indicator A.7 |
| All U.S. workers’ households | $111,940 | 2023 | NEA, Indicator A.7 |
U.S. earnings across artist occupations
The U.S. artist category includes several occupations with very different working arrangements and earning levels. In 2023, architects and landscape architects had median full-time artist earnings of $99,630. Actors had median full-time earnings of $60,610. Fine artists, art directors, and animators had median full-time earnings of $54,990, followed closely by musicians, music directors, and composers at $53,910.
Photographers had median full-time earnings of $50,910, while dancers and choreographers had the lowest listed full-time median at $39,230. These figures describe full-time earnings and should not be treated as prices for individual artworks, commissions, performances, or exhibitions.
Part-time medians were lower in the occupations for which the dataset provides a part-time figure. Fine artists, art directors, and animators had median part-time earnings of $16,160 in 2023. Musicians, music directors, and composers had $16,200, photographers had $20,080, and dancers and choreographers had $18,700.
| Artist occupation or group | Full-time median | Part-time median | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architects and landscape architects | $99,630 | — | 2023 |
| Actors | $60,610 | — | 2023 |
| Fine artists, art directors, and animators | $54,990 | $16,160 | 2023 |
| Musicians, music directors, and composers | $53,910 | $16,200 | 2023 |
| Photographers | $50,910 | $20,080 | 2023 |
| Dancers and choreographers | $39,230 | $18,700 | 2023 |
All occupation figures in this section come from Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.7. The NEA’s fine-artist category specifically includes fine artists, art directors, and animators, so it is broader than studio-based fine art alone.
Education and U.S. artist earnings
Education-level comparisons show that artist earnings do not always move in the same direction as earnings for all workers with the same education. In 2023, full-time U.S. artists with less than a high-school education had median earnings of $46,030, compared with $38,720 for all similarly educated full-time workers. Artists with some college education had median earnings of $55,410, compared with $50,920 for all similarly educated workers.
Among full-time artists with an associate’s degree, median earnings were $61,110, compared with $56,040 for all workers with the same education level. Artists with a bachelor’s degree had median earnings of $73,160, compared with $76,380 for all similarly educated workers.
The highest artist education group had median earnings of $85,670 for a master’s degree or higher. That was above the $69,160 median for non-artist cultural workers with the same education, but below the $100,800 median for all similarly educated workers. The comparisons indicate why an artist-versus-worker comparison needs a clearly defined reference group.
The education figures are for full-time U.S. artists in 2023 and are reported by the National Endowment for the Arts. They are medians, so they describe the midpoint rather than an average and do not show the distribution of earnings within each education category.
England: total income versus art-practice income
England’s visual artist figures come from an Arts Council England survey covering 2015 income, with the report published in 2016. The survey distinguishes total income from income generated by art practice. That distinction is especially important: an artist can have income from employment or other sources while receiving relatively little directly from making and selling art.
The 2015 mean annual total income of surveyed visual artists was £16,150. The median annual total income was £12,500. Mean annual income from art practice was £6,020, while median annual art-practice income was £2,000. Art-practice income represented 16% of surveyed visual artists’ median total income.
The distribution was concentrated at lower levels. Sixty-nine percent of surveyed visual artists had total income of £20,000 or less in 2015. Two-thirds earned less than £5,000 from art practice in the previous year covered by the 2016 report, and only 7% earned more than £20,000 from art practice. Only 2% earned more than £50,000 per year from art practice.
The survey also recorded differences across groups. Female surveyed visual artists had mean total income of £14,800 in 2015, compared with £19,800 for male artists. Surveyed visual artists with disabilities had mean total income of £11,330, compared with £16,600 for non-disabled artists. Artists aged 40–49 had the highest mean art-practice income among the age groups, at £7,600.
These are survey estimates for visual artists in England from 2015, not current 2026 estimates. The relevant source is Incomes and livelihoods of visual artists.
How visual artists in England earn
The Arts Council England survey also shows the range of art-practice income sources. Private commissions were reported by 50% of surveyed visual artists in 2015, and private sales by 31%. Fewer than 5% reported earning exhibiting fees. Sales to dealers were reported by 12%.
Private sales became more common across the career stages measured in the survey. They were an income source for 37% of student visual artists, 44% of early-career visual artists, 54% of mid-career visual artists, and 65% of established visual artists in the 2015 survey.
Supplementary work was also widespread. Sixty-eight percent of surveyed visual artists had additional jobs in 2015, and one in five had three or more jobs. Among surveyed visual artists with additional jobs, 43% had only arts-related additional jobs, while 34% had only non-arts-related additional jobs. The remaining respondents in that subgroup were not described by either of those two categories in the supplied source figures.
Together, the measures describe an income structure in which commissions, sales, employment, and other work can coexist. They do not establish how much money each source contributed, because the percentages identify reported income sources rather than the value of income from each source.
Canadian artist and visual artist income
Statistics Canada figures summarized in the Canada Council for the Arts’ 2016 Census profile use 2015 income and Canadian dollars. For Canadian artists overall, median individual income was C$24,300, median employment income was C$17,300, and median household income was C$57,800.
The visual artist figures were lower on each of those median measures. Median individual income was C$20,000, median employment income was C$12,100, and median household income was C$46,900. The same profile reported average total individual income of C$31,700 for Canadian visual artists, average employment income of C$21,900, and average household income of C$61,100.
Employment income represented 69% of Canadian visual artists’ average individual income in the 2016 Census profile. The profile also reported that 57% of Canadian visual artists worked in arts, entertainment, and recreation industries.
| Canadian measure | Artists overall | Visual artists | Income reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median individual income | C$24,300 | C$20,000 | 2015 income |
| Median employment income | C$17,300 | C$12,100 | 2015 income |
| Median household income | C$57,800 | C$46,900 | 2015 income |
| Average total individual income | — | C$31,700 | 2015 income |
| Average employment income | — | C$21,900 | 2015 income |
| Average household income | — | C$61,100 | 2015 income |
The Canadian source is A Statistical Profile of Artists in Canada in 2016. Because the profile reports 2015 income from the 2016 Census, these figures should be read as historical benchmarks rather than current Canadian income estimates.