Contents
- Creative workforce employment statistics: artist labor force counts and long-term change
- Creative workforce employment statistics by occupation
- Creative workforce employment statistics: self-employment and employer type
- Creative workforce employment statistics across hiring industries
- Creative workforce employment statistics: hours, unemployment, and multiple jobs
- Sources
Creative workforce employment statistics: artist labor force counts and long-term change
The U.S. artist labor force numbered 2,806,000 in 2023, representing 1.6% of the total labor force. The definition includes people employed in an artist occupation and unemployed people seeking work in one. It therefore describes labor-force participation in artist occupations, rather than only people currently working. The count is based on the American Community Survey (ACS), which classifies artists by self-reported primary occupation. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.1, Who Are the Artists, pp. 2–3)
| Year | U.S. artists in the labor force |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 2,070,000 |
| 2019 | 2,519,000 |
| 2022 | 2,737,000 |
| 2023 | 2,806,000 |
The series shows growth across the reported observations. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) reports that the number of artists in the labor force increased 36% from 2010 to 2023. The years shown are specific observations, not a complete annual sequence, so they do not describe every year’s movement. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.1, p. 3, Figure A1-1; p. 2, Key Findings)
These counts use ACS data. The NEA’s separate labor-market report uses annual averages of monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) results and a civilian noninstitutionalized population. Because the surveys differ in coverage and methods, their counts should not be combined as if they were one continuous series. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.1, pp. 2–3; NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.5, What is the Labor Market Status of Artists and Other Cultural Workers?, p. 5)
Creative workforce employment statistics by occupation
Designers were the largest occupation shown in the 2023 artist labor-force figures, at 1,033,000. The chart’s occupation categories combine some related roles: for example, the designers figure is presented as “Designers,” while several other labels explicitly combine jobs. Fine artists includes fine artists, art directors, and animators; architects includes architects and landscape architects. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.1, p. 4, Figure A1-2 and note)
| Occupation category | Artists in the labor force, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Designers | 1,033,000 |
| Fine artists, art directors, and animators | 325,000 |
| Architects and landscape architects | 274,000 |
| Writers and authors | 269,000 |
| Producers and directors | 245,000 |
| Musicians, music directors, and composers | 230,000 |
| Photographers | 215,000 |
The counts show that the artist labor force includes large occupational groups beyond visual art and performance. Writers and authors, producers and directors, musicians and related roles, and photographers each accounted for hundreds of thousands of people in 2023. These are occupation-specific counts within the artist labor force, not counts of everyone who might do creative work in any job. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.1, p. 4, Figure A1-2 and note)
Smaller reported categories include announcers at 81,000, actors at 63,000, entertainers at 49,000, and dancers and choreographers at 22,000. These labels also reflect the NEA’s defined occupation groupings; the source notes that musicians includes music directors and composers, producers includes directors, and dancers includes choreographers. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.1, p. 4, Figure A1-2 and note)
Creative workforce employment statistics: self-employment and employer type
In 2023, 33% of U.S. artists were self-employed, compared with 10% of the total U.S. labor force. Self-employment is one worker classification in the ACS figures; it is distinct from working for a private, for-profit employer. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator C.3, How Many Artists and Other Cultural Workers are Employed in Arts Organizations and Businesses?, p. 3, Figure C3-1)
Private, for-profit companies or organizations were the reported employer type for 54% of artists in 2023, while the corresponding share for all workers was 66%. The comparison places the artist figure alongside the total labor force figure using the same source and year. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator C.3, p. 3, Figure C3-1)
Self-employment varied by occupation. In 2023, 58% of photographers and 56% of fine artists were self-employed. In the report’s classification, fine artists includes fine artists, art directors, and animators. For architects, designers, and producers, the self-employed share was 23% for each group. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator C.3, p. 3, “Artists by worker classification”)
The private, for-profit shares also differed across occupations. They were 71% for architects, 69% for designers, and 58% for producers. Among photographers, 36% worked for private, for-profit businesses or organizations; the figure was 39% for fine artists. These percentages describe worker classification by occupation in 2023 and do not by themselves identify why occupational patterns differ. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator C.3, p. 3, “Artists by worker classification”)
Creative workforce employment statistics across hiring industries
Industry figures classify artists in the labor force by industry. They are not limited to currently employed payroll positions: the artist labor-force definition also includes unemployed people seeking artist work. In 2023, independent artists, writers, and performers was the leading listed industry, with about 339,000 artists. That represented 12% of all 2,806,000 artists in the labor force. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator C.3, p. 7, Figure C3-4 and “Top industries employing artists”)
| Industry | Artists in the labor force, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Independent artists, writers, and performers | 339,000 |
| Specialized design services | 291,000 |
| Architectural and engineering services | 256,000 |
| Motion picture and video industries | 163,000 |
| Other professional services | 149,000 |
| Broadcasting and content providers | 110,000 |
| Advertising and public relations | 89,000 |
| Performing arts companies | 78,000 |
| Religious organizations | 75,000 |
| Colleges and universities | 73,000 |
Together, these 10 industries with the highest artist employment accounted for 58% of artists in the labor force in 2023. The list spans independent creative work, design, architecture and engineering, media production, broadcasting, advertising, performing arts, religious organizations, and higher education. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator C.3, p. 7, Figure C3-4 and “Top industries employing artists”; p. 8)
The independent artists, writers, and performers industry also had a high concentration of artist workers: artists made up 82% of workers in that industry in 2023. This is a different measure from the number of artists employed in the industry. The 82% figure describes the artist share of that industry’s workers, while 339,000 is the number of artists in the labor force classified in the industry. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator C.3, pp. 7–8)
Some industry labels cover related activities. Architectural and engineering services includes architectural, engineering, and related services; other professional services refers to other professional, scientific, and technical services except veterinary services. Advertising and public relations includes related services, while colleges and universities includes junior colleges, colleges, universities, and professional schools. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator C.3, p. 7, Figure C3-4 notes)
Creative workforce employment statistics: hours, unemployment, and multiple jobs
The CPS annual-average figures describe the civilian, noninstitutionalized artist labor force in 2023. In that population, 74% of artists worked full time, defined as usually working 35 or more hours per week. Another 12% usually worked 20–34 hours per week, 4% usually worked 10–19 hours, and 3% usually worked 1–9 hours. A further 3% reported that their hours varied. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.5, pp. 4–5, Figure A5-2 and note)
The reported hours categories describe usual hours across jobs, while the full-time definition uses a threshold of 35 or more hours per week. Occupation-level results show variation: 90% of architects and 89% of producers worked full time in 2023. Among performers, the share was 57%; the NEA’s performer grouping includes actors, announcers, dancers and choreographers, entertainers, and musicians, music directors, and composers. Photographers had a full-time share of 62%. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.5, pp. 3–5)
The 2023 artist unemployment rate was 3%. Its denominator is the artist labor force, which includes unemployed people seeking artist work as well as employed artists; it is not a percentage of employed artists alone. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.5, pp. 4–5, Figure A5-2)
Multiple jobholding was also present. In 2023, 9% of artists held a second job. The source reports 8% with a non-artist second job and less than 1% with an artist second job. The component figures retain their reported precision; the “less than 1%” value should not be read as zero. (NEA, Measuring the Arts: Indicator A.5, pp. 5–6, Figure A5-3)