Acting

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Total Degrees​
Awarded in 2022
1,686
declining 5.97%
Median In-State​
Public Tuition
$8,947
growing 13.8%
Median Out-of-State​
Private Tuition
$40,420
growing 5.35%
Average Wage
$70,742
growing 8.97%
People in Workforce
2.28M
growing 3.24%
Average Employee Age
41.2
growing 0.215%

About

In 2022, the locations with the highest concentration of Acting degree recipients are New York, NY, Burbank, CA, and Los Angeles, CA. In 2022, the locations with a relatively high number of Acting degree recipients are Burbank, CA, Berea, OH, and Evansville, IN. The most common degree awarded to students studying Acting is a bachelors degree.

Institutions

Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Acting and the types of students that study this field. New York Film Academy awards the most degrees in Acting in the US, but American Academy of Dramatic Arts-New York and American Academy of Dramatic Arts-Los Angeles have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Acting.

Tuition costs for Acting majors are, on average, $8,947 for in-state public colleges, and $40,420 for out of state private colleges.

The most common sector, by number of institutions, that offers Acting programs are Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above institutions (76 total). The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded, is Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above (839 completions).

Institutions

Institution with the Most Degrees Awarded in Acting (2022)
  1. 160 degrees awarded
  2. 99 degrees awarded
  3. 98 degrees awarded

The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded in Acting, is Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above (839 completions in 2022).

The following chart shows the share of universities that offer Acting programs, by the total number of completions, colored and grouped by their sector.

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Tuition Costs for Common Institutions

$8,947
Median In-State Public
$40,420
Median Out of State Private

New York Film Academy has the most Acting degree recipients, with 160 degrees awarded in 2022.

The following bar chart shows the state tuition for the top 5 institutions with the most degrees awarded in Acting.

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Specialized Colleges

Out of all institutions that offer Acting programs and have at least 5 graduates in those programs, American Academy of Dramatic Arts-New York has the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Acting, with 100%.

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Degrees Awarded by County

Counties with the Most Degrees Awarded in Acting
  1. 377 degrees awarded
  2. 332 degrees awarded
  3. 109 degrees awarded

This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest number of degrees awarded in Acting by year.

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Growth in Awarded Degrees

Counties with the Fastest Growing Number of Degrees Awarded
  1. 400%
  2. 300%
  3. 133%

This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest growth in degrees awarded for Acting.

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Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Visual & Performing Arts graduates and on wages and locations for those in the field.

The average salary for Visual & Performing Arts majors is $70,742 and the most common occupations are Graphic designers, Elementary & middle school teachers, and Other managers.

The industry that employs the most Visual & Performing Arts majors is Elementary & secondary schools, though the highest paying industry, by average wage, is Internet publishing, broadcasting & web search portals.

Yearly Income for Common Jobs

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.
$70,742
Average Wage in Workforce
± $1,232
8.97%
1 Year Growth
± 2.27%

The average salary for Visual & Performing Arts majors is $70,742 and the most common occupations are Graphic designers, Elementary & middle school teachers, and Other managers.

This chart shows the average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Visual & Performing Arts majors.

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Highest Paying Locations

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.

This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States colored by the average salary of Visual & Performing Arts majors.

Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Visual & Performing Arts majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.

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Most Common

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.

The most common occupations Visual & Performing Arts majors, by number of employees, are Graphic designers, Elementary & middle school teachers, and Other managers.

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Most Specialized

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.

Compared to other majors, there are an unusually high number of Visual & Performing Arts majors working as Graphic designers, Commercial and industrial designers, and Interior designers.

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Highest Paid

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.

The highest paid occupations by median income for Visual & Performing Arts majors are Physicians, Surgeons, and Magnetic resonance imaging technologists.

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Occupations by Share

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.
2.28M
2022 Workforce
± 36,762
3.24%
1 Year Growth
± 2.23%

The number of Visual & Performing Arts graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 3.24%, from 2.2M in 2021 to 2.28M in 2022.

The largest single share of Visual & Performing Arts graduates go on to work as Graphic designers (4.71%). This chart shows the various jobs filled by those with a major in Visual & Performing Arts by share of the total number of graduates.

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Most Common

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.
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Highest Paid

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.
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Industries by Share

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.
2.28M
2022 Workforce
± 36,762
3.24%
1 Year Growth
± 2.23%

The number of Visual & Performing Arts graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 3.24%, from 2.2M in 2021 to 2.28M in 2022.

The industry which employs the most Visual & Performing Arts graduates by share is Elementary & secondary schools, followed by Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges. This visualization shows the industries that hire those who major in Visual & Performing Arts.

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Specialty Locations

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.

This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States where there are a relatively high population of Visual & Performing Arts majors.

Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Visual & Performing Arts majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.

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Diversity

Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Visual & Performing Arts in the United States.

The average age of a person in the workforce with a degree in Visual & Performing Arts is 41.2.

The most common degree type these workers hold is a Bachelors Degree. Female employees are more likely to hold Visual & Performing Arts degrees, and White students are the most common race/ethnicty group awarded degrees in Visual & Performing Arts (866 students).

Workforce Age

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.
41.2
Average Age in 2022
± 0.211 Years
0.215%
1 Year Change
± 0.73%

This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Visual & Performing Arts. The most common ages of employees with this major are 30 and 29 years old, which represent 3.4% and 3.31% of the population, respectively.

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Degrees Awarded

The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Acting are Bachelors Degree, Associates Degree, and Masters Degree.

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Workforce Degrees

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.

The most common degree types held by the working population in Visual & Performing Arts are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Professional degree.

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Sex Imbalance for Common Institutions

Female (59.4%)
Most Common Sex with a Degree in this Field

This chart shows the granted degrees by sex at the 5 institutions that graduate the most students in Acting.

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Race & Ethnicity by Degrees Awarded

Most Common Race or Ethnicity
  1. White
    866 degrees awarded
  2. Black or African American
    220 degrees awarded
  3. Hispanic or Latino
    215 degrees awarded

This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Acting for each race & ethnicity. White students earned the largest share of the degrees with this major.

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Race & Ethnicity by Sex

Most Common Race/Ethnicity and Sex Combination
  1. White Female
    389 degrees awarded
  2. White Male
    243 degrees awarded
  3. Black or African American Female
    76 degrees awarded

This chart illustrates the differences by sex for each race & ethnicity of Bachelors Degree recipients in Acting.

White Female students, who earn most of the degrees in this field, are the most common combination of race/ethnicity and sex.

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Global Diversity

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Acting is from the 2 Digit Course Visual & Performing Arts.
Most Common Countries of Origin
  1. Korea
    27,165 degree recipients
  2. Mexico
    21,333 degree recipients
  3. China
    16,314 degree recipients
High Relative Number of Students
  1. Korea
    4.63 times more than expected
  2. Iceland
    4 times more than expected
  3. Northern Ireland
    3.99 times more than expected

There are a relatively high number of people that were born in Korea that hold Visual & Performing Arts degrees (4.63 times more than expected), and the most common country of origin by total numbers for non-US students earning a degree in this field is Korea (27,165 degree recipients).

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Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Acting field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Acting majors need many skills, but most especially Speaking. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Acting majors need more than the average amount of Installation, Repairing, and Management of Material Resources.

These two visualizations, one a radial chart and one a bar chart, show the same information, a rating of how necessary the following skills are for Acting majors. Toggle between "value" and "RCA" to see the absolute rating of that skill (value) and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA), or how much greater or lesser that skill's rating is than the average. The longer the bar or the closer the line comes to the circumference of the circle, the more important that skill is. The importance of Installation is very distinctive for majors, but the Speaking, Instructing, and Reading Comprehension are the three most important skills for people in the field.

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Bar Chart

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