Visual & Performing Arts
Contains Stem Majors
Add ComparisonIn 2024, the locations with the highest concentration of Visual & Performing Arts degree recipients are New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, and Boston, MA. In 2024, the locations with a relatively high number of Visual & Performing Arts degree recipients are Carlsbad, CA, Newport Beach, CA, and Bloomfield Hills, MI. The most common degree awarded to students studying Visual & Performing Arts is a bachelors degree.
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Visual & Performing Arts and the types of students that study this field. Full Sail University awards the most degrees in Visual & Performing Arts in the US, but American Musical and Dramatic Academy and Manhattan School of Music have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts.
Tuition costs for Visual & Performing Arts majors are, on average, $7,616 for in-state public colleges, and $41,130 for out of state private colleges.
The most common sector, by number of institutions, that offers Visual & Performing Arts programs are Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above institutions (879 total). The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded, is Public, 4-year or above (75,243 completions).
The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts, is Public, 4-year or above (75,243 completions in 2024).
The following chart shows the share of universities that offer Visual & Performing Arts programs, by the total number of completions, colored and grouped by their sector.
Full Sail University has the most Visual & Performing Arts degree recipients, with 2,710 degrees awarded in 2024.
The following bar chart shows the state tuition for the top 5 institutions with the most degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts.
Out of all institutions that offer Visual & Performing Arts programs and have at least 5 graduates in those programs, American Musical and Dramatic Academy has the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts, with 100%.
This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest number of degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts by year.
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 $76,381 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.
The average salary for Visual & Performing Arts majors is $76,381 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.
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.
The most common occupations for Visual & Performing Arts majors, by number of employees, are Graphic designers, Elementary & middle school teachers, and Other managers.
Compared to other majors, there are an unusually high number of Visual & Performing Arts majors working as Artists & related workers, Designers, and Musicians, singers, & related workers.
The highest paid occupations by median income for Visual & Performing Arts majors are Pumping station operators, Surgeons, and Physicians.
The number of Visual & Performing Arts graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 3.34%, from 2.36M in 2023 to 2.44M in 2024.
The largest single share of Visual & Performing Arts graduates go on to work as Graphic designers (4.42%). This chart shows the various jobs filled by those with a major in Visual & Performing Arts by share of the total number of graduates.
The most common industries that employ Visual & Performing Arts majors, by number of employees, are Elementary & secondary schools, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, and Computer Systems Design.
The highest paying industries of Visual & Performing Arts majors, by average wage, are Internet publishing, broadcasting & web search portals, Petroleum refining, and Software publishers.
The number of Visual & Performing Arts graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 3.34%, from 2.36M in 2023 to 2.44M in 2024.
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.
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.
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 41.4.
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 (77,350 students).
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 32 and 33 years old, which represent 3.33% and 3.22% of the population, respectively.
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Visual & Performing Arts are Bachelors Degree, Associates Degree, and Masters Degree.
The most common degree types held by the working population in Visual & Performing Arts are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Professional degree.
This chart shows the granted degrees by sex at the 5 institutions that graduate the most students in Visual & Performing Arts.
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts for each race & ethnicity.
In 2024, White students earned the largest share of the degrees with this major.
This chart illustrates the differences by sex for each race & ethnicity of Bachelors Degree recipients in Visual & Performing Arts.
White Female students, who earn most of the degrees in this field, are the most common combination of race/ethnicity and sex.
There are a relatively high number of people that were born in Korea that hold Visual & Performing Arts degrees (4.47 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 (28,018 degree recipients).
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Visual & Performing Arts field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Visual & Performing Arts majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Visual & Performing Arts majors need more than the average amount of Equipment Maintenance, Repairing, and Equipment Selection.
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 Visual & Performing Arts 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 Equipment Maintenance is very distinctive for majors, but the Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, and Active Listening are the three most important skills for people in the field.