Independent artists, writers, and performers

Industry Group

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Workforce Population

172k

2024

Average Employee Age

43.3

2024

Estimated Job Growth

−1.61%

10-Year Projection

Average Salary

$64,887

2024

Average Male Salary

$72,768

2024

Average Female Salary

$54,775

2024

About

The top three occupations in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group are artists & related workers, writers & authors, and musicians and singers. On average, full-time employees in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group work 44.5 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $85,559. Part-time employees in the same industry work 19.3 hours and earn an average annual salary of $31,594.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group are Los Angeles County (Central)--LA City (Central) PUMA, CA, Los Angeles County (Central)--Burbank City PUMA, CA, and Los Angeles County (Central)--LA City (East Central & Hollywood) PUMA, CA.

The workforce of Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group in 2024 was 172,376 people, with 43.8% woman, and 56.2% men.

In 2024, 70.8% of the workforce in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group was White (122,033 people), of which 44.1% were women and 55.9% men.

Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services

Employment & Salaries

A snapshot of workforce, wages, and opportunities in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group.

The workforce in Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group was 172,376 people and is concentrated in California (38,386 workers). The average annual salary was $64,887, being $4,990 less than the national average salary, which was $69,878.

Monthly Employment

Start Year

Y-Axis

11%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 20.1k people employed in the Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers industry. This represents a 11% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

This chart shows monthly employment numbers for Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

Employment by Location

The states that concentrated the largest workforce in 2024 were California (38.4k), New York (20.1k), and Florida (11.6k).

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by workforce for Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group.

Yearly Wage Ranking

In 2024, Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group had an average annual wage of $64,887, $4,990 less than the average national salary of $69,878.

The graph shows the position of Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group in the ranking of industries by average annual wage.

Wage Distribution

0.582

WAGE GINI

Independent artists, writers, and performers has a wage GINI of 0.582, which is more than than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Independent artists, writers, and performers (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group workers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Occupations

A review of jobs and wages in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group.

Artists & related workers are the most common position with 38,959 workers, but the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group employs a relatively high number of Writers & authors and Musicians and singers.

The highest average salary in Independent artists, writers, and performers goes to Public relations specialists.

Occupations Distribution

The graph shows the distribution of employees in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group according to occupations. In 2024, the occupations that concentrated the largest number of employees in this industry were artists & related workers (38,959 people), writers & authors (29,509 people), and musicians and singers (23,113 people)

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$72,768

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$8,684

$54,775

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$7,566

On average, Male workers in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group make 1.33 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group.

Business

Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries.

The industrial flow illustrates the intermediate inputs and the use of outputs of the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group.

The Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry.

California and New York stand out as the states with the largest number of establishments in the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group.

Industrial Flow

The closest comparable data for Independent artists, writers, and performers is from Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services.

Professional and business services has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group is Educational services, health care, and social assistance.

In this flow diagram, all of the industries listed to the left are those places from which the highlighted industry has made purchases. They are the intermediate inputs to the highlighted industry. All those industries listed on the right side are those industries that have made purchases from the highlighted industry. They are the use of outputs of the highlighted industry. The visualizations below offer alternative ways to see and understand this data.

Intermediate Inputs

The closest comparable data for Independent artists, writers, and performers is from Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services.

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

Professional and business services
Manufacturing
Finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing

The Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.

Use of Output by Other Industries

The closest comparable data for Independent artists, writers, and performers is from Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services.

LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY

The Educational services, health care, and social assistance Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.

Establishments

States with more establishments in 2022

California
18,678
New York
4,499
Florida
1,939

The charts shows the distribution of establishments in the Independent artists, writers, and performers industry by states and the number of establishments according to size.

Diversity

Demographic information on the Independent artists, writers, and performers Industry Group in the US.

Of the total workforce, 43.8% corresponds to women and 56.2% men. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $72,768 and $54,775.

79.6% of workers have a bachelors degree, graduate degree or some college.

Gender and Age

75,498

Women

43.8%

96,878

Men

56.2%

The workforce of Independent artists, writers, and performers industry in 2024 was 172,376 people, with 43.8% woman, and 56.2% men.

The visualization shows the distribution of the workforce by gender and age in Independent artists, writers, and performers industry.

Races

In 2024, 70.8% of the workforce in the Independent artists, writers, and performers industry was White (122,033 people), of which 44.1% were women and 55.9% men.

Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Two or More Races and Black.

Educational Levels

The main educational levels achieved by the Independent artists, writers, and performers workers in 2024 were bachelors degree (72,690 people), graduate degree (32,453 people), and some college (32,037 people).

The chart shows the Independent artists, writers, and performers workforce by gender and educational level.

Projections

Growth projections of the Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers industry, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow −1.61% in the next ten years. The Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers industry has a lower projected workforce growth at −1.61%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (27.2%) is lower than the projected national growth in output (27.2%).

Job Growth

−1.61%

Estimated Job Growth

10-year Projection

−1.61%

National Growth

10-year Projection

This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers. This industry is expected to grow approximately the same than −1.61%, the average rate of national job growth.