How Much Money Can An Artist Make?
How much does an artist make in a year? It depends on what kind of artist you are and where you live.
For example an artists salary within an industry such as video game design can average between 50 to 60k a year. That is if you manage to land a job with a company like Ubisoft.
Yet this industry does not capture the whole picture. Visual artists such as painters and sculptors will often find their field more challenging.
This is where I would like to place my focus midway through this article. I wish to see where we are by comparison thus we need a snapshot view of the broader employment market.
Before you jump for joy at what you may see below, take note of what these highest paying jobs entail. Often it does not include what we wish to do in art and you need to be willing to get an education.
Many are technically based. It will take a moment to get down to where us old fashioned regular artists reside in the world.
Income For Artist By Employment Sectors
The numbers I use below are a more focused breakdown from an employment site.
A broader understanding can be had from government numbers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and also a more in depth document from arts.gov add insight.
If you manage to land a job with the Federal Government within the visual arts your annual salary can be just below 50k a year on the low end. The higher end of the spectrum places someone at just below 80k a year.
By comparison the hourly rates when broken down fall between $22 and $37 dollars per hour.
That doesn’t sound too bad for many people. Yet these jobs still often include those of digital means such as graphic design and audio visual positions. If you have technical abilities in fields such as these you can do well within many sectors.
State government is often less than the Federal budget. Here you can begin at around 33k a year while the upper end is closer to 57k dollars per year. To break this down to hourly rates it will fall between 15 and 27 dollars per hour respectively.
Again here many jobs are technically based. After all it takes technology to keep the machine running and money flowing. This trend will continue.
Local governments have a wide range and the numbers are not a real picture by demographic. What city you live in really matters to its size.
Small town USA will be very different from say New York or Atlanta. Yet salary’s range from 33k to 70k dollars on average with an hourly breakdown between $15 to $37 per hour.
The private sector is where most of us will reside in employment or being independent. Here as well the numbers are a bit skewed by region and city.
Yet on average the annual salary ranges between 19k to 88k dollars per year. Hourly this breaks down between $9 and $42 dollars per hour. Again many of these better paying jobs are more technical.
Artist Salary Can Depend On Where You Live
The lowest wage earning states are South Carolina at $26 thousand per year, Mississippi at $31 thousand per year, and Georgia at $32 thousand per year.
Generally speaking the southern and Midwest states are the lowest in the spectrum. Yet this is offset by cost of living also being considerably lower by comparison to higher wage earning states.
The highest wage earning states are those such as Delaware at $133 thousand a year, California at $68 thousand a year, and Michigan at $61 thousand a year. Yet these locations also have a much higher cost of living which should be considered when compared.
Another consideration is rural vs city living. Cities will offer more opportunities for employment at the better wages. Obviously commuting to your job from a rural area is possible.
How Much Money Can Traditional Visual Artists Make?
For fine artists of the traditional breed there are jobs which play a role in some of the above positions. They can be more difficult to come by yet they are there. You may not be doing what you initially envisioned within art but it will pay.
So here you are left with a choice. Either you can adapt to these more professional roles, continue your education to fulfill them well, or go out on your own. There really is no other path one can follow between these two options.
If you choose to go on your own you still are left with choices. Either you find a niche where you can freelance your way doing work for companies like the above positions, or you can focus on your work.
Along the way you can supplement income by doing work as an illustrator for books, comics, fantasy and fan art.
I would suggest to focus on something that actually furthers your name and professional status as an artist. Fan art is not the best way to achieve this. Yet it has been a popular go to for many who are younger artists.
Let me just say this. If you refuse to go get an education it will be a difficult life. Hacking away at it on your own know it will not be easy.
That kind of life is no joke. If you are determined to march to the beat of your own drum then you need to be willing to give it your all. This has been the story of my life.
Unfortunately not everyone will make it. In fact far too many will fail. It requires a level of determination and dedication that one simply cannot grasp within their mind.
There is no doubt that it is easier to get the education and make a life for oneself rather than follow this uncharted path.
What Income Can Freelance Or Independent Artists Expect?
At the beginning you have no salary. Expect to support yourself by some other means. You will need to build your name, brand, and reputation from somewhere.
These first steps are important for future trending of the direction you wish to take. You have to create some kind of initial product to get the dollars rolling. Many artists freelance their way through this.
Some find they enjoy freelance work and stick with it. The annual income for a freelance artist averages at around 53k. It is not a bad living, but difficult to create.
By learning some basic graphic design you can work in ad design. This is something which can be done for people locally. Thinking outside of the box to use these skills and make it affordable is key.
The initial revenue which you generate will often fall well under 20k a year. In fact for many they struggle their first year in creating a few thousand dollars.
Whatever you do never allow yourself to take a net loss. This will end you before you begin.
An established artist who has cultivated their work, brand, and name can essentially set their limit on income wherever they like. Understand I say this within the limit of reason. It is possible to reach ranges of 60k to 100k+ a year.
Those that reach this point are few in number when independent. So this may leave you asking where the median range is for artists of this nature? If we were to take the number of those who go at it on their own in traditional arts the vast majority reside somewhere between 10k to 30k dollars per year.
In this range nearly 2/3 of them reside in the bottom 1/3 of this income bracket. The unfortunate part is that these artists are the more successful ones. Keep in mind this is for traditional art like paintings, sculpting, pottery, glass work, and so on.
How To Achieve Higher Income In Traditional Arts
I have written on this in pieces across time. The topic is simply too big to cover in one article and no single answer applies to everyone.
There is one common thread between all the possible applicable answers though. It takes tenacity and never giving up.
Beyond this a method or vehicle is needed aside from the roar of the battle cry to be successful. What is this method or vehicle? It is a means by which you use to be seen, known, and seed your marketing.
How you achieve this is as different as there are personalities within the world. Much will be determined by who you are and the personality you have.
How do you like to approach people? Are you technically inclined? Do you mind face to face sales and promotion? Are you one to want people to approach you instead?
There are methods and vehicles for each of these different personality types. Face to face sales with a magnetic personality can take someone far. Yet it does require a lot of energy and time spent in doing this.
For people to come to you word of mouth is essential. Also if technically inclined a web presence with an online art gallery is critical. This requires a LOT of patience and work, yet tools like WordPress can create galleries with ease.
There is a wide spectrum of mixed methods. They can include shows, events, galleries, and social media to build branding but not marketing. There are a few things you need to know up front before going down this path.
Things You Need To Know In Charting Your Path
If you really want to be known for your art and do what you love to do, it is a lifetime endeavor. This is not going to come together in a few short years. It is most likely something you will do until the day you die.
If you love what you do then it is easier. It is not a path for someone who is unsure, mixed in emotions to the end, or questions if they are good enough.
I hate saying that but it is true. You can only reach a level of success which matches your character, personal growth, and development.
This requires confidence, a reservoir of strength, and the will to push on when everyone else quits. In a world where it is survival of the fittest the weak do not survive. You will encounter jealousy and even hate from other contemporaries. There will be those who will try to hold you back.
I am reminded of a story from Etsy where one artist had a competitor try to remove them from the platform. They claimed copyright infringement which was not true.
There are many problems with commercial vendors. Competition is high over a small pool of resources.
Rarely will people genuinely help you. There are those out there who will help that are good people. Yet they are few in number.
Typically the world is about what it can get from you rather than give to you. Expect to never have help or aid.
Do not depend on those around you such as family or friends, especially within your attempts to market, sell, or cultivate a following. I say this only because our path is completely alien to them. We artists barely understand it.
Essentially you are alone. That is not bad. Yet you will rise or fall based upon your efforts and the heart you put into yourself. Accept what hep you can get from the art community, and in turn help them if you can.
If you can face these challenges then you have a chance. Being an independent artist is not for everyone.
It is in fact among the hardest of professions to make it in within the world.
The Reason Most Artists Never Succeed
There are several elements at play here. Clearly not everyone can be a success story. Some will rise while many more will fall. This is life in anything not just the art world.
Too many focus on the income and money. You can see this harsh reality in the art community. If all you focus on is generating income, it will be a very long road.
Yet there are reasons why many artists fail that are unique to our world alone. I will be the first to admit, and I can say this without prejudice for I am an artist, we are really odd people.
Artists are stubborn, often of a single vision, sometimes unteachable, and either have huge ego’s or not enough ego.
We exist on the extreme polar ends of personalities. Either we are overconfident, or we are never good enough, too often we are our greatest hindrance.
To succeed these issues must be worked out. Personal growth is required, it is not an option. Success is not an accident.