Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations

Broad Occupation

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2021 Workforce

2.65M

Average Age

40.5

Average Salary

$60,696

Average Male Salary

$68,588

Average Female Salary

$52,451

About

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations are most often employed by the Specialized design services industry. The average yearly wage for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations was $60,696 in 2021.

The locations that employ the most Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations are LA City (East Central/Hollywood) PUMA, CA, Greenpoint & Williamsburg PUMA, NY, and LA City (Central/Pacific Palisades) PUMA, CA. The locations with a relatively high concentration of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations are LA City (Central/Pacific Palisades) PUMA, CA, West Hollywood & Beverly Hills Cities PUMA, CA, and LA City (East Central/Hollywood) PUMA, CA.

Photo by David Barrie

Management, business, science, & arts occupations Education, legal, community service, arts, & media occupations

Employment

Employment and salary information for the Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations workforce. Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations workforce in 2021 was 2,652,669 people, of which 48.9% were women and 51.1% were men. Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations are paid most in North Hempstead Town (North) PUMA, NY but are relatively concentrated in LA City (Central/Pacific Palisades) PUMA, CA.

Employment Over Time

Metric

Grouping

1,355,401

Male Workforce

± 28.5k

1,297,268

Female Workforce

± 27.8k

The Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations workforce in 2021 was 2,652,669 people (48.9% women and 51.1% men). This implies an average annual growth of 18.5% between 2014 (2,237,823) and 2021 (2,652,669).

Employment by Location

Level

Metric

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by average wage for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations.

During 2021, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were District of Columbia ($94,678), California ($79,645), and New York ($77,713).

Yearly Wage Ranking

$60,696

AVERAGE WAGE

#8 in the ranking (2021)

$59,596

NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE

For all occupations across the US

In 2021, Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations earned an average of $60,696, $1,101 more than the average national salary of $59,596

The graph shows the ranking of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations in relation to all Broad Occupation in 2021.

Wage Distribution

Gender

0.476

WAGE GINI

In 2021, Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.476, which is lower than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Industry

Information on the industries that employ Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations and on wages for those in the field. Specialized design services is the industry that employs the most Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations, by average wage, is Computer & peripheral equipment manufacturing ($134,532).

Occupations by Industries

Metric

Value

2.65M

2021 Workforce

± 39,631

1.27%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 2.09%

This graphic shows the share of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations employed by various industries. Specialized design services employs the largest share of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations at 36.1%, followed by Motion pictures & video industries with 34.3% and Broadcasting (except internet) with 29.6%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations in the US. The workforce of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations in 2021 was 2,652,669 people, with 48.9% woman, and 51.1% men. The average age of male Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations in the workforce is 41.1 and of female Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations is 39.8, and the most common race/ethnicity for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations is White.

Gender and Age

Metric

The workforce of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations in 2021 was 2,652,669 people, with 48.9% woman, and 51.1% men.

The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 25 to 29 years (384,470 people), 30 to 34 years (367,057 people), and 35 to 39 years (313,401 people). Among them they concentrated 40.2% of the total workforce.

Ethnicity

Gender

In 2021, 11.9% of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations workers were Hispanic and 88.1% non-Hispanic.

The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (74.3%), Puerto Rican (16.1)%, and Cuban (9.55)%

You can review this information by gender using the selectors above.

Races

In 2021, 77% of the Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations workforce were White, of which 49.2% were women and 50.8% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black (7.09%) and Asian (6.37%).

Education & Skills

Data on higher education choices for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations is Visual & Performing Arts but the most specialized major according to RCA in 2021 were Communication Technologies.

Among the necessary skills for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations, Active Listening stands, but the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations need more than the average amount of Persuasion.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

Type of Majors

Degree

The most common majors achieved by Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations in 2021 (counting all academic degrees) were Visual & Performing Arts (416,423 people), Communications (272,170 people), and Business (157,725 people).

You can review this information for different academic grades by modifying the option selected in the selector above.

Education Levels

Metric

The main educational levels achieved by the Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations workers were Bachelors Degree (1,217,786 people), Some college (461,054 people), and Graduate Degree (425,329 people).

The graphic shows the Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations workforce by gender and educational level.

Skills

Chart

Value

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations need many skills, but most especially Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking.