Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations

Broad Occupation

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2020 Workforce

2.62M

Average Age

40.2

Average Salary

$57,403

Average Male Salary

$65,160

Average Female Salary

$49,295

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 $57,403 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations by wage are Protective service occupations, Installation, maintenance, & repair occupations, and Life, physical, & social science occupations.

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations are part of the Education, legal, community service, arts, & media occupations, along with Community & Social Service Occupations, Legal Occupations, Education, Training, & Library Occupations, and Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations are LA City (East Central/Hollywood) PUMA, CA, LA City (Central/Pacific Palisades) PUMA, CA, and Greenpoint & Williamsburg PUMA, NY. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations are West Hollywood & Beverly Hills Cities PUMA, CA, LA City (Central/Pacific Palisades) PUMA, CA, and Park Slope, Carroll Gardens & Red Hook PUMA, NY.

Photo by David Barrie

Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations and on wages and locations 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. Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations are paid most in North Hempstead Town (North) PUMA, NY but are relatively concentrated in West Hollywood & Beverly Hills Cities PUMA, CA.

Yearly Wage

$57,403

AVERAGE SALARY

± $983

In 2020, Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations earned an average of $57,403, $1,449 more than than the average national salary of $55,954.

Life, physical, & social science occupations make somewhat more than Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations while Protective service occupations make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.48

WAGE GINI

In 2015, Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.48, which is higher than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations.

Most Common

The most common industries employing Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations, by number of employees, are Specialized design services, Motion pictures & video industries, Broadcasting (except internet), Amusement & Recreation, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, Independent artists, writers, and performers, Other professional, scientific & technical services , Advertising, public relations & related services, Religious organizations, Other schools & instruction and educational support services, and Architectural, engineering & related services.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations, by average wage, are Computer & peripheral equipment manufacturing, Petroleum refining, and Miscellaneous petroleum & coal products.

Industries by Share

2.62M

2020 Workforce

± 39,382

1.51%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 2.1%

The number of people employed as Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations has been growing at a rate of 1.51%, from 2,580,409 people in 2019 to 2,619,321 people in 2020.

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 6.56%, followed by Motion pictures & video industries with 5.94% and Broadcasting (except internet) with 5.54%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations in the US. The average age of male Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations in the workforce is 40.8 and of female Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations is 39.7, and the most common race/ethnicity for Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations is White (Non-Hispanic).

Composition by Sex

1.34M

MALE WORKFORCE

± 28,277

1.28M

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 27,664

51.1% of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations are Male, making them the more common sex in the occupation. This chart shows the sex breakdown of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations

White (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)
Black (Non-Hispanic)

71.8% of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 6.92% of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations, White (Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations.

Age by Sex

40.8

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 0.304

39.7

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 0.32

The median age of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations is 40.2, and Male employees are generally 1.04 years older than than their Female counterparts.

Education

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 a relatively high number of Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations hold a major in Communication Technologies.

Majors

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

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

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 Reading Comprehension. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations need more than the average amount of Persuasion, Coordination, and Negotiation.