The National Endowment for the Arts has released a new survey of artists working in the U.S. See where you fit in. Among the findings:
Demographic trends
- Between
1970 and 1990, the number of artists more than doubled, from 737,000 to
1.7 million – a much larger percentage gain than for the labor force as
a whole. Between 1990 and 2005, the growth of artists slowed to a 16
percent rate, about the same as for the overall labor force.
Geographic distribution
- Opportunities
for artistic employment are greater in metropolitan areas. More than
one-fifth of all U.S. artists live in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago,
Washington, and Boston. Half of all artists live in 30 metropolitan
areas. - Unique regional concentrations emerge. New
Mexico has the highest share of fine artists, Vermont has the highest
proportion of writers, and Tennessee, the highest proportion of
musicians.
Employment and income
- Artists are entrepreneurial – 3.5 times more likely to be self-employed.
Education level
- Artists are more educated. Artists are twice as likely to have a college degree as other U.S. workers.
2 thoughts on “A survey of artists”
As a person of dual citizenship: the republic of Vermont and New Mexico, I’m not surprised that both my homes are #1!
I am interested to see that they break out “fine artists.” I often feel funny self-describing myself as a “fine artist”.