Money · 1 of 5
What the wage survey says
Median
$55,490
Bottom tenth
$31,630
Top tenth
$144,210
Read this one carefully. These are the 2025 federal figures for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors and Illustrators: a median of $55,490 a year, with the bottom tenth earning $31,630 or less and the top tenth $144,210 or more. The survey also has a catch-all group, Artists and Related Workers, All Other, with a median of $71,240. Neither number counts self-employed artists or the people earning nothing from art this year.