Survey of Financial State of Visual Artists
“The Creative Independent is a resource of emotional and practical guidance for artists of all types. Our aim is to publish resources and produce programming that make it easier to thrive as a creative person.“
“In spring of 2018, [the author] conducted an anonymous survey for visual artists asking them to share how they were able or unable to achieve financial stability.”
By capturing the opinions and perspectives of 1,016 individuals, this report offers a snapshot of the financial state of visual artists today.
Experience in the art world
Most respondents had less experience in the art world, with 37% saying they’d only been active in the art world for 1-5 years. 29% said they'd been active in the art world for 5-10 years, and just 32% said they’d been a part of the art world for more than 10 years.
Artistic medium
Respondents were allowed to choose up to three primary formats/mediums that best described their artwork. The most popular format was 2D artwork (68%), followed by digital work (34%), 3D work (31%), and video (27%). The least-popular formats were design (18%) and performance art (16%).
Gender
Half of respondents identified as female, while 40% identified as male, and 5% identified as non-binary. The remaining 5% preferred not to say, or left the question blank.
Racial diversity
60% of respondents identified as white, followed by Asian (nearly 10%), Hispanic or Latino (8%), and Black or African American (4%). 18.5% of artists chose “other” or “prefer not to say."
Location
While three quarters of respondents came from the United States, people responded from 52 total countries around the world. After the US, the top-reporting countries were the UK (6%), Canada (4.5%), and France (3%).
Most respondents felt that being financially stable meant “reliably having enough money to cover basic expenses, plus reliably saving money.”
Analysis: What factors were shown to influence the median yearly income of $20-30K?
Gender:
Male-identifying respondents had a higher median yearly income of $30-40K, while female-identifying and non-binary identifying respondents shared the median yearly income of $20-30K.
Race:
Those who identified as “Asian” or “Middle Eastern” had a lower median income of $10-20K per year, versus the average of $20-30K per year. (Only those races with which 20 or more respondents identified were reviewed here)
Geographic Location:
Those who responded from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom had a lower median yearly income of $10-20K. Those who responded from the United States had a higher median yearly income of $30-40K. (Only those countries from which 20 or more artists responded were reviewed here)
Experience:
Those who reported that they’d been active in the art world for ten or more years made a higher median income of $30-40K.
Financial Stability Ranking:
Unsurprisingly, median yearly income increased as respondent’s financial stability ranking (how they’d rank their level of financial stability from 1-10) rose.
The data suggests that artists are not learning how to financially sustain themselves through school, internships, or any other official education programs.
Our survey found that artists were most likely to credit their relationships and support network as top factors contributing to their financial stability.
“Doing freelance/contract work”was by far the most popular choice (61% of all respondents listed this as one of their top three income sources).
“Having a job that’s unrelated to my practice” and “having a job that’s related to my practice” tied for second place (42% of all respondents listed this as one of their top three income sources).
"Having family support or inheritance" was listed by nearly 29% of respondents as one of their top-three sources of income.
Almost half of respondents said that just 0-10% of their income was generated through their art practice. Only 17% said they were making 75%–100% of their income through their artwork.
63% of survey respondents (635 artists) said they had attended art school and earned an MFA or other art-related degree. The below data reflects their responses—those who hadn’t earned an MFA or other art-related degree were asked to skip this section.
41% of survey respondents (418 artists) said they had received grants, fellowships, paid residencies, or support from other types of institutions.
Most respondents would strongly recommend applying for institutional support to other artists as a way to develop their work.
59% of survey respondents (597 artists) said they had created commissions for clients (either corporate, private, or other).
Overall, most artists feel somewhat positive about creating commissions as a way to work towards financial stability.
56% of survey respondents (569 artists) said they had made direct sales of their work to collectors, companies, or other types of buyers.
While most artists feel neutral about the impact of making direct sales on their overall financial stability and practice as a whole, the vast majority of respondents would recommend making direct sales to other artists.
Commentary:
It is helpful to see relatively current data. The trends are not surprising, other than Asian & Middle Eastern pay being lower than others. I would curious how many respondents had a level of education beyond High School, as well as how many be classified as self-employed.
While not directly applicable, the choice to go into unique fields of non-profits, certain service careers may be driven less by financial stability but the joy and pride in their work. I have know many artists who may teach by day and create in their own time. I have known some to apply their skills for whatever the client wanted—apart from creative license—but balanced by their personal creative expression; some may be graphic artists by day or some lower level creative rung—while having the time and energy to create on the side—waiting for their break to move up a rung.