A survey of artists

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.

Comments

[liza]

As a person of dual citizenship: the republic of Vermont and New Mexico, I'm not surprised that both my homes are #1!

[Casey Klahn]

I am interested to see that they break out "fine artists." I often feel funny self-describing myself as a "fine artist".