Average Actors Salary in the United States

Actors are typically paid by the hour rather than on an annual salary. BLS reports a national median hourly wage of $23.33 per hour and tracks 38,800 workers nationally.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates . Data covers 33 states and 44 metro areas.

No annual salary published. BLS does not publish an annual wage estimate for Actors. This happens with occupations where most work is project-based, hourly, or on irregular schedules (think actors, athletes, musicians, dancers, and some fine art roles). Hourly wages are shown below where available.

National hourly wage

Hourly pay for actors across all workers captured in the latest BLS survey.

Median hourly wage: $23.33/hr
Mean hourly wage: $44.40/hr
10th percentile: $14.00/hr
90th percentile: $97.19/hr

Hourly rates for actors vary widely by project type, union status, and experience. These figures include both short-engagement and extended work.

National employment

Workers tracked nationally: 38,800
Jobs per 1,000 workers: N/A

Where actors earn the most per hour

BLS publishes hourly wage data for some locations but not others. Here are the locations with the highest reported median hourly wage.

By hourly wage

Top-paying states

Oklahoma: $39.00/hr
New York: $37.64/hr
Connecticut: $30.10/hr
Minnesota: $29.18/hr
South Carolina: $28.63/hr
Oregon: $24.96/hr
New Jersey: $23.79/hr
Arizona: $22.63/hr

By hourly wage

Top-paying metros

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA: $51.99/hr
Oklahoma City, OK: $38.99/hr
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT: $30.10/hr
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA: $29.58/hr
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI: $29.18/hr
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX: $24.35/hr
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: $24.09/hr
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ: $23.13/hr

Where actors work

Locations with the largest workforce for this occupation. The "concentration" number next to each area shows how common this job is locally compared to the rest of the country — anything above 1.00 means the area has a higher-than-average share of actors.

By employment

States with the most jobs

California: 6,640

LQ 1.46
New York: 6,460

LQ 2.69
Florida: 6,420

LQ 2.60
Illinois: 3,200

LQ 2.10
Georgia: 1,910

LQ 1.57
Texas: 1,230

LQ 0.35
Virginia: 1,130

LQ 1.11
Pennsylvania: 1,050

LQ 0.69

By employment

Metros with the most jobs

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ: 5,330

LQ 2.26
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL: 5,110

LQ 14.52
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA: 3,880

LQ 2.49
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN: 1,970

LQ 1.75
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA: 910

LQ 1.26
New Orleans-Metairie, LA: 670

LQ 6.06
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV: 660

LQ 0.85
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD: 550

LQ 0.76

Job outlook

BLS projects employment for actors from 2024 to 2034. Growth is below the US average of roughly 4% across all occupations. The field is relatively stable but not expanding quickly.

Projected growth: +0.3%; 200 net jobs over the projection period
Annual openings: 6,300; Includes growth plus replacements
Typical entry education: Some college, no degree

Related occupations

Other jobs in the same field. Some of these are also hourly or project-based occupations without a published annual salary.