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 $29.05 per hour and tracks 55,000 workers nationally.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates . Data covers 30 states and 50 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: $29.05/hr
Mean hourly wage: $58.29/hr
10th percentile: $16.50/hr
90th percentile: $143.68/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: 55,000
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

Maryland: $36.98/hr
Oregon: $29.81/hr
New York: $28.44/hr
Connecticut: $27.91/hr
Texas: $25.86/hr
Alabama: $24.71/hr
New Jersey: $24.29/hr
Mississippi: $23.71/hr

By hourly wage

Top-paying metros

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA: $65.27/hr
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA: $55.29/hr
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD: $37.10/hr
Charleston-North Charleston, SC: $31.90/hr
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT: $31.19/hr
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA: $28.97/hr
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ: $28.81/hr
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT: $28.53/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: 26,170

LQ 4.06
New York: 6,630

LQ 1.94
Florida: 6,400

LQ 1.82
Texas: 2,160

LQ 0.43
Georgia: 1,520

LQ 0.88
Illinois: 1,060

LQ 0.49
Pennsylvania: 890

LQ 0.41
Nevada: 790

LQ 1.45

By employment

Metros with the most jobs

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA: 24,800

LQ 11.18
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ: 5,430

LQ 1.62
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL: 4,240

LQ 8.49
Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV: 680

LQ 1.69
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA: 680

LQ 0.81
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN: 610

LQ 0.38
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA: 570

LQ 0.55
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH: 510

LQ 0.54

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.