Visual & Performing Arts

Contains Stem Majors

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Total Degrees​
Awarded in 2016

150,490

declining 5.54%

Median In-State​
Public Tuition

$6,904

growing 4.04%

Median Out-of-State​
Private Tuition

$33,200

growing 3.9%

Average Wage

$57,092

growing 1.36%

People in Workforce

2.04M

growing 2.1%

Average Employee Age

40.8

growing 0.397%

About

Institutions

Employment

Diversity

Skills

About

The locations with the highest concentration of Visual & Performing Arts degree recipients are New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, and Chicago, IL. The locations with a relatively high number of Visual & Performing Arts degree recipients are Blue Lake, CA, West Haven-Sylvan, OR, and Newport Beach, CA. The most common degree awarded to students studying Visual & Performing Arts is a bachelors degree.

Photo by Joe deSousa

Institutions

Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Visual & Performing Arts and the types of students that study this field. Full Sail University awards the most degrees in Visual & Performing Arts in the US, but New York Academy of Art and Portland Actors Conservatory have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts.

Tuition costs for Visual & Performing Arts majors are, on average, $6,904 for in-state public colleges, and $33,200 for out of state private colleges.

The most common sector, by number of institutions, that offers Visual & Performing Arts programs are Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above institutions (911 total). The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded, is Public, 4-year or above (64,013 completions).

Institutions

Institution with the Most Degrees Awarded in Visual & Performing Arts

  1. Full Sail University

  2. New York University

  3. The New School

The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts, is Public, 4-year or above (64,013 completions).

The following chart shows the share of universities that offer Visual & Performing Arts programs, by the total number of completions, colored and grouped by their sector.

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Tuition Costs for Common Institutions

$6,904

Median In-State Public

$33,200

Median Out of State Private

Full Sail University has the most Visual & Performing Arts degree recipients, with 2,098 degrees awarded in 2016.

The following bar chart shows the state tuition for the top 5 institutions with the most degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts.

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Specialized Colleges

Highest Concentration Institution

  1. New York Academy of Art

    100%

  2. Portland Actors Conservatory

    100%

  3. The Collective School Of Music

    100%

Out of all institutions that offer Visual & Performing Arts programs and have at least 5 graduates in those programs, New York Academy of Art and Portland Actors Conservatory have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts, with 100% and 100%, respectively.

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Degrees Awarded by County

Counties with the Most Degrees Awarded in Visual & Performing Arts

  1. New York County, NY

  2. Los Angeles County, CA

  3. Cook County, IL

This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest number of degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts by year.

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Growth in Awarded Degrees

Counties with the Fastest Growing Number of Degrees Awarded

  1. Copiah County, MS

  2. Ford County, KS

  3. McMinn County, TN

This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest growth in degrees awarded for Visual & Performing Arts.

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Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Visual & Performing Arts graduates and on wages and locations for those in the field.

The average salary for Visual & Performing Arts majors is $57,092 and the most common occupations are Designers, Elementary & middle school teachers, and Miscellaneous managers.

The industry that employs the most Visual & Performing Arts majors is Elementary & secondary schools, though the highest paying industry, by average wage, is Securities, commodities, funds, trusts & other financial investments.

Wages

Yearly Income for Common Jobs

$57,092

Average Wage in Workforce

± $1,021

1.36%

1 Year Growth

± 2.55%

The average salary for Visual & Performing Arts majors is $57,092 and the most common occupations are Designers, Elementary & middle school teachers, and Miscellaneous managers.

This chart shows the average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Visual & Performing Arts majors.

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Highest Paying Locations

Highest Paying Pumas

  1. Sunnyvale & San Jose (North) Cities PUMA, CA

  2. LA (Southwest/Marina del Rey & Westchester) & Culver City Cities PUMA, CA

  3. Ramsey, Oakland & Franklin Lakes Boroughs PUMA, NJ

This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States colored by the average salary of Visual & Performing Arts majors.

Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Visual & Performing Arts majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.

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Occupations

Most Common

The most common occupations Visual & Performing Arts majors, by number of employees, are Designers, Elementary & middle school teachers, and Miscellaneous managers.

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Most Specialized

Compared to other majors, there are an unusually high number of Visual & Performing Arts majors working as Artists & related workers, Designers, and Musicians, singers, & related workers.

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Highest Paid

The highest paid occupations by median income for Visual & Performing Arts majors are Dentists, Physicians & surgeons, and Other healthcare practitioners & technical Occupations.

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Occupations by Share

2.04M

2017 Workforce

± 34,841

2.1%

1 Year Growth

± 2.38%

The number of Visual & Performing Arts graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 2.1%, from 2M in 2016 to 2.04M in 2017.

The largest single share of Visual & Performing Arts graduates go on to work as Designers (10.3%). This chart shows the various jobs filled by those with a major in Visual & Performing Arts by share of the total number of graduates.

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Industries

Most Common

The most common industries that employ Visual & Performing Arts majors, by number of employees, are Elementary & secondary schools, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, and Performing arts, spectator sports & related industries.

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Highest Paid

The highest paying industries of Visual & Performing Arts majors, by average wage, are Securities, commodities, funds, trusts & other financial investments, Other information services, except libraries & archives, & internet publishing & broadcasting & web search portals, and Scientific research & development services.

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Industries by Share

2.04M

2017 Workforce

± 34,841

2.1%

1 Year Growth

± 2.38%

The number of Visual & Performing Arts graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 2.1%, from 2M in 2016 to 2.04M in 2017.

The industry which employs the most Visual & Performing Arts graduates by share is Elementary & secondary schools, followed by Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges. This visualization shows the industries that hire those who major in Visual & Performing Arts.

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Specialty Locations

PUMAS with a relatively high number of Visual & Performing Arts majors

  1. West Hollywood & Beverly Hills Cities PUMA, CA

  2. Carr 2-Carr 111 PUMA, PR

  3. Carr 2-Carr 100 PUMA, PR

This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States where there are a relatively high population of Visual & Performing Arts majors.

Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Visual & Performing Arts majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.

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Diversity

Demographic information on those who earn a degree in Visual & Performing Arts in the US. The average age of a person in the workforce with a degree in Visual & Performing Arts is 40.8, and the most common degree type these workers hold is a Bachelors Degree. Female employees are more likely to hold Visual & Performing Arts degrees, and White students earn the majority (85,768) of the degrees.

Workforce Age

40.8

Average Age in 2017

± 0.225 Years

0.397%

1 Year Change

± 0.779%

This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Visual & Performing Arts. The most common ages of employees with this major are 29 and 26 years old, which represent 3.64% and 3.64% of the population, respectively.

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Degrees Awarded

The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Visual & Performing Arts are Bachelors Degree, Associates Degree, and Masters Degree.

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Workforce Degrees

The most common degree types held by the working population in Visual & Performing Arts are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Professional degree.

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Gender Imbalance for Common Institutions

Female (59.9%)

Most Common Gender with a Degree in this Field

This chart shows the granted degrees by gender at the 5 institutions that graduate the most students in Visual & Performing Arts.

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Race & Ethnicity by Degrees Awarded

Most Common Race or Ethnicity

  1. White

    85,768 degrees awarded

  2. Hispanic or Latino

    19,242 degrees awarded

  3. Non-resident Alien

    11,836 degrees awarded

This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Visual & Performing Arts for each race & ethnicity. White students earned the largest share of the degrees with this major.

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Race & Ethnicity by Gender

Most Common Race/Ethnicity and Gender Combination

  1. White Female

    36,397 degrees awarded

  2. White Male

    22,393 degrees awarded

  3. Hispanic or Latino Female

    6,833 degrees awarded

This chart illustrates the differences by gender for each race & ethnicity of Bachelors Degree recipients in Visual & Performing Arts. White Female students, who earn most of the degrees in this field, are the most common combination of race/ethnicity and gender.

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Global Diversity

Most Common Countries of Origin

  1. Korea

    27,530 degree recipients

  2. China

    18,664 degree recipients

  3. Mexico

    13,350 degree recipients

High Relative Number of Students

  1. Armenia

    5.11 times more than expected

  2. Korea

    5.03 times more than expected

  3. Azerbaijan

    4.93 times more than expected

There are a relatively high number of people that were born in Armenia that hold Visual & Performing Arts degrees (5.11 times more than expected), and the most common country of origin by total numbers for non-US students earning a degree in this field is Korea (27,530 degree recipients).

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Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Visual & Performing Arts field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Visual & Performing Arts majors need many skills, but most especially Active Listening. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Visual & Performing Arts majors need more than the average amount of Social Perceptiveness, Time Management, and Speaking.

These two visualizations, one a radial chart and one a bar chart, show the same information, a rating of how necessary the following skills are for Visual & Performing Arts majors. Toggle between "value" and "RCA" to see the absolute rating of that skill (value) and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA), or how much greater or lesser that skill's rating is than the average. The longer the bar or the closer the line comes to the circumference of the circle, the more important that skill is. The importance of Social Perceptiveness is very distinctive for majors, but the Active Listening, Speaking, and Critical Thinking are the three most important skills for people in the field.

Radar Distribution

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Bar Chart

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