SOC 27-1013 · Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations · May 2025

How much do Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators make in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA?

In the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA is $126,470. The 10th percentile is $41,250 and the 90th percentile is $168,560. Employment is 450.

Median annual wage

$126,470

10th percentile
$41,250
25th percentile
$42,710
Median
$126,470
75th percentile
$166,380
90th percentile
$168,560
Mean
$115,040

Annual wage from the May 2025 OEWS estimates.

A welder at work with a torch
A welder at a bench, 2014. Photograph by Chetan Menaria. Wikimedia Commons · CC0

Percentile spread

For Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators, the published 10th percentile is $41,250 and the 90th percentile is $168,560. The difference is $127,310, which is 100.7% of the median. Ten percent of measured wages fall below the 10th percentile and ten percent fall above the 90th. How to read a percentile.

The middle half of the distribution, from the 25th percentile at $42,710 to the 75th at $166,380, covers $123,670.

The mean annual wage is $115,040, which sits below the median of $126,470. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA median is 127.9% higher than the national median of $55,490 for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators. In 2024 national prices the local median is $109,391, which is 97.1% higher than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 117.2% higher than the California median of $58,240.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA is 115.613, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $126,470 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators at $109,391 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

No other metropolitan area within 200 miles has a published annual median for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators in the May 2025 tables. A wage from farther away is not filled in. When a wage is not published.

Employment share

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators accounts for 0.02% of wage-and-salary employment in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA (450 of 2,373,920). Nationally the occupation is 0.01% of employment (11,220 of 155,495,730). The local share is 2.63 times the national share. That ratio is the location quotient computed from these May 2025 employment counts. It is not copied from the location-quotient column in the BLS bulk file.

Highest-paying jobs in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA · Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators by metro · How to read these percentiles · Median and mean · When a wage is not published · How the figures are made · Compare this wage after prices

Questions this page answers

How much do Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators make in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA?

In the May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA is $126,470. The 10th percentile is $41,250 and the 90th percentile is $168,560. Employment is 450.

How does that compare with the national median for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators?

The local median is 127.9% higher than the national median of $55,490.

What is Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators pay in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA after local prices?

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA is 115.613, with the United States at 100. In those national prices, the May 2025 median of $126,470 is $109,391. The wage is May 2025 and the parity is 2024.