Find a Job You Really Want In
Actors are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as actors in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.
Since actors are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where actors have it the best: where there are plenty of jobs to go around, and people get paid what they deserve during every phase of their career.
To that end, we dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which states have the best opportunities for actors. After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s actors:
So there you have it — Louisiana is the best of the best when it comes to being a actors.
How did it end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for actors and for more on the top ten states.
How we determined the best states to be a actor
Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:
- Availability of jobs
- Pay
So in order to find out the best states for actors in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well actors get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:
- Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given state.
- Average annual salary.
- Average annual salary for entry level work.
- Average annual salary for experienced professionals.
To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across states, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.
Applying this standardization allows us to account for that fact that it costs more to live in certain in states. For example, the average salary for actors in California is $0 and the average salary in Oregon is $0, but the Illinois salary actually goes further in paying for life’s essentials.
In order to develop and overall ranking, we ranked each state for each criteria from 1 to 50 where 1 was the best.
We then averaged all the rankings for a state into a Job Score with the state having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best state for actors in America.
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for actors.
1. Louisiana
Total Jobs: 2,570
Average Annual Salary: $0
Average Entry Level Salary: $0
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 3.61
2. California
Total Jobs: 17,090
Average Annual Salary: $0
Average Entry Level Salary: $0
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 3.01
3. Utah
Total Jobs: 720
Average Annual Salary: $0
Average Entry Level Salary: $0
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.49
4. Georgia
Total Jobs: 2,030
Average Annual Salary: $0
Average Entry Level Salary: $0
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.35
5. Missouri
Total Jobs: 1,110
Average Annual Salary: $0
Average Entry Level Salary: $0
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.12
6. Maryland
Total Jobs: 940
Average Annual Salary: $0
Average Entry Level Salary: $0
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.98
7. Illinois
Total Jobs: 2,090
Average Annual Salary: $0
Average Entry Level Salary: $0
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.97
8. Connecticut
Total Jobs: 580
Average Annual Salary: $0
Average Entry Level Salary: $0
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.95
9. Massachusetts
Total Jobs: 920
Average Annual Salary: $0
Average Entry Level Salary: $0
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.74
10. Tennessee
Total Jobs: 700
Average Annual Salary: $0
Average Entry Level Salary: $0
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.68
There You Have It
If you’re looking to start out your career as a actor these are the states that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.
If you’re curious, here are the worst states to be a actor in America:
Detailed List Of The Best States For Actors
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louisiana | $0 |
| 2 | California | $0 |
| 3 | Utah | $0 |
| 4 | Georgia | $0 |
| 5 | Missouri | $0 |
| 6 | Maryland | $0 |
| 7 | Illinois | $0 |
| 8 | Connecticut | $0 |
| 9 | Massachusetts | $0 |
| 10 | Tennessee | $0 |
| 11 | Pennsylvania | $0 |
| 12 | Nevada | $0 |
| 13 | New Jersey | $0 |
| 14 | Minnesota | $0 |
| 15 | Florida | $0 |
| 16 | Virginia | $0 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | $0 |
| 18 | Indiana | $0 |
| 19 | Washington | $0 |
| 20 | Ohio | $0 |
| 21 | South Carolina | $0 |
| 22 | Texas | $0 |
| 23 | Colorado | $0 |
| 24 | Iowa | $0 |
| 25 | Michigan | $0 |
| 26 | Idaho | $0 |
| 27 | North Carolina | $0 |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
