Cartoonist vs animator

The differences between cartoonists and animators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a cartoonist, becoming an animator takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an animator has an average salary of $76,853, which is higher than the $73,859 average annual salary of a cartoonist.

The top three skills for a cartoonist include adobe photoshop, student newspaper and comics. The most important skills for an animator are animation, motion capture, and storyboards.

Cartoonist vs animator overview

	Cartoonist	Animator
Yearly salary	$73,859	$76,853
Hourly rate	$35.51	$36.95
Growth rate	6%	5%
Number of jobs	42	551
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	6	2

Cartoonist vs animator salary

Cartoonists and animators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Cartoonist	Animator
Average salary	$73,859	$76,853
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $115,000	Between $52,000 And $112,000
Highest paying City	-	Las Vegas, NV
Highest paying state	-	Nevada
Best paying company	-	Meta
Best paying industry	-	Media

Differences between cartoonist and animator education

There are a few differences between a cartoonist and an animator in terms of educational background:

	Cartoonist	Animator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Graphic Design	Animation
Most common college	Duke University	University of Pennsylvania

Cartoonist vs animator demographics

Here are the differences between cartoonists' and animators' demographics:

	Cartoonist	Animator
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 70.1% Female, 29.9%	Male, 71.9% Female, 28.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 7.6% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 7.5% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between cartoonist and animator duties and responsibilities

Cartoonist example responsibilities.

Used Applescript, Javascript, and Photoshop actions to automate tasks.
Publish a series of comics short stories about the local music scene in Columbus.
Design posters, signage, print advertisements.
Create monthly political comic strips in ASL and English.
Illustrate relevant political cartoons each week for UB's student-run newspaper
Create signs for print production for in-store product ads and POS.

Animator example responsibilities.

Lead a team of artists to create the art and animation for motion comics aspects of the show.
Train & supervise newly appoint employee in achieving realistic looking effects and help integrating the effects in compositing with cg elements.
Create many logos for a YouTube sketch.
Sketch every seen multiple times utilizing several camera angles and character blocking.
Assist in the animation development of learning videos and nursery rhymes for YouTube.
Implement uniform display geometry to support texture artist and UV mapping artist, demonstrating advance UV mapping skills.

Cartoonist vs animator skills

Common cartoonist skills

Adobe Photoshop, 25%
Student Newspaper, 24%
Comics, 17%
Graphic Design, 7%
Comic Books, 7%
Logo, 6%

Common animator skills

Animation, 36%
Motion Capture, 7%
Storyboards, 5%
Motion Graphics, 5%
AAA, 3%
Graphic Design, 3%

Cartoonist vs. similar jobs

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Cartoonist vs Animator

Updated January 8, 2025

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