What is a Commercial Artist?
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a commercial artist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $29.06 an hour? That's $60,449 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 500 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Commercial Artist Do
There are certain skills that many commercial artists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed business skills, customer-service skills and dexterity.
How To Become a Commercial Artist
If you're interested in becoming a commercial artist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 59.0% of commercial artists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.1% of commercial artists have master's degrees. Even though most commercial artists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Commercial Artist Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a commercial artist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as artist, progress to a title such as manager and then eventually end up with the title co-owner.
Average Salary for a Commercial Artist
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Commercial Artist Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active commercial artist jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where commercial artists earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Commercial Artist Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 1,421 | $77,002 |
| 2 | Texas | 694 | $51,354 |
| 3 | Florida | 603 | $49,129 |
| 4 | Illinois | 515 | $63,479 |
| 5 | Georgia | 467 | $55,458 |
| 6 | New York | 413 | $67,979 |
| 7 | Ohio | 384 | $65,872 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 363 | $54,407 |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | 355 | $63,723 |
| 10 | Indiana | 330 | $56,168 |
| 11 | Massachusetts | 310 | $83,039 |
| 12 | Washington | 262 | $70,765 |
| 13 | Michigan | 259 | $64,756 |
| 14 | Virginia | 245 | $59,829 |
| 15 | Alabama | 240 | $51,740 |
| 16 | New Jersey | 221 | $71,952 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 217 | $56,431 |
| 18 | Arizona | 209 | $60,916 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 206 | $58,482 |
| 20 | Minnesota | 199 | $58,264 |
| 21 | Missouri | 196 | $60,319 |
| 22 | Maryland | 175 | $70,087 |
| 23 | Colorado | 175 | $63,161 |
| 24 | Connecticut | 168 | $81,806 |
| 25 | Iowa | 158 | $62,377 |
| 26 | South Carolina | 150 | $57,952 |
| 27 | Oregon | 144 | $68,759 |
| 28 | Louisiana | 137 | $60,159 |
| 29 | Arkansas | 136 | $50,585 |
| 30 | Kentucky | 134 | $60,968 |
| 31 | Utah | 122 | $70,288 |
| 32 | Mississippi | 109 | $58,746 |
| 33 | Kansas | 99 | $59,367 |
| 34 | Oklahoma | 88 | $56,704 |
| 35 | Idaho | 62 | $66,009 |
| 36 | Nevada | 56 | $84,625 |
| 37 | Nebraska | 54 | $61,933 |
| 38 | New Hampshire | 51 | $83,018 |
| 39 | New Mexico | 50 | $55,713 |
| 40 | Delaware | 47 | $78,358 |
| 41 | West Virginia | 46 | $65,439 |
| 42 | South Dakota | 33 | $64,147 |
| 43 | Hawaii | 33 | $59,396 |
| 44 | North Dakota | 31 | $65,140 |
| 45 | Maine | 26 | $66,568 |
| 46 | Rhode Island | 25 | $82,878 |
| 47 | Montana | 25 | $71,146 |
| 48 | Alaska | 20 | $74,812 |
| 49 | Wyoming | 18 | $58,006 |
| 50 | Vermont | 12 | $82,120 |
Top Colleges for Commercial Artists
1. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
2. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
5. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
6. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
7. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
8. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
9. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
10. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Top Skills For a Commercial Artist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 32.0% of commercial artists listed art projects on their resume, but soft skills such as business skills and customer-service skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Commercial Artist Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Commercial Artist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Commercial Artist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Commercial Artist Demographics
Commercial Artist Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among commercial artists, 41.6% of them are women, while 58.4% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among commercial artists is White, which makes up 73.6% of all commercial artists.
- The most common foreign language among commercial artists is Spanish at 44.4%.
Work Experience Programs For Commercial Artists
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: Linklaters Hong Kong SAR
Cost: Free
Duration: 6-7 hours
Company: Accenture North America
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: Accenture North America
Cost: Free
Duration: 4 hours
Company: Electronic Arts
Cost: Free
Duration: 4-6 hours
Company: Accenture North America
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Online Courses For Commercial Artist That You May Like
The Ultimate Graphic Design Course Which Covers Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Design Theory, Branding and Logo Design...
Graphic design for beginners including Graphic Design Theories, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, CC & Creative Thinking...
Conquer Popular Graphic Design Projects: Logo, Package, Magazine, Book Cover Design, Branding, Digital Graphics & More!...
How Do Commercial Artist Rate Their Jobs?
Top Commercial Artist Employers
Most Common Employers For Commercial Artist
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mastercard | $102,954 | $49.50 | 1 |
| 2 | Boston Herald | $84,143 | $40.45 | 1 |
| 3 | PEMCO Corporation | $82,982 | $39.90 | 1 |
| 4 | Utica National Insurance Group | $81,438 | $39.15 | 1 |
| 5 | Lockheed Martin | $81,010 | $38.95 | 2 |
| 6 | Sony Music Entertainment | $69,480 | $33.40 | 1 |
| 7 | Sony Pictures | $69,367 | $33.35 | 1 |
| 8 | Trader Joe's | $66,458 | $31.95 | 1 |
| 9 | Conklin | $64,516 | $31.02 | 1 |
| 10 | Pegasus | $63,772 | $30.66 | 2 |