Artists comprise 1.6 percent of the U.S. workforce (2.55 million workers), per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate for artists dropped from 4.0 percent in 2017 to 2.7 percent in 2018.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that there were 2.55 million artists in the U.S. workforce in 2017—representing 1.6 percent of all workers 16 and older.