Contents
- Animation industry employment statistics: U.S. animator employment outlook
- Animation industry employment statistics: UK animation workforce size and work patterns
- Animation industry employment statistics: UK animation workforce activity and roles
- Animation industry employment statistics: animation work across content and departments
- Animation industry employment statistics: worker profiles in the UK screen workforce survey
- Animation industry employment statistics: animation employment by North American hub
- Sources
Animation industry employment statistics: U.S. animator employment outlook
U.S. employment data for special effects artists and animators offers a useful occupational benchmark, but it does not count only jobs in the animation industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) combines special effects artists and animators in one occupation, so its figures include work across the industries that employ those professionals. In 2025, the occupation had 51.9 thousand jobs. The BLS projects 51.8 thousand for 2035, with a projected change of -0.1 thousand, or -0.3%, over 2025–35. These are employment levels and a projection for the combined occupation, not a count of animation studios or animation-only positions. BLS occupational projections, Table 1.2
| U.S. special effects artists and animators measure | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Employment | 51.9 thousand | 2025 |
| Projected employment | 51.8 thousand | 2035 |
| Projected numeric change | -0.1 thousand | 2025–35 |
| Projected percentage change | -0.3% | 2025–35 |
| Projected annual average openings | 4.2 thousand | 2025–35 |
The same projection table estimates 4.2 thousand annual average occupational openings during 2025–35. Openings and net employment change describe different things: the first is an annual average of opportunities, while the second is the projected difference in the occupation’s employment level over the period. The table also reports a 2025 median annual wage of $102,030 and a self-employment estimate of 62.9%. The self-employment share is a worker characteristic for this combined occupation, rather than an animation-sector share. BLS occupational projections, Table 1.2
BLS employer-distribution figures show how the combined occupation reaches beyond film and television production. In 2025, motion picture and video industries employed 10% of special effects artists and animators; software publishers employed 7%; computer systems design and related services employed 4%; and arts, entertainment, and recreation employed 3%. The 63% self-employed figure on the Occupational Outlook Handbook page is a rounded presentation of the same measure reported as 62.9% in the projections table, so it is not a separate observation. Together, these industry shares illustrate why the occupation should not be treated as synonymous with animation-industry employment. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Work Environment
Animation industry employment statistics: UK animation workforce size and work patterns
Animation UK describes the UK animation industry as employing approximately 1,000 people. Its webpage does not give a measurement year for this estimate. It separately says the figure rises to 15,390 jobs supported in the wider value chain when spill-over benefits are included. The wider value-chain total has a broader scope than direct employment in animation, so these figures answer different questions and should not be read as two competing estimates of the same workforce. Animation UK, The Animation Workforce
The same undated profile says freelancers make up 52% of the UK animation workforce, and approximately 25% are non-EU. It reports that 93% of workers have a degree and 26% are also postgraduates. These are profile estimates presented without a measurement year on the webpage; they describe the workforce as Animation UK characterizes it, not a dated annual census. The page also notes that 9% of UK animation workers were educated at a private or fee-paying school, while 54% of animation workers educated in the UK attended non-selective state secondary schools. The latter denominator is specifically workers educated in the UK. Animation UK, The Animation Workforce
A separate qualification breakdown on the page says 41% of people working in UK animation had an undergraduate degree, certificate or diploma, and a further 28% had a postgraduate qualification. Animation UK also describes the education pipeline: over 50 animation degree courses accommodate nearly 2,400 students, alongside more than 230 higher education courses relevant to the animation workforce. These are undated statements about courses and students, not employment counts or forecasts. They provide context for workforce preparation without establishing how many graduates enter or remain in animation jobs. Animation UK, The Animation Workforce
Animation UK’s page attributes several diversity findings to a September 2019 report surveying more than 1,150 workers across VFX, animation and post-production. Within its animation-specific statements, women accounted for 51% of workers, 21.5% of animation workers identified as LGB+, and 3% described their gender as transgender, non-binary or another preferred description. The page also reports BAME representation of 14% in UK animation, while its separate inclusion page does not state the report’s publication year. These measures come from survey reporting, not a current workforce count. Animation UK, The Animation Workforce; Animation UK, Inclusion and diversity
The 2019 survey’s role figures span VFX, animation and post-production rather than animation alone. Women made up 89% of production management, 55% of senior creative production roles, and 49% of creative artist roles; they held 14% of technical support roles. The page says 27% of respondents in the animation portion worked outside London, describing animation jobs as more geographically dispersed than VFX or post-production. The result concerns survey respondents, and should not be generalized into a precise distribution of all UK animation jobs. Animation UK, The Animation Workforce
Animation industry employment statistics: UK animation workforce activity and roles
A 2025 ScreenSkills report, using Ampere analysis, estimates that 2.0–3.0 thousand distinct individuals participated in the UK film and TV animation production department in 2024. This is a range for distinct individuals, and the figure excludes the ancillary workforce. It is therefore not directly comparable with Animation UK’s approximately 1,000-person industry estimate, which has no stated year and a different stated scope. ScreenSkills, Sizing Up: Workforce Composition and Capacity in the Screen Industries, slide 24
The report also models active full- or part-time production roles associated with UK productions. In that model, animation production roles declined by an average 51% over 2022–24. A role is not the same unit as a distinct employed person: a person may have credited work across titles or departments, while the active-role measure describes roles associated with productions. The reported decline is a modelled change in roles, not evidence by itself of an equivalent change in headcount. ScreenSkills report, slide 34
Content-type mobility adds another view of animation activity. In the credited-role model for 2022–24, 66% of the animation content-type workforce was exclusive to animation content. A separate department-by-content matrix says 64% of animation department roles were on animation content. These percentages use related but distinct classifications: one describes exclusivity by content type, while the other records the content associated with roles in the animation department. The report’s modelling draws on credited roles across titles monitored from 2022–25. ScreenSkills report, slides 38 and 41
Animation industry employment statistics: animation work across content and departments
The department mobility model estimates that 83% of the UK animation department workforce was exclusive to that department in 2022–24. The matrix also records animation department workers simultaneously credited in other departments: 5% in craft, 2% in editorial, and 9% in VFX. These are cross-credit measures in the model, rather than shares of all UK workers in those departments. Because credits may span departments, the listed percentages should be read as specific overlaps, not as a partition that must add to 100%. ScreenSkills report, slide 39
The report’s content-type analysis says only 23% of the animation department workforce found applicable employment on large-scale live-action films. This result sits alongside the 64% of animation department roles placed on animation content: they describe different aspects of the model, with the former referring to applicable work on large-scale live-action film and the latter to credited role distribution by content type. Together, the statistics indicate that animation department credits are concentrated in animation content in this model, while also showing some recorded cross-content and cross-department work. They do not establish why workers moved between projects or whether a credit represents a full-time job. ScreenSkills report, slide 41
Animation industry employment statistics: worker profiles in the UK screen workforce survey
ScreenSkills’ pilot workforce survey, reported in 2025, provides a broader UK screen-sector profile rather than animation-only results. Its weighted sample was N=1,083 across seniority levels. Among respondents, women were 55% of entry/early-level respondents and 57% of mid-level respondents; the proportions were 44% at senior level and 41% at executive or corporate level. The workforce total was 49%. These percentages describe survey respondents by seniority and should not be treated as a demographic breakdown of animation workers specifically. ScreenSkills report, slide 52
The same chart reports minority ethnic respondents as 23% of entry/early-level respondents, 17% of mid-level respondents, 9% of senior-level respondents, and 12% of executive or corporate respondents. Across the workforce total, the reported figure was 14%. These are category-specific survey shares, not estimates of promotion rates or changes over time. Their relevance to animation employment is contextual: they describe the wider screen workforce in which animation roles sit, but the survey figures provided do not isolate animation respondents. ScreenSkills report, slide 52
| UK screen workforce survey measure | Entry/early | Mid-level | Senior-level | Executive/corporate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women | 55% | 57% | 44% | 41% | 49% |
| Minority ethnic respondents | 23% | 17% | 9% | 12% | 14% |
Animation industry employment statistics: animation employment by North American hub
A report by The Animation Guild and CVL Economics examines animation occupations in the motion picture and video industry from 2019 to 2024. Its regional figure shows California employment declining 4.7% and New York employment increasing 18.4%. For U.S. regions, the report defines animation occupations as special effects artists and animators plus graphic designers in the motion picture and video industry. The regional values are changes over the stated period, not current-year employment levels. The Animation Guild, Reclaiming California’s Role in Global Animation, p. 42
For Canadian regions, the report’s definition includes graphic designers and illustrators, and graphic arts technicians, in the motion picture and video industry. British Columbia employment increased 71.6% from 2019 to 2024, while Ontario increased 12.9%. Because the Canadian occupation definition differs from the U.S. definition, the regional changes are not a perfectly like-for-like comparison across the border. The report’s narrative separately says animation employment in the motion picture and video industry declined by 5% between 2019 and 2024; that is its rounded industry-level statement and it does not specify a national geography. The Animation Guild report, p. 42
| Region | Change in animation occupations, 2019–24 | Definition used |
|---|---|---|
| California | -4.7% | U.S. occupation definition |
| New York | 18.4% | U.S. occupation definition |
| British Columbia | 71.6% | Canadian occupation definition |
| Ontario | 12.9% | Canadian occupation definition |
Across these sources, employment statistics cover several distinct units: an occupation’s jobs, direct industry estimates, people participating in a department, active production roles, survey respondents, and regional occupational change. Keeping those definitions attached to the figures makes comparisons clearer: the measures describe different slices of animation work and different periods, rather than one universal headcount.
Sources
- Occupational projections and worker characteristics
- Special Effects Artists and Animators: Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Sizing Up: Workforce Composition and Capacity in the Screen Industries
- The Animation Workforce
- Inclusion and diversity in the UK’s VFX, animation and post production sectors
- Reclaiming California’s Role in Global Animation: The Case for Modernizing California’s Film and TV Tax Credit