Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators vs Graphic Designers: $55K vs $63K Median Pay

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators vs Graphic Designers: what changes?

Consider Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators if you want to create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and techniques. Consider Graphic Designers if you would rather design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators and Graphic Designers. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

National median pay (2025): $55,490
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree; More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Use materials such as pens and ink, watercolors, charcoal, oil, or computer software to create artwork.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 2,200

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 2.9% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators brief

Graphic Designers

National median pay (2025): $62,960
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 16,000

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 1.7% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Graphic Designers brief

How the national numbers differ

Graphic Designers has the edge on annual openings

Graphic Designers is at 16,000 annual openings, compared with 2,200 annual openings for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators.

Graphic Designers has the edge on median pay

Graphic Designers is at $62,960, compared with $55,490 for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators.

Typical preparation differs.

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators: Bachelor's degree; More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing Graphic Designers: Bachelor's degree Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

Graphic Designers has the edge on projected growth

Graphic Designers is at -1.7% projected growth, compared with -2.9% projected growth for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators.

34.4/ 100

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

47.8/ 100

Graphic Designers

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators vs Graphic Designers

Dimension	Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators	Graphic Designers
Median pay (2025)	$55,490	$62,960
Pay percentile	40.5 percentile	53.8 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-2.9%	-1.7%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	2,200	16,000
2025 employment	28,900	253,100
How you qualify	Bachelor's degree; More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	Bachelor's degree
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 3	Job Zone 4
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators brief Read Graphic Designers brief

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators vs Graphic Designers: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

Graphic Designers

How the national numbers differ

Graphic Designers has the edge on annual openings

Graphic Designers has the edge on median pay

Typical preparation differs.

Graphic Designers has the edge on projected growth

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators vs Graphic Designers

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