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Job outlook for art educators in the United States
Art educator job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected art educator job growth rate is 12% from 2018-2028.
About 159,400 new jobs for art educators are projected over the next decade.
Art educator salaries have increased 2% for art educators in the last 5 years.
There are over 29,363 art educators currently employed in the United States.
There are 42,617 active art educator job openings in the US.
The average art educator salary is $40,421.
Are art educator jobs in demand?
Art Educator job and salary trends over time
Art Educator jobs over time
Art Educator job growth rate over time
Year  | # Of Jobs | % Of Population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 29,363 | 0.01% |
| 2020 | 30,014 | 0.01% |
| 2019 | 31,424 | 0.01% |
| 2018 | 31,029 | 0.01% |
| 2017 | 31,010 | 0.01% |
Average art educator salary over time
Art Educator salary by year
| Year | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $40,421 | $19.43 | +0.2% |
| 2024 | $40,328 | $19.39 | --0.6% |
| 2023 | $40,577 | $19.51 | +4.5% |
| 2022 | $38,820 | $18.66 | --2.5% |
| 2021 | $39,817 | $19.14 | +5.1% |
Art Educator jobs by state
Most common states for art educators
| Rank | State | Population | # of Jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont | 623,657 | 41 | 7% |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 72 | 5% |
| 3 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 33 | 5% |
| 4 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 143 | 3% |
| 5 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 106 | 3% |
| 6 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 44 | 3% |
| 7 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 41 | 3% |
| 8 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 36 | 3% |
| 9 | Delaware | 961,939 | 25 | 3% |
| 10 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 23 | 3% |
| 11 | Alaska | 739,795 | 21 | 3% |
| 12 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 18 | 3% |
| 13 | California | 39,536,653 | 655 | 2% |
| 14 | New York | 19,849,399 | 407 | 2% |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 253 | 2% |
| 16 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 208 | 2% |
| 17 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 165 | 2% |
| 18 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 110 | 2% |
| 19 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 97 | 2% |
| 20 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 21 | 2% |
Most common cities for art educators
| Rank | City | # of Jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Lansing | 1 | 2% | $43,038 |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 3 | 0% | $46,442 |
| 3 | San Jose | 1 | 0% | $52,091 |
Art Educator job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of art educator experts
Towson University
University of Maine
University of South Florida
Texas Tech University
Florida Atlantic University
University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Tuskegee University
Whitworth University
New Mexico State University
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
University of Nebraska - Kearney
University of Washington
Oklahoma State University
New York University
University of Michigan Dearborn
Saint Mary's College of California
College of the Marshall Islands
Texas Woman's University
What general advice would you give to an Art Educator?
Jonathan Higgins Ed.D.: Get involved in your school. Many club sponsor, team lead, coaching positions come with a supplement. Other teachers will work after-school tutoring programs, tutor privately, or work summer school. Additionally, many districts pay more for advanced degrees. The amount may only be $2,500 or so per year, but if you spend $10,000 on a Masters degree, it is likely you will pay it back in four or five years and then be making more money. Unfortunately, the only other way to maximize salary is to move into a more administrative role. It is sad when we see good teachers leaving the classroom to pursue administration solely for economic reasons. In addition, it is sad for administration when we see not so great people also move into those roles because they want to be paid more as well.
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
David Wizer: First, people skills, ability to collaborate with others and connect to students. Working in teams and leading and cooperating with colleagues. On-going interest in understanding and using technology and media well. Being independent in completing research and capably using applications, software, and technology.
Dr. William Nichols Ph.D.
Professor, Literacy, Language and CultureUniversity of Maine
Education
What general advice would you give to an Art Educator?
Dr. William Nichols Ph.D.: As these new graduates begin to feel included in the culture of the school, as they become more comfortable with the curriculum, as they gain a better understanding of their learners' strengths and weaknesses, as they develop a management plan that works for them, and as they get better at their pacing and time management, they will transition into a master teacher and an excellent professional in the field of education.
What will help Art Educators increase their earning potential?
Dr. William Nichols Ph.D.: Future graduating education majors can expect to immediately enter the 'survival phase of teaching.' Up to this point, they have had university faculty, university mentors, collaborating teacher mentors, and their peer candidates all supporting their development into excellent professionals in the field of education. However, upon the first minute of the first day of teaching, they will enter the survival phase and, in many cases, they will fight for personal and professional existence.
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Sarah Lauer: At the end of the day, relationships are at the heart of teaching. Listen as carefully as you can to your students. Invite them into the adventure of learning. Be playful yourself, and encourage play in learning for your students.
What will help Art Educators increase their earning potential?
Sarah Lauer: View yourself as the professional that you are. Seek out those resources that will help you to continually improve in your career path. This might mean joining a professional learning community (PLC) at your school, or starting an online/evening/weekend Master’s degree program. Be curious when something doesn’t go well in the classroom. Build a network of experts and resources that you can go to when you have questions.
What general advice would you give to an Art Educator?
Dr. Valerie Paton Ph.D.: Leaders who know how to lead others to higher levels of understanding and performance tend to enjoy the satisfaction of being generative and investing in the next generation of learners and leaders. But leadership has a cost in every sector and those who want to take on these roles invest deeply of themselves in others, so healthy life balance is always important.
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Valerie Paton Ph.D.: Education is always a great profession to pursue because we have a 'learning society'. Individuals who know how to teach diverse learners are invaluable in all sectors of our society. As more corporations integrate learning goals as essential components to achieve their strategic goals, more opportunities are available for those who are expert educators, trainers, and facilitators. So education programs are transferrable across many types of leadership roles and are generating higher levels of compensation.
What will help Art Educators increase their earning potential?
Dr. Valerie Paton Ph.D.: There are many different types of learning leadership roles across the business sectors in the U.S. and globally. Depending upon the nature of the role, different types of skill sets are needed. If the employee is leading the learning enterprise in a global corporation and the students are employees who need specific training and professional development to achieve their goals, then the 'educator' is using teaching, facilitation, and collaboration skills to support the delivery and application of specific skills, knowledge, and attitudes. While we most often think of 'Educators' as serving as K-12 teachers, the learning leadership needs of all economic sectors are creating increased numbers of employment opportunities for education of adult learners.
What will help Art Educators increase their earning potential?
Dr. Torica Exume Ph.D.: Maximizing your salary potential at the onset of your career requires strategic planning and goal setting. Begin by researching the typical salary range for your desired position and identifying the skills, qualifications, and experiences that enhance your value in the job market.
Dr. Valerie Pilmaier PhD
Associate Professor of English, Humanities and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies; co-chair of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Assessment CoordinatorUniversity of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, And Group Studies
What general advice would you give to an Art Educator?
Dr. Valerie Pilmaier PhD: Trauma-Informed Pedagogy and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy are going to become even more important with each passing year as we recognize the way that trauma and circumstance affect the ability of students to learn. Technology will always be evolving, and we will always be running behind to catch it, but nothing can replace the feeling that a child has when she/he/they have been really 'seen' by a teacher. It makes all of the difference in terms of learning, self-esteem, belonging and hope.
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Michael King: Content knowledge is key. You have to be well versed in your area. This leads to the critical skill of problem solving. Problems will dominate the day and you have to be able to function off script. Then there is effective communication skills. You have to be able to speak the language of students, parents, and colleagues. This navigation is critical to being successful.
What will help Art Educators increase their earning potential?
Megan Griffin PhD, BCBA-D: My advice would be that this is a marathon, not a sprint. New professionals coming into Education are so needed--bringing their energy and creative ideas for innovation. We need you! Find ways to ensure that you take care of yourself so that you can continue in the field for years to come. It's also important to find both a mentor and a support system within your peer group. A mentor who is more experienced can help you navigate school politics and procedures, as well as offer ideas and resources when you need them. Your support system can provide you with encouragement and understanding from those who are in a similar place in their careers.
Leanna Lucero Ph.D.
Associate Professor; Director of Elementary Education; Associate Director of School of Teacher Preparation, Administration, and Leadership (TPAL)New Mexico State University
Curriculum And Instruction
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Leanna Lucero Ph.D.: It is important to remember why you went into the field of Education and Curriculum and Instruction. Find joy in the uncertainty and unpredictability because those nuances keep us energized and fresh. An asset-based approach is essential to have when entering the field of Education and Curriculum and Instruction.
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Vicki Collet: In addition to pay increases for experience, additional education helps you climb the salary ladder. Be intentional so that your ongoing education counts not just for license renewal, but also for an additional endorsement or degree.
Franziska Brech
Senior Lecturer of Flute and GermanUniversity of Nebraska - Kearney
Germanic Languages, Literatures, And Linguistics
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Franziska Brech: Likely, you'll get more accurate answers asking high school teachers/members of NILA. There is an acute shortage of German teacher and programs are cut because of it. So encouraging your German students to go into language education is a priority.
Dr. Nancy Bartley
LecturerUniversity of Washington
Romance Languages, Literatures, And Linguistics
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Nancy Bartley: Be unique and offer something that others don't. Do a video of yourself teaching (assuming that is one's career direction). Be fun and entertaining but definitely scholarly. As rigorous as the disciplines are, when it comes to teaching, activities and being able to hold students' attention is very important. In many ways, teaching has become almost like entertainment. If you are shy, don't despair, there are online games for the classroom. Be creative. In a Spanish class, the instructor had us standing on our chairs and we had to speak the Spanish word before we came down. A bit unconventional but it did get us laughing AND learning. In my class, I make students argue for custody over a pet chicken. No Col. Sanders solution allowed. Students love it and it gets them thinking about the elements of argument. If teaching is not the goal, make a video that is lively and fun and shows yourself in a positive light, especially one that shows you doing what you hope to be doing professionally -- translating? Or even just introducing yourself.
What will help Art Educators increase their earning potential?
Raquel Muñiz: Have a wide-ranging knowledge of different sectors affecting education, including policy issues.
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Sarah Donovan: The skills that will become more important and prevalent in the field of education is a firm grounding in humanizing practices of education - to develop communities of learning in classrooms that draw on the expertise and lived experiences of our students. The students have a wealth of knowledge and experience that we need to engage in order to inspire students to be lifelong learners who can shape the future.
Educators can continue to develop collaborative skills within their field of expertise while also extending their own learning to other disciplines so that we can draw may literacies to design curriculum and inform instruction.
Educators need to be curriculum designers.
What general advice would you give to an Art Educator?
Dr. Diana Turk Ph.D.: This is for any field, but find mentors - plural - who can support and guide you, and find peers who can cheer and cajole you. Remembering your WHY - why are you teaching? what are you hoping to teach your students to do and be? is essential for the days that are particularly hard. And when you have one of those really hard days, remember that there's always tomorrow. Most of all, ignore anyone who tells you not to smile before Thanksgiving. Who wants a teacher who doesn't smile? You can be warm at the same time as you're firm; flexible while being structured; playful while being serious. Show the students how excited you are to be with them, and this will go a long way towards building relationships based on respect and rapport.
Christopher Burke PhD
Professor Science EducationUniversity of Michigan Dearborn
Health/Medical Preparatory Programs
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Christopher Burke PhD: The ability to connect with and engage diverse students.
The ability to contextualize learning across disciplines.
The ability to work collaboratively and to help your students learn to work collaboratively.
What general advice would you give to an Art Educator?
Peter Alter Ph.D.: Public school salary systems are determined by years of teaching (sometimes called Steps) and level of education. Get a Master's degree. Add an authorization via coursework. Anything that will move you over a column on the salary schedule. Then figure out your side hustle- coaching, tutoring, doing something completely away from education. This may be challenging in your first year but as you get acclimated, you are going to have more time that you will be able to monetize.
Desmond Doulatram
Co-Chair of Liberal Arts DepartmentCollege of the Marshall Islands
Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
What skills stand out on Art Educator resumes?
Desmond Doulatram: College of the Marshall Islands (CMI), like our regional University USP (University of the South Pacific), follows an Oceanic model given RMI’s fragmented state status being a nation of scattered atolls and islands spread across a million square kilometers of open Ocean. This unique geography shapes and informs our learning and teaching strategies contextualized to our students' learning environment and socio-economic characteristics. As stated on our website, “having a grasp of a broad range of skills and issues is imperative” given the Marshall Islands’ unique special bilateral relationship with the United States of America called the Compact of Free Association. Hence why “we are committed to graduating students with a comprehensive foundation and understanding in all issues within the arts, humanities, social sciences and sciences.” We train our students to think critically and learn the foundation of historical theories and Contemporary Social issues in the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Pacific, and the world. These basic academic skills include ethics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, geography, and creative and academic fluency employing the English Language Arts and Marshallese Language Arts. Our Liberal Arts Program trains CMI students to research and advocates for issues about the region. It trains our students to serve the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and the wider Pacific Region as educated and responsible global citizens.
-We have resolved ourselves at CMI’s Liberal Department to teach arts, both fine and performing, to explore the heart, mind, and soul for our shared feelings, beliefs, and aspirations while respecting individual idealism and our common humanity;
-We teach the technical and critical skills of learning and publishing on the Web
-We teach our students their rights and freedoms as human beings, indigenous persons, and national and global citizens;
-We integrate relevant topics into core skills of academics;
-We promote knowledge production and exhibition of our students' work
What soft skills should all Art Educators possess?
Desmond Doulatram: Civic Awareness, critical thinking, problem-solving, effective communication, and artistic expression are some of the most important soft skills taught and employed at the Liberal Arts Department, where our students engage in activism of all sorts, such as those pertaining to Climate Change, Nuclear Justice, and not to mention Gender Equality! The ability of our students as bilingual learners to apply cross-cultural empathy in their line of work displaying emotional range given the Marshall Islands' unique relationship with the outside world remains to date one of our greatest features at the college.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Art Educators?
Desmond Doulatram: Digital Literacy and Information Literacy are two hard skills we do our best to instill in our students because it allows our students to better display critical thinking and problem solving and analyze information to better communicate them. Our student experiences living in the Marshall Islands where it has a unique “Land Economy” and “Blue Economy” and not to mention a unique bilateral agreement with the United States giving prospects of higher “Labor Mobility” necessitates the need for digital literacy and information literacy in a growing digital socio-economic environment where a globalized economy is apparent.
What skills will help Art Educators earn the most?
Desmond Doulatram: The mission of the Liberal Arts Program is to prepare students for transfer and other future educational opportunities through civic awareness, critical thinking and problem solving, information analysis and communication, and artistic expression. A Liberal Arts Education from CMI allows students to broaden their horizons. Given the broad range of our alumni and students, skills taught to students display a wide array of job opportunities making it extremely difficult to pinpoint what earns the most. For example, in our existing Liberal Arts Portfolio, our students have become Scholarship Grant Directors, Information Technology Managers, Financial Intelligence Analysts, Environmentalists, Agriculturalists, College Instructor(s) and Teacher(s), Photo Journalist(s), Mayors, and Grant Managers just to name a few. Many of our students have earned more by diversifying their skill sets by applying the aforementioned hard and soft skills.
Gina Anderson
Associate Dean for Educator Preparation and PartnershipsTexas Woman's University
TWU College of Professional Education
What general advice would you give to an Art Educator?
Gina Anderson: The intrinsic factors (making an impact, schedule, etc.) are often enjoyed by teachers. The paperwork, rules, regulations, and high-stakes accountability measures are often disliked by educators.
What Art Educator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Gina Anderson: The daily workload of an educator varies greatly by the grade level, subject area, and needs of the students served. If the grade level is a "tested" year, this means that the expectations and pressures are typically higher in that standardized test scores are used to make high-stakes decisions about the student's progress, the teacher's effectiveness, and the school's and district's reputation. Similarly, if a grade level is one associated with a benchmark (all students reading at grade level) or for foundational skills (learning to read). Secondary teachers are also held responsible for end of year progress of their students - especially for subjects like English, Science, and Math. In the state of Texas, educators spend a minimum of four hours a day on teaching/instruction. Teachers must also spend time planning their instructional lessons, grading students' work, attending to students' and accommodations for learning English as a second language or for special education. The accommodations are not only in practice but also in required paperwork. Furthermore, teachers spend time responding to the behavioral, emotional, and mental health needs of their students; often partnering with other resource personnel in their school or district. Teachers also work with parents, guardians, or care-givers and communicate via meetings, phone, email and in-person visits. Educators are required to engage in a minimum number of professional development hours per academic year as well. In the state of Texas, educators are required to complete 150 continuing professional education clock hours over a five year renewal period. Many teachers spend time on the weekends and during the summer months attending to their teaching or professional development responsibilities. Some educators take on a second job during the summer months to supplement their income, as well. Finally, the above is the minimum expected of teachers. Many, if not most teachers, truly care about their students and engage far beyond the minimum by sponsoring extracurricular activities and building relationships with students. Excellent educators also are often tapped for additional roles such as serving as a mentor or cooperating teacher for pre-service teachers engaging in field work as required by their educator preparation program. When all is factored in to a typical day in the life of an educator, including instructional time, preparation, paperwork, accommodations, compliance with rules and regulations, professional development, relationship-building, and supporting future educators, it is usually well above a typical 8 hour workday and 40 hour work week.
What will help Art Educators increase their earning potential?
Gina Anderson: Education is the most important of all careers, as educators prepare others to work in all professions. Despite the challenges associated with being an educator, it is highly rewarding, especially when student success is a result of an educator's influence. The starting pay is typically in line with other 4 year college graduates, and the schedule and holidays are conducive to family life.