Pay · 39-5091
Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance earn $97,150 a year at the midpoint
Pay in this work stretches a long way: the lowest tenth earn about $23,360, the highest tenth about $167,470, and the middle sits at $97,150.
National figures for makeup artists, theatrical and performance, 39-5091, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Theatrical and performance makeup artist earnings, from starting pay up to the top 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
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An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
A resume for makeup artists, theatrical and performance
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Cleaned supplies such as makeup brushes.
- Duplicated work precisely to replicate characters' appearances on a daily basis.
- Applied makeup to enhance or alter the appearance of people appearing in productions such as movies.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Examples
Resumes written for this kind of job.
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Theatrical and performance makeup artist wages across the states
The 5 states where the most people do this work, of 6 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.74 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | $143,230 | $64,480 | $64,480 — $162,190 | 200 |
| California | $140,870 | $76,340 | $76,340 — $169,590 | 830 |
| New York | $97,150 | $78,260 | $78,260 — $192,840 | 190 |
| District of Columbia | $95,730 | $52,000 | $52,000 — $111,870 | 60 |
| Florida | $82,400 | $32,040 | $32,040 — $213,850 | 250 |
Ranked 133 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 83% of the occupations in the survey.
- 131 Geography Teachers, Postsecondary $97,590
- 132 Registered nurses $97,550
- 133 Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance $97,150
- 134 Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary $96,980
- 135 Architecture Teachers, Postsecondary $96,870
Theatrical and performance makeup artist pay rate, hourly and yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Questions people ask
What is a theatrical and performance makeup artist’s yearly income?
A theatrical and performance makeup artist makes a median of $97,150 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $34,530 and $143,230.
What is a theatrical and performance makeup artist’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $46.71 an hour; the average is $102,240 a year.
What is the starting pay for a theatrical and performance makeup artist?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $34,530 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $23,360.
Which state pays makeup artists, theatrical and performance the most?
Georgia, with a median of $143,230 a year.
How many people work as makeup artists, theatrical and performance?
About 2,340 in the United States — number 133 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays about the same
Median pay within $550 of what makeup artists, theatrical and performance earn — $97,150 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $400 more Registered nurses $97,550median a year 10th percentile: $68,940 90th percentile: $137,470
- $440 less Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers $96,710median a year 10th percentile: $57,110 90th percentile: $115,880
- $550 less Hydrologists $96,600median a year 10th percentile: $64,020 90th percentile: $153,130