Actors · SOC 27-2011

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Actorss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median hourly wage for actors. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (18 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 32 metro areas

Actors: metro areas with the highest published median hourly wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median hourly	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$65.27	570	0.2
2	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$55.29	24,800	4.0
3	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$37.10	340	0.3
4	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$31.90	30	0.1
5	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$31.19	280	0.3
6	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$28.97	210	0.2
7	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$28.81	5,430	0.6
8	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$28.53	150	0.3
9	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$25.86	Not published	Not published
10	Birmingham, AL	$25.56	Not published	Not published
11	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$25.52	150	0.1
12	Cleveland, OH	$25.37	50	0.0
13	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$25.28	500	0.1
14	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$23.77	270	0.1
15	Lancaster, PA	$23.65	140	0.6
16	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$23.22	Not published	Not published
17	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$23.10	450	0.1
18	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$22.15	450	0.2
19	Pittsburgh, PA	$21.66	60	0.1
20	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$21.30	210	0.2
21	Portland-South Portland, ME	$21.04	Not published	Not published
22	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$20.64	310	0.2
23	St. Louis, MO-IL	$20.53	130	0.1
24	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$20.00	610	0.1
25	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$19.13	250	0.2

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Actors overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.