On this page
- Technical Artist Salary in 60 Seconds
- How Much Technical Artists Make
- Art Pay or Programming Pay
- Technical Artist Starting Salary
- Top-Paying States for Technical Artists
- Top-Paying Metro Areas for Technical Artists
- Where Technical Artist Jobs Are
- Technical Artist Pay Compared With Other Game Careers
- How Technical Artists Earn More
- Technical Artist Job Outlook
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Related Pages
- Sources
Technical Artist Salary in 60 Seconds
- The median is $102,030, shared with animators. BLS counts most technical artists with special effects artists and animators. The middle half earned $75,490 to $139,130 in May 2025, and the top 10% earned over $177,110. Plan around the median and treat the top as where a scarce skill can take you. Pay Range ›
- The same job can be priced as art or code. No federal occupation is called technical artist. Shader and lighting work fits the art median of $102,030, while tool scripting and pipeline automation look like software development, where the median is $135,980. Ask which market your employer benchmarks against. Art or Code ›
- Junior pay depends on how the role is benchmarked. Against the art occupation, the 10th and 25th percentiles are $58,600 and $75,490. Against developers they are $82,460 and $105,210. To be hired against the higher band, show real programming in your portfolio, such as a tool or an engine feature. Starting Salary ›
- Washington leads state pay at $133,480. California follows at $130,540, then Nevada at $97,350. California employs 7,410 people in the occupation. BLS publishes a state median for only 31 of the 50 states and DC, because the occupation is too small to report elsewhere. State Pay ›
- Moving toward code is worth $33,950. That is the median gap between the art occupation and software developers, and it opens when your work becomes tools and pipelines others rely on. The 75th percentile of $139,130 goes to people who own systems rather than taking tickets. Raising Your Pay ›
- Art jobs shrink 0.3% while developers grow 10.2%. Special effects artists and animators fall from 51,900 to 51,800 jobs by 2035, with about 4,200 openings a year. Software developers are projected to grow 10.2%. A technical artist who builds real programming skill has a fallback into a growing occupation. Job Outlook ›
Heads up Learning to code changes which salary you are measured against. The developer median is $33,950 above the art median, and developers are projected to keep growing.
How Much Technical Artists Make
The middle half of special effects artists and animators earned between $75,490 and $139,130 a year in May 2025. The lowest-paid 10% earned under $58,600 and the top 10% over $177,110. In hourly terms the median was $49.
- Lowest 10%
- $58,600
- $28.17/hr
- 25th percentile
- $75,490
- $36.29/hr
- Median
- $102,030
- $49.06/hr
- 75th percentile
- $139,130
- $66.89/hr
- Top 10%
- $177,110
- $85.15/hr
The top 10% earn 3.0 times what the bottom 10% earn. The mean, $112,870, sits $10,840 above the median, which means a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a technical artist those are the senior, lead and principal roles that own a whole pipeline or a studio's shader library. Plan around the median and read the top of the range as where experience and a scarce skill can take you.
This is the same occupation behind the animator salary page, so the national figures match. What differs is how a technical artist moves through the range, which depends far more on code than an animator's pay does. Wage figures cover employees on a payroll only, about 19,970 people nationally. Freelancers aren't in the survey.
Two benchmarksArt Pay or Programming Pay
No federal occupation is called technical artist, and the job sits between two that are. O*NET's tasks for special effects artists and animators include "Make objects or characters appear lifelike by manipulating light, color, texture, shadow, and transparency, or manipulating static images to give the illusion of motion," and the first half of that is shader and lighting work. Tool scripting, engine code and pipeline automation look more like software development. How an employer classifies the role decides which market it pays against.
| Point in the range | Special effects artists and animators | Software developers |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest-paid 10% | $58,600 | $82,460 |
| 25th percentile | $75,490 | $105,210 |
| Median | $102,030 | $135,980 |
| 75th percentile | $139,130 | $171,980 |
| Top 10% | $177,110 | $214,670 |
| Employed nationally | 19,970 | 1,687,890 |
The developer median is $33,950 higher, about 1.33 times the art figure. Even the developer 25th percentile, $105,210, is above the art median. The developer spread is also tighter, with the top 10% earning 2.6 times the bottom 10%, against 3.0 on the art side. The size of the two groups is the other difference: the art occupation is 1.2% the size of the developer one, so there are about 85 developers for every special effects artist or animator.
In a studio, a technical artist works with both the art team and the engineers, and the role can report to either. When you see a posting or get an offer, ask which team the role reports to and which salary band it's benchmarked against. The reporting line is a better clue to the pay than the title, because the title is the same either way.
What in the Job Moves Pay Up or Down
Technical art covers several specialties, and they don't sit in the same place between the two benchmarks. Pipeline and tools work is the closest to software development: scripts, exporters and editor tools that other people run every day. Rendering and performance work, where you find out why a scene is slow and fix it, also leans toward engineering and is a skill few artists have. Rigging and shader work built in node editors sits nearer the art side.
Scope matters as much as specialty. A technical artist who takes tickets from one art team is paid like a member of that team. One who owns a system the whole project depends on, such as the character pipeline or the material library, is harder to replace and has more room to negotiate. BLS doesn't publish pay by specialty or seniority, so read this as a guide to where in the $58,600 to $177,110 range a role is likely to sit, not as a federal finding.
Starting outTechnical Artist Starting Salary
BLS doesn't publish pay by experience, so the best estimate of a starting salary comes from the low end of the percentiles. For special effects artists and animators, the 10th percentile was $58,600 and the 25th was $75,490. Read that band as the likely range for a junior technical artist hired onto an art team. It's an estimate from percentiles, not a federal figure for new hires.
A junior role benchmarked against engineering would start from a different band: the developer 10th and 25th percentiles were $82,460 and $105,210. To be hired against that band, expect to show real programming in your portfolio, such as a tool or an engine feature, not only node-based shaders.
Both bands sit above the $50,980 median for all jobs. The harder part is the number of openings, covered in the outlook below, and the technical artist career guide covers the entry routes people take into the job.
By stateTop-Paying States for Technical Artists
Washington has the highest published median for special effects artists and animators, $133,480, which is $31,450 above the national figure. California follows at $130,540 and Nevada at $97,350. BLS publishes a state median for only 31 of the 50 states and DC, because the occupation is too small to report elsewhere.
| State | Median | Middle half | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $133,480 | $100,550 to $174,990 | 1,130 |
| California | $130,540 | $99,280 to $164,800 | 7,410 |
| Nevada | $97,350 | $77,420 to $105,920 | 370 |
| New York | $96,770 | $76,420 to $136,840 | 1,540 |
| Colorado | $91,290 | $77,570 to $105,120 | 210 |
| Arizona | $89,650 | $65,810 to $100,230 | 190 |
| North Carolina | $88,350 | $62,530 to $105,260 | 370 |
| Utah | $88,210 | $60,590 to $126,770 | 320 |
| Michigan | $86,630 | $68,590 to $121,830 | 230 |
| Florida | $85,870 | $81,730 to $104,410 | 1,530 |
The states where most of these jobs are also have a developer market, and the gap between the two medians changes from state to state. Of the six states with the most special effects artist and animator jobs, the gap is narrowest in Washington and widest in New York.
| State | Art jobs | Art median | Developer median | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 7,410 | $130,540 | $174,410 | $43,870 |
| New York | 1,540 | $96,770 | $166,180 | $69,410 |
| Florida | 1,530 | $85,870 | $130,980 | $45,110 |
| Washington | 1,130 | $133,480 | $166,540 | $33,060 |
| Illinois | 630 | $81,180 | $132,110 | $50,930 |
| Virginia | 380 | $81,510 | $136,460 | $54,950 |
In Washington, software developers had a median of $166,540. A technical artist there who can be hired on either side of the line is choosing between two well-paid markets, which is a stronger position than either skill set alone.
By metroTop-Paying Metro Areas for Technical Artists
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA has the highest metro median for the occupation, $156,950, ahead of San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA at $136,770 and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA at $134,120. BLS publishes a metro median for 41 areas. Software developers in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA had a median of $213,110.
| Metro area | Median | Middle half | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $156,950 | $120,950 to $188,410 | 510 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $136,770 | $105,050 to $168,090 | 1,440 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $134,120 | $103,030 to $178,970 | 1,030 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $124,590 | $93,230 to $162,690 | 4,650 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $122,880 | $87,900 to $147,880 | 70 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $118,750 | $85,210 to $146,170 | 100 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | $109,320 | $91,220 to $109,320 | 40May 2024 |
| Reno, NV | $105,240 | $80,400 to $119,030 | 90 |
| Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | $101,730 | $73,840 to $126,770 | 170 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $96,760 | $75,560 to $134,740 | 1,560 |
5 of the 10 top-paying metros have fewer than 200 of these jobs or no published count, so check the employed column before reading much into a single high median. A median based on a small group can move a lot from one survey year to the next.
Job countsWhere Technical Artist Jobs Are
Pay and job counts are different lists. California, New York and Florida hold about 52% of the occupation's jobs between them.
| State | Employed | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 7,410 | $130,540 | $99,280 to $164,800 |
| New York | 1,540 | $96,770 | $76,420 to $136,840 |
| Florida | 1,530 | $85,870 | $81,730 to $104,410 |
| Washington | 1,130 | $133,480 | $100,550 to $174,990 |
| Illinois | 630 | $81,180 | $67,230 to $108,640 |
| Virginia | 380 | $81,510 | $66,920 to $110,180 |
| Nevada | 370 | $97,350 | $77,420 to $105,920 |
| North Carolina | 370 | $88,350 | $62,530 to $105,260 |
| Georgia | 350 | $81,390 | $58,480 to $96,200 |
| Utah | 320 | $88,210 | $60,590 to $126,770 |
By metro, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA has the most jobs, 4,650, followed by New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Among metros with at least 500 of these jobs, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA has the highest concentration, 5.77 times the national share.
| Metro area | Employed | Per 1,000 jobs | Concentration | Median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 4,650 | 0.74 | 5.77 | $124,590 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 1,560 | 0.16 | 1.28 | $96,760 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 1,440 | 0.60 | 4.71 | $136,770 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 1,030 | 0.49 | 3.84 | $134,120 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 960 | 0.68 | 5.30 | $91,150 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 550 | 0.12 | 0.94 | $83,200 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 510 | 0.45 | 3.48 | $156,950 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 290 | 0.09 | 0.71 | $92,760 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 290 | 0.10 | 0.78 | $76,110 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | 260 | 0.23 | 1.76 | $87,300 |
For a job search, the jobs lists matter more than the pay lists. Technical art roles sit inside studio art teams, so they follow the studios. A metro with a high median but a few dozen jobs may have no technical art opening at all in a given year, while the large hubs have several studios hiring at once.
ComparisonTechnical Artist Pay Compared With Other Game Careers
At $102,030, the technical artist figure is the same as the animator and 3D artist figures, because all three are counted in one occupation. It sits close to video game designers ($104,000) and game testers ($104,300), above game producers ($90,360) and well above concept artists ($55,490). Game developers, counted as software developers, are the one game job with a clearly higher median.
- Salary Video game designer salary $104,000 median (web and digital interface designers)
- Salary Level designer salary $104,000 median (web and digital interface designers)
- Salary Narrative designer salary $76,910 median (writers and authors)
- Salary Game developer salary $135,980 median (software developers)
- Salary Game tester salary $104,300 median (software quality assurance analysts and testers)
- Salary Animator salary $102,030 median (special effects artists and animators)
- Salary 3D artist salary $102,030 median (special effects artists and animators)
- Salary Game producer salary $90,360 median (producers and directors)
- Salary Concept artist salary $55,490 median (fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators)
How Technical Artists Earn More
The data points to three levers, and the largest is the one only technical artists have. Moving from the art occupation toward the developer one is worth $33,950 at the median. That move happens when your work becomes code that other people depend on, such as tools, engine features and build pipelines, and when an employer is willing to price the role as engineering.
The second lever is the spread inside the occupation. The 75th percentile, $139,130, is $37,100 above the median, and the 90th is $75,080 above it. The people at that end own systems, such as the character pipeline or a project's rendering look, rather than taking tickets.
The third is place. Washington's median is $31,450 above the national figure, and the top metro, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, is higher still at $156,950. None of these figures is adjusted for living costs, so compare an offer against local rent and prices before you count the difference as a raise.
OutlookTechnical Artist Job Outlook
BLS projects employment of special effects artists and animators to shrink 0.3% from 2025 to 2035, from 51,900 to 51,800 jobs, while all occupations grow 3.5%. It still expects about 4,200 openings a year, 8.1% of current jobs, as people retire or change careers. The projection counts are larger than the wage survey's 19,970 because they include self-employed workers.
Software developers are projected to grow 10.2%, with about 95,300 openings a year. Neither projection is specific to games, but the contrast is useful. A technical artist who builds real programming skill has a fallback into a growing occupation, and one whose work stays in art does not. That's a reason to write code in your portfolio, not only node graphs. The technical artist career guide covers how people build that mix.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Do Technical Artists Make?
BLS counts most technical artists with special effects artists and animators, whose national median was $102,030 in BLS May 2025. The middle half earned $75,490 to $139,130, and the top 10% over $177,110. A technical artist whose work is mostly code may be classified with software developers instead, at a median of $135,980. Both figures cover whole occupations, and most of those workers are outside games. See the full pay range.
What Is the Starting Salary for a Technical Artist?
A first technical art job most likely pays somewhere near the low end of the range for special effects artists and animators: the 10th percentile was $58,600 and the 25th was $75,490 in BLS May 2025. That's an estimate read from percentiles, because BLS doesn't publish pay by experience. If the employer classifies the role with software developers, the same points were $82,460 and $105,210. Ask which group the role is benchmarked against before you compare offers. See starting pay in detail.
Do Technical Artists Get Paid Like Programmers?
Only when the employer prices the role as programming. Software developers had a median of $135,980 in BLS May 2025, which is $33,950 above the $102,030 median for special effects artists and animators. Technical art sits between the two, and the more of your week goes to tools, shaders and engine code, the stronger your case for the higher figure. Neither number is a game-studio figure. See the two figures compared.
Where Do Technical Artists Make the Most Money?
Washington has the highest published state median for special effects artists and animators, $133,480, then California at $130,540. Among metro areas, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA leads at $156,950. California has the most jobs by far. These medians aren't adjusted for living costs, so a higher figure in a costly metro can buy less than a lower one elsewhere. See the top-paying states.
Is Technical Art a Growing Career?
Not on the art side, by BLS's projection. It expects special effects artist and animator jobs to shrink 0.3% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all jobs, with about 4,200 openings a year. Software developers are projected to grow 10.2%. A technical artist with real code skills can apply for roles in both groups, which is the strongest argument for the specialty. See the job outlook.
Do Technical Artists Need a Degree?
No rule requires one, and studios hire technical artists on a portfolio of tools, shaders and rigs that solved real problems. A degree in animation, game art or game development is the usual way people get structured practice on both the art and the programming side. What it can't do is replace the portfolio. The median of $102,030 for the occupation is pay for people who got hired, so plan your schooling around the work you'll show. The technical artist career guide covers the degree routes.
Sources
- 1 BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: 27-1014 Special Effects Artists and Animators and 15-1252 Software Developers National and state wages and employment. Accessed .
- 2 BLS, OEWS May 2025 all-data file Metro area wages, employment and location quotients, and national hourly percentiles. Accessed .
- 3 BLS, Employment Projections 2025-35 Projected employment change and annual openings for both occupations, and the all-occupations benchmarks. Accessed .
- 4 O*NET OnLine, 27-1014.00 Special Effects Artists and Animators Task quoted as published. Accessed .