Photographer salary
What a photographer actually earns, from 98 live job postings blended with the official US OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage anchor. Pick a market for its median and range, then read the seniority split, the trend, and the country comparison below. Updated 2026-09-22.
Switch the market above to see photographer pay in the 2 countries our sources cover, each with its own cost of living. The trend, seniority, and state detail below are United States data, where the official record runs deepest.
What the number means
A photographer earns a blended US median near 48,741 dollars, with the typical middle running from 42,304 dollars to 65,701 dollars. The official OEWS median is 42,520 dollars, under the posted figure, because the advertised roles skew senior or well-funded. The official trend has moved up about 17 percent since 2019. Demand is rated high, and 1% of postings are fully remote. The nearest adjacent move on our skill graph is video editor, at 21 percent coverage; the instrument maps the rest.
Open photographer roles
Live openings, freshest first. Apply at the source.
Photographer at NielseniqAppleton, US1w agoUnlock
Supervisory Photographer at U.S. Secret ServiceWashington, District of Columbia$144k–$187k3w agoApply
Photographer #504 at SenateWashington, District of Columbia$74k–$130kAug 25Apply
Staff Photo Editor, Digital News Desk at ThenewyorktimesNew York, NY; Washington, DC$115kAug 25Unlock- Freie:r Fotograf:in at YammyHamburgAug 13Apply
Photographer at Smithsonian InstitutionWashington, District of Columbia$102k–$133kAug 12Apply
By country
- United States$42,304$48,741$65,701
- United Kingdom$37,463$40,808$47,575
Switzerland · official wage bands
median CHF 7'078/month
Swiss postings do not state pay, so these are not posted salaries: they are the federal wage survey (Lohnstrukturerhebung 2024) for the ISCO group 34 Juristische, soziale, kulturelle und verwandte Fachkräfte: standardized gross monthly, full-time, 13th salary included pro rata. The band covers the whole occupation group, which is coarser than this occupation alone.
Annual ≈ CHF 84'936 at the median. Source: Bundesamt für Statistik, LSE 2024.
Top-paying US states
OEWS median by state, highest first.
- New York$57,700
- Washington$44,580
- Arizona$38,210
Roles that pay more, that these skills already reach
Median pay from each destination’s own postings, with the readiness a photographer profile already covers.
- 233 open creative director roles$135,085 median · +$86,344 · 23% readiness
- 70 open brand designer roles$114,919 median · +$66,178 · 12% readiness
- 135 open motion designer roles$108,436 median · +$59,695 · 18% readiness
- 86 open content strategist roles$92,163 median · +$43,422 · 23% readiness
Every measured move out of this role, ranked by readiness: alternative careers for a photographer.
Is your offer fair?
Run a specific number through FairElephant, which weighs it against this data, your location, and remote market rates.
Related salaries
- Video Editor salary$79,963 median
- Graphic Designer salary$69,250 median
- Brand Designer salary$114,919 median
Quick answers
How much does a photographer make?
The blended US median is about 48,741 dollars, with a typical range from 42,304 dollars to 65,701 dollars, against an official OEWS median of 42,520 dollars.
Is photographer a good career in 2026?
Demand for the role is rated high in our July 2026 corpus, with 1% of postings fully remote. The pay is shown above by seniority and by country.
What can a photographer move into?
The nearest adjacent role on our skill graph is video editor, at 21 percent skill coverage. Run the instrument for the full set of reachable moves.
Method: bands are the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of live US postings with stated pay, shrunk toward the official OEWS anchor by sample size (the “blended” figure). Trend is the OEWS annual median for SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code 27-4021. Unemployment is the 2025 BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) CPS (Current Population Survey) annual-average rate for “Photographers.” Live corpus 98 observations, 2026-09-22. Definitions in the glossary.