Photographers
Salary, job outlook, AI risk & career information
Photographers in the United States earn a median salary of $44,660 per year — about $21 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roughly 151K people work in this occupation nationwide, with projected employment growth of +2%.
AI & Automation Risk
Photography is a hybrid role where the physical act of capturing real-world events (weddings, news, portraits) provides a buffer, but the digital output is highly vulnerable to AI. Generative AI can now create high-quality commercial and stock imagery from scratch and automate complex post-production tasks, significantly reducing the billable hours and demand for professional photographers in commercial and creative sectors.
Salary by City — What You Actually Take Home
Real purchasing power = salary adjusted for cost of living. Higher = more money in your pocket.
| City | Local Salary | Cost of Living | Real Purchasing Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bend, ORBEST VALUE | $65,990 | Above avg (103.6) | $63,693 |
| Springfield, MA | $60,430 | Below avg (96.1) | $62,908 |
| Fort Collins-Loveland, CO | $62,550 | Average (101.1) | $61,852 |
| Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | $60,000 | Average (100.9) | $59,484 |
| Springfield, MO | $52,510 | Below avg (88.6) | $59,276 |
| Montgomery, AL | $52,160 | Below avg (89.7) | $58,161 |
| Boulder, CO | $60,930 | Above avg (105.2) | $57,917 |
| Charleston-North Charleston, SC | $56,890 | Average (101.0) | $56,348 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $59,220 | Above avg (105.4) | $56,175 |
| Bakersfield-Delano, CA | $56,220 | Average (100.9) | $55,726 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | $50,000 | Below avg (93.1) | $53,721 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $60,050 | Above avg (112.6) | $53,348 |
| Jackson, MS | $47,500 | Below avg (89.0) | $53,342 |
| Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY | $58,050 | Above avg (109.4) | $53,051 |
| Syracuse, NY | $49,560 | Below avg (95.7) | $51,764 |