Either you’re a 3D professional who want to elevate his carrier, or a hobbyist who want to monetize his skills, There are a bunch of questions that definitely crossed your mind at some point of your journey. For example: where can you expect 3D artists salary to range? is 3D artist a good career? how much does a 3D artist earn? and so on.
Trying to answer the question of how much does a 3d artist get paid is not an easy feat. This is the case because there are different circumstances and many different situations that can lead to generating different incomes. Like, where you live, what you specialize in, your level of experience, your industry, and the studio that you work for.
If you want to find out how much do 3D artists make in depth, keep reading! We will present you a full breakdown that our experts in the 3D industry participated at making in order to answer all your questions.
What are the main factors that determine 3D artists salary?
There are many reasons that can drive you towards becoming a 3D artist. Like the excitement of making your ideas alive, the emotion designing evokes in you, or the vast choice of textures, sounds, and graphics all at your command. However, even if 3D art was a passion or a dream to you, one important thing to consider is how you can make a living out of it.
There are multiple factors that affect 3D artists salary. For instance:
- Years of experience: the experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. The salary increments with the increase in years of experience. Besides, companies are considering factors like training and education directly affecting the salary offered to you as an employee.
- The complexity of the project.
- Area of specialization: some 3D art areas command high salaries in comparison to others, for example, architectural design or product design.
- Employers: Some employers pay more when compared to others. Big companies pay more when compared to others.
If you are really interested in becoming a 3D artist (probably this is why you are reading this post); then you may find it helpful to:
- Know what is the best computer for 3D artist and how to choose it.
- Motivation for 3D artists to learn Blender & inspiration from the best Blender 3D artists.
- Freelancing for 3D artists, is it good?
- Finally, what are the best monitors for 3D artists?
So how much can you really earn if you become a 3D artist? Let us finds out!
1. Income based on cities/countries
Depending on where you live in the world, the average salary for 3D artists is going to vary greatly. For example, if you live in Europe or the United States, You will probably get paid pretty well.
To be honest, not all parts of the US and Europe pay very well. For instance, if you live in Eastern Europe you won’t get paid very well compared to big cities in the United States. Actually, from what I have heard artists in the UK are underpaid even though it is one of the most prosperous countries in the world when it comes to the VFX and gaming industry.
Another example, if you live in Asia, Africa, or even South America you will probably not be able to get paid a lot. Like in China and India and some parts of South America. Your annual salary as a 3D artist is not going to surpass ten thousand dollars.
That’s why many studios in the US and Canada outsource their work to be done in these countries because it is way more affordable and makes a lot more financial sense especially when it comes to AAA video games and big Hollywood movies.
Also depending on the city you live in, your salary is going to vary, and this is a list where 3D artists on average get paid the most:
| City | Annual |
| Lakes, AK | $69,164 |
| San Francisco, CA | $68,157 |
| Santa Clara, CA | $67,922 |
| Washington, DC | $67,281 |
| Fremont, CA | $65,507 |
| Green River, WY | $65,384 |
| San Jose, CA | $64,183 |
2. Income based on position
One of the most important things that people don’t consider before looking at numbers is experience and how many years you’re going to have to spend to be able to earn that income. And remember that these numbers are averages. So please take it with a grain of salt.
| 3 years | 3-6 Years | 6+ Years | |
| Game Artist/Animator | $40.000 | $55.000 | $80.000 |
| Lead/Technical Artist | $73.000 | $105.000 | |
| Art Director | $110.000 |
Also, we can break down salaries by job title, this means income is paid based on a specific task that the artist is responsible for. Also, we are going to show the range of income from low to high, depending on the factors that we talked about before like cities, industry, the studio, etc.
| Low/year | High/year | |
| Concept Artist | $45,000 | $100,000 |
| Character Artist | $45,000 | $70,000 |
| Environment Artist | $55,000 | $120,000 |
| Technical Artist | $40,000 | $105,000 |
| Character Animator | $40,000 | $100,000 |
| Game Artist (Generalist) | $45,000 | $95,000 |
3. Income based on studio
To give you an idea about the average salary for 3D artists in this category, we chose a bunch of popular game studios located in North America. I would say that this category is the least accurate because it lacks data, but it will give us a nice overview. We also included links for each studio if you want to check their “Careers” page for more insights. Again, please take it with a grain of salt:
| Low/year | High/year | |
| Blizzard Entertainment | $44,000 | $84,000 |
| Electronic Arts | $49,000 | $103,000 |
| Activision | $44,000 | $83,000 |
| Ubisoft | $44,000 | $90,000 |
| Blur Studio | $42,000 | $89,000 |
| Gameloft | $43,000 | $73,000 |
| Rockstar San Diego | $46,000 | $120,000 |
Overall, this subject is really tricky and complicated. Also, it is easy to misinterpret this as false information based on where you live, your level of skill, your industry, Your experience, and the company you work for.
And as we said before, how much you going to make varies hugely from country to country and even from city to city within the same country. For example in the same country, rent can be $1000 in one city and $3,000 in another city for the same apartment. This has a huge impact on how much Studios and companies pay their employees because this will factor in how much companies pay to bring employees and keep them long enough and satisfied long-term.
Final thoughts
Basically, I believe it boils down to two things. The cost of living in the country or the city you are in right now, and how much your studio is willing to pay, and what it could afford.
I personally believe that you can make enough money no matter where you are in the world because if you are complaining about not making enough money if you live in a developing or third world country, remember that your currency is lower so having job opportunities online will allow you to get paid with US Dollars, Euros or Pounds. This means more value for you and since your cost of living is lower it means you’re having a better deal.
Basically, there are no limits to how much you can make if you are resourceful and creative especially if you are a freelance artist.
But if you are working full-time in a studio then it might be a problem. It’s mainly because sometimes you have to face too many working hours on your plate, especially if crunch is part of the culture in your studios or company. Game studio employees work about 12 hours on average, which is a little bit too much and unfair sometimes (unless there are compensated properly).
We hope you found this article useful and informative, comment below if you think that we’ve missed something or if you have any other suggestions. Thank you for reading.
