Craft business data is measured imperfectly because official sources usually count craft artists as workers rather than craft businesses. The figures below define each population, period, geography, and measurement type so occupational estimates are not mistaken for owner revenue, business counts, or profit.
Key Craft Business Statistics
These figures summarize the most useful measures across the available U.S. occupational, regional, forecast, and wider creative-business data:
- In May 2023, 5,830 craft artists were estimated to work in the United States in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) craft-artist occupation.
- In May 2023, craft artists represented 0.003% of U.S. employment in the BLS occupation estimate.
- In May 2023, the mean craft-artist wage was $20.97 per hour in the United States.
- In May 2023, the mean annual craft-artist wage was $43,610 in the United States.
- In May 2023, the median craft-artist wage was $17.59 per hour in the United States.
- In May 2023, the 90th-percentile craft-artist wage was $32.68 per hour in the United States.
- In May 2023, independent artists, writers, and performers employed 1,500 craft artists in the United States.
- In May 2023, Michigan had an estimated 1,130 craft artists, the largest state count listed in the supplied BLS data.
- In May 2023, California craft artists had a mean annual wage of $86,680.
- In May 2023, Michigan’s craft-artist location quotient was 6.75, indicating relative occupational concentration rather than market share.
- In May 2023, Detroit-Warren-Dearborn had 560 craft artists and a 7.61 location quotient.
- In May 2023, Muskegon had 40 craft artists and a 17.99 location quotient, a small-area concentration measure.
- In 2025, about 53,400 U.S. jobs were in the combined craft-and-fine-artist occupation.
- From 2025 to 2035, BLS projects about 4,300 annual openings for U.S. craft and fine artists.
- From 2025 to 2035, BLS projects craft-artist employment to rise 2%, from 11,500 to 11,800 jobs.
- In May 2025, the median annual wage for combined craft and fine artists was $55,290 in the United States.
- In March 2025, 599,425 businesses were counted in the UK DCMS sectors covered by the release.
- In March 2025, microbusinesses with 0–9 employees made up 87.5% of those included UK DCMS-sector businesses.
Contents
- Craft business workforce size and structure
- Craft business wages and income context
- Craft business statistics by state and metro
- Craft business concentration and local trends
- Craft business outlook and creative-sector context
Craft Business Workforce Size and Structure
The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) estimate for May 2023 counted 5,830 craft artists in the United States. Craft artists represented 0.003% of U.S. employment, and the employment estimate had a 7.1% relative standard error (RSE), which measures sampling precision rather than business volatility.
The BLS figure is an occupational estimate, not a census of businesses. It also does not capture every freelancer, nonemployer, maker, or owner whose work is classified outside the craft-artist occupation.
The largest listed industry populations were:
- Independent artists, writers, and performers employed 1,500 craft artists.
- Sporting-goods, hobby, and musical-instrument retailers employed 860 craft artists.
- Other miscellaneous retailers employed 340 craft artists.
- Miscellaneous store retailers in the listed NAICS 4594 and 4595 categories employed 310 craft artists.
- Other miscellaneous manufacturing employed 250 craft artists.
- Specialized design services employed 230 craft artists.
- Performing-arts companies employed 100 craft artists.
These industry figures describe craft-artist employment within selected industries, not the number of craft businesses operating in each category. The source is Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 27-1012 Craft Artists.
Craft Business Wages and Income Context
Employee wage data provides labor-market context for craft work, but it is not a direct measure of self-employed sales, owner draw, gross revenue, or profit. BLS OEWS wage and employment estimates generally exclude self-employed workers, who are important in craft business activity.
U.S. craft-artist wage distribution, May 2023
| Wage measure | U.S. estimate |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile hourly wage | $10.10 |
| 25th percentile hourly wage | $14.00 |
| Median hourly wage | $17.59 |
| Mean hourly wage | $20.97 |
| 75th percentile hourly wage | $23.56 |
| 90th percentile hourly wage | $32.68 |
| Mean annual wage | $43,610 |
The annual-wage RSE was 3.4%, a precision measure rather than an earnings spread. The source is Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 27-1012 Craft Artists.
Mean annual wages also varied across the industries listed by BLS:
- Craft artists in independent artists, writers, and performers averaged $41,880 annually.
- Craft artists in hobby and musical-instrument retail averaged $37,940 annually.
- Craft artists in specialized design services averaged $49,180 annually.
- Craft artists in other miscellaneous manufacturing averaged $41,480 annually.
- Craft artists in performing-arts companies averaged $80,220 annually; this was a small subgroup and may be relatively unstable.
- Craft artists in motion-picture and video industries averaged $112,430 annually.
- Craft artists in management of companies and enterprises averaged $83,810 annually; this was a small subgroup.
- Craft artists in employment services averaged $61,060 annually.
- Craft artists in amusement parks and arcades averaged $56,110 annually.
These are employee wage estimates within industries, not business income. A craft business can have revenue that differs substantially from the wage of an employed craft artist because materials, equipment, labor, fees, taxes, and other costs are not represented.
Craft Business Statistics by State and Metro Area
State counts show where the BLS craft-artist occupation was estimated to be concentrated in absolute terms during May 2023. They should not be read as counts of craft firms or as measures of local demand.
| State | Craft artists | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 1,130 | — |
| California | 480 | $86,680 |
| Florida | 410 | — |
| Texas | 360 | — |
| Connecticut | 320 | — |
| Maryland | — | $70,130 |
| Georgia | — | $61,640 |
| New York | — | $59,610 |
A dash indicates that the supplied fact set did not provide that state’s value for the other measure; New York’s employment count was suppressed. The source is Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 27-1012 Craft Artists.
At metropolitan level, the supplied BLS figures include Detroit-Warren-Dearborn with 560 craft artists, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim with 330, and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell with 150. Their location quotients were 7.61, 1.38, and 1.35, respectively; Detroit’s wage was not published in the table.
Craft Business Concentration and Local-Market Trends
A location quotient compares an occupation’s local concentration with the national pattern. It is not market share, business profitability, customer spending, or evidence that a location has more craft-business revenue.
The highest listed state location quotients were:
- Michigan: 6.75.
- Maine: 5.94.
- Connecticut: 5.08.
- Vermont: 3.29.
- New Hampshire: 2.12.
The local figures illustrate why concentration and scale must be read together. Muskegon had 40 craft artists and a 17.99 location quotient, while the Upper Peninsula of Michigan nonmetropolitan area had 30 craft artists and a location quotient of 8.11; both are small employment bases, so a high quotient does not mean a large market.
The source is Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 27-1012 Craft Artists. Small-area estimates and suppressed values require particular care when assessing a craft business opportunity.
Craft Business Outlook and Creative-Sector Context
BLS’s broader occupational outlook combines craft and fine artists, so it is not directly comparable with the May 2023 craft-artist-only estimate. The outlook offers context for employment demand rather than a forecast of craft-business count or sales.
| Measure | Estimate or forecast | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Employment in 2025 | About 53,400 jobs | Combined U.S. craft and fine artists |
| Employment in 2035 | 53,000 jobs | BLS forecast, combined occupation |
| Change, 2025–2035 | 1% decline | Combined occupation |
| Annual openings, 2025–2035 | About 4,300 | Includes replacement needs |
| Craft-artist jobs in 2025 | 11,500 | Craft artists alone |
| Craft-artist jobs in 2035 | 11,800 | BLS forecast |
| Craft-artist change, 2025–2035 | 2% increase | Craft artists alone |
For combined craft and fine artists, the May 2025 median annual wage was $55,290. The 10th-percentile wage was below $31,490 and the 90th-percentile wage exceeded $131,810; these are employee wage thresholds, not business profit or owner income.
The source is Craft and Fine Artists: Occupational Outlook Handbook. The projections are rounded and should not be treated as a direct forecast for individual craft businesses.
Wider creative-business context in the United Kingdom
The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport counted 599,425 businesses in the included DCMS sectors in March 2025. That broad population covered creative industries, cultural, gambling, sport, and tourism sectors, so it is not a craft-only business count.
The included sectors represented 21.9% of all UK registered businesses in March 2025. Their business count increased 1.5% from March 2024 to March 2025 and 1.6% from March 2019 to March 2025.
The structure of this broad sector population was heavily weighted toward small businesses:
- Microbusinesses with 0–9 employees made up 87.5% of included UK DCMS-sector businesses in March 2025.
- Businesses with turnover below £250,000 made up 71.6% of included UK DCMS-sector businesses in March 2025.
- London contained 24.3% of business sites in the included UK DCMS sectors in March 2025.
The UK release warns that business-count changes do not necessarily imply changes in economic output and that the sector definitions overlap. Its source is DCMS Economic Estimates: Business Demographics, 2025.
Together, these figures show why craft-business analysis benefits from keeping three questions separate: how many people work in the occupation, how concentrated the occupation is geographically, and how many businesses exist in a broader creative-sector population. The supplied official measures do not provide a single craft-business total or a standardized craft-business revenue measure.