Maryland·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-1019

Best Artist programs in Maryland, ranked by enrollment

All artists and related workers not listed.

21 schools in Maryland run programs that feed this job, graduating 682 people a year. The job pays a median of $128,610 in Maryland across about 470 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledFramerColorerCopyistColoristDesignerVisualizerAutographerTaxidermist
Graduates / yr
682
in Maryland
Median pay · Maryland
$128,610
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
470
people employed
Schools
21
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
51%
across those schools
Median net price
$26,585
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Maryland that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

8 programs in Maryland that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Maryland (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Maryland page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 50.0702In Maryland
256
37.5%
8$24,447$25,294
2
CIP 50.0402In Maryland
128
18.8%
7$31,611$26,000
3
CIP 50.0410In Maryland
120
17.6%
1$31,611$26,000
4
CIP 50.0101In Maryland
62
9.1%
6$24,752$25,963
5
CIP 50.0409In Maryland
52
7.6%
5$31,611$26,000
6
CIP 50.0799In Maryland
42
6.2%
3$24,447$25,294
7
CIP 50.0102In Maryland
21
3.1%
3$24,752$25,963
8
CIP 50.1101In Maryland
1
0.1%
1

Top 21 schools in Maryland

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 21 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
128Illustration$27,24672%$37,65977%
2University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
79Fine/Studio Arts, General$32,03189%45%
3Montgomery College
Rockville, MD Public · 3 feeder programs
70Commercial and Advertising Art32%
4Towson University
Towson, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
68Fine/Studio Arts, General$29,95869%82%
5University of Maryland - Baltimore County
Baltimore, MD Public · 3 feeder programs
62Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other$23,87970%72%
6Community College of Baltimore County
Baltimore, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
61Visual and Performing Arts, General19%
7Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
33Graphic Design31%
8Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
33Fine/Studio Arts, General$20,63268%87%
9St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's City, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
30Fine/Studio Arts, General70%69%
10Prince George's Community College
Largo, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
21Commercial and Advertising Art18%
11University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Princess Anne, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
17Commercial and Advertising Art35%96%
12Frederick Community College
Frederick, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
16Graphic Design37%
13Cecil College
North East, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
12Fine/Studio Arts, General37%
14Frostburg State University
Frostburg, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
10Fine/Studio Arts, General$24,64950%89%
15College of Southern Maryland
La Plata, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
9Commercial and Advertising Art33%
16Goucher College
Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
8Visual and Performing Arts, General57%$22,66778%
17Coppin State University
Baltimore, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
7Fine/Studio Arts, General26%46%
18Hagerstown Community College
Hagerstown, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
6Commercial and Advertising Art39%
19Harford Community College
Bel Air, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
6Visual and Performing Arts, General39%
20Loyola University Maryland
Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other79%$26,58575%
21Women's Institute of Torah Seminary and College
Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Graphic Design100%$11,88198%

All 21 schools in Maryland

Every school in Maryland with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Maryland that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Maryland Institute College of ArtBaltimorePrivate not-for-profit1284
University of Maryland - College ParkCollege ParkPublic791
Montgomery CollegeRockvillePublic703
Towson UniversityTowsonPublic681
University of Maryland - Baltimore CountyBaltimorePublic623
Community College of Baltimore CountyBaltimorePublic612
Anne Arundel Community CollegeArnoldPublic331
Salisbury UniversitySalisburyPublic331
St. Mary's College of MarylandSt. Mary's CityPublic302
Prince George's Community CollegeLargoPublic211
University of Maryland Eastern ShorePrincess AnnePublic171
Frederick Community CollegeFrederickPublic162
Cecil CollegeNorth EastPublic122
Frostburg State UniversityFrostburgPublic101
College of Southern MarylandLa PlataPublic91

What artists and related workers, all other earn in Maryland

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Maryland
$128,610
Mean annual
$122,640
Jobs in state
470
What the range looks like
10th pct$80,180Median$128,61090th pct$156,750
Versus the national median
+80.5%

U.S. median $71,240. Maryland pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
3.79×

Concentrated here: Maryland employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Maryland

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
$132,620median
100 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+0.8%
Little or no change
Openings per year
1,200
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
100
13,900 → 14,000
Typical entry education
No formal educational credential
Plus long-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Artists and Related Workers, All Other page.

How to become a Artist

Typical entry education
No formal educational credential
On-the-job training
Long-term on-the-job training

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Maryland

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 9 majors mapped to Artists and Related Workers, All Other9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 50.0101Visual and Performing Arts, General
  • 50.0102Digital Arts
  • 50.0201Crafts/Craft Design, Folk Art and Artisanry
  • 50.0402Commercial and Advertising Art
  • 50.0409Graphic Design
  • 50.0410Illustration
  • 50.0702Fine/Studio Arts, General
  • 50.0799Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other
  • 50.1101Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art

Common questions

Answers for people weighing artists and related workers, all other programs in Maryland.

What degree do you need to become an Artist?+

No formal educational credential is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Fine/Studio Arts, General, which awarded 256 degrees in Maryland in 2024-25, 37.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Artist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 8 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Fine and Studio Arts, Visual and Performing Arts, Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art. Together they graduate about 682 people a year in Maryland.

How much do artists and related workers, all other earn in Maryland?+

The median is $128,610 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 80.5% above the U.S. median of $71,240. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for artists and related workers, all other growing?+

BLS projects a +0.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 1,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Maryland?+

21 institutions in Maryland reported graduates from at least one of the 8 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+

BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'Long-term on-the-job training' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.

Artists and Related Workers, All Other in other statesCaliforniaFloridaTexasNorth CarolinaOhioPennsylvaniaNew HampshireMassachusetts

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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