Best degree programs for Costume Attendants, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 45 schools train Costume Attendants. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $50,400 median wage, 6,510 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 45 schools train costume attendants, graduating 404 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Other. The job pays a median of $50,400 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About costume attendants
Select, fit, and take care of costumes for cast members, and aid entertainers. May assist with multiple costume changes during performances.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0599 | 404 | 100.0% | 45 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
Top 45 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What costume attendants earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $95,230 | 950 | 2.33× | 5 | 124 |
| Floridalimited | $40,680 | 670 | 1.61× | 2 | 82 |
| Virginialimited | $46,790 | 40 | 0.25× | 2 | 27 |
| Massachusettsmoderate | $55,190 | 90 | 0.61× | 3 | 23 |
| Kentuckylimited | $37,240 | 40 | 0.43× | 1 | 19 |
| Indianamoderate | $34,160 | 40 | 0.32× | 4 | 14 |
| Californiamoderate | $72,030 | 1,620 | 2.12× | 3 | 11 |
| Pennsylvaniamoderate | $50,270 | 260 | 1.04× | 4 | 11 |
| Missourilimited | $40,800 | 110 | 0.88× | 2 | 10 |
| North Carolinamoderate | $33,920 | 50 | 0.22× | 4 | 9 |
| District of Columbialimited | $53,290 | 60 | 1.95× | 1 | 8 |
| Michiganmoderate | $31,920 | 80 | 0.43× | 3 | 6 |
| Minnesotalimited | $52,000 | 80 | 0.64× | 1 | 5 |
| Tennesseelimited | $45,220 | 50 | 0.35× | 1 | 4 |
| Coloradolimited | $57,960 | 40 | 0.33× | 1 | 3 |
| Illinoislimited | $49,170 | 140 | 0.56× | 1 | 3 |
| Wisconsinlimited | $38,470 | 160 | 1.31× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Create worksheets for dressing lists, show notes, or costume checks.
- Provide dressing assistance to cast members or assign cast dressers to assist specific cast members with costume changes.
- Arrange costumes in order of use to facilitate quick-change procedures for performances.
- Design or construct costumes or send them to tailors for construction, major repairs, or alterations.
- Examine costume fit on cast members and sketch or write notes for alterations.
- Distribute costumes or related equipment and keep records of item status.
- Check the appearance of costumes on stage or under lights to determine whether desired effects are being achieved.
- Clean and press costumes before and after performances and perform any minor repairs.
Skills
- Monitoring3.1
- Active Listening3.1
- Speaking3.1
- Critical Thinking2.9
- Reading Comprehension2.9
- Writing2.5
- Active Learning2.5
- Learning Strategies1.9
Knowledge areas
- Fine Arts3.6
- Design3.2
- Production and Processing3.2
- Customer and Personal Service3.1
- English Language3.1
- Psychology3.1
Abilities
- Oral Expression3.6
- Oral Comprehension3.6
- Near Vision3.3
- Problem Sensitivity3.3
- Category Flexibility3.1
- Information Ordering3.1
Core activities
- Thinking Creatively4.2
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.2
- Getting Information4.2
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.1
- Handling and Moving Objects4.1
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.0
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Costume Attendant
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Costume Attendants1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0599Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Other
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Costume Attendant?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Other, which awarded 404 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Costume Attendant?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. Together they graduate about 404 people a year.
How much do costume attendants earn?+
The median is $50,400 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $32,150 at the 10th percentile to $109,520 at the 90th. 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 costume attendants growing?+
BLS projects a +5.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 1,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
45 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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.
What other job titles do costume attendants work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Dresser, Costumer, Wardrobe Assistant, Wardrobe Supervisor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 39-3092.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card