2022 Capital Region

After years of slow growth, the creative economy in the Capital Region finally began to gain traction just before the pandemic. There were roughly 6% more jobs in the creative economy in 2019 compared to 2007, but the economic downturn caused a 6.5% drop in employment in 2020. Certain sectors, such as Entertainment and Digital Media, saw employment increasing by an even faster rate at 12.4% from 2007 to 2019.

Others did not fare as well. Creative Goods and Products saw a 26% decline in employment over this period. Following the broader statewide trend, the Fine and Performing Arts sector was the hardest hit by the pandemic with employment shrinking by 20.6%. By 2020, creative economy employment accounted for only around 3.9% of the total workforce.

Like many other regions, the Entertainment and Digital Media sector accounts for the majority of all jobs in the creative economy with a 61% workforce share and is the only sector to have added jobs over the past decade. It also boasts the most highly compensated workforce with an average annual wage of $96,450, an increase of over 56% from 2007 to 2020. The average annual wage for the creative economy, at $88,633, was considerably higher than the economy as a whole, at $64,915. Moreover, creative economy wages grew by 51% between 2007 and 2020, which outpaced wage growth for the economy overall.

For more information on the regions, please download the 2022 Otis College Report on the Creative Economy.