2022 Central Coast

In recent years, the pace of employment growth for the Central Coast’s creative economy has lagged behind other industries in the region. Creative economy employment in the region increased by only 0.6% to roughly 38,850 workers between 2007 and 2019. This is far slower than the 7.6% job growth in the economy overall during the same period. As in other regions, Entertainment and Digital Media saw employment increase by 6.7% from 2007 to 2019, while employment in the Creative Goods and Products sector dropped by almost a quarter.

The creative economy was further set back by the pandemic, shedding almost 7.2% of jobs in 2020. Accounting for this decline, creative economy employment is 7% smaller than 2007 levels and accounts for roughly 4% of the region’s total workforce. The Fine and Performing Arts sector fared the worst, with employment shrinking by 19%. And while the Architecture and Related Services sector avoided significant damage from the pandemic, employment still dropped by 1.8%. Average annual wages for the creative economy in 2020 were $93,690, far higher than the average annual wage for the overall economy which stood at $58,012.

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