2022 Central Valley

The Central Valley saw the second largest decline in creative economy employment among all regions over the past decade with 18% fewer creative economy jobs in 2019 compared to 2007. Leading the decline was the Fashion sector, where employment declined by 47.7%. By 2020, creative economy employment accounted for only 1.6% of the total workforce, the smallest share among all regions.

The pandemic caused employers to lay off 10% of the creative economy workforce, and employment in 2020 was 26% smaller compared to 2007 levels. The Fine and Performing Arts sector was the most affected, with employment shrinking by 16.7% percent from 2019 to 2020. However, not all sectors equally impacted by the pandemic. For instance, the Architecture and Related Services sector saw a 1% increase in employment over the same period.

The average annual wage for the creative economy was $65,591 in 2020, an increase of over 50% since 2007. Like all other regions, creative economy compensation far outpaced the economy overall where workers had an average annual wage of $49,787 in 2020. The Entertainment and Digital. Media sector saw the largest average annual wage gains in the creative economy, growing by 66.9% from 2007 to 2020.

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