2022 Northern California

With a quarter of the total workforce laid off since 2007, the Northern California region has witnessed the greatest percentage decrease in creative economy employment among all regions in recent years. This decline reflects the broader economic malaise experienced across all sectors in the region, where total employment barely grew over 1% from 2007 to 2019. In 2020, creative economy employment accounted for around 2% of the total workforce – the second smallest share among all regions – and was 31% smaller than in it was in 2007.

The creative economy workforce is concentrated in Entertainment and Digital Media, which accounts for 49% of the 8,090 total jobs in the region overall. On a granular level, the Creative Goods and Products sector was the hardest hit over the past decade with employment declining by 45.6% from 2007 to 2019, while the Fine and Performing Arts sector was the most resilient over the same period with employment increasing by 9.9%. The average annual wage for creative economy jobs was $53,016 in 2020, up 35% since 2007.

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