Also called: Traditional Animator, Hand-Drawn Animator
Creates hand-drawn or digital 2D animation for TV series, films, games, and online content.
They draw key poses in software like Toon Boom Harmony and refine movement frame by frame. TV production schedules are fast, so animators hit weekly quotas. Many work remotely.
Based on BLS special effects artists and animators (27-1014), May 2024: median $99,800, 10th pct about $57k, 90th pct about $175k. 2D work averages lower than 3D feature work.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in animation or illustration.
Ways in: 4-year college, Self-taught. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Animation, Illustration.
Growing about average (about 2% over 10 years). Follows animator projections.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. AI in-betweening and coloring cut labor on TV and web series; key poses, timing and acting still need skilled animators.
Classes: Drawing and figure-sketching, Digital art, Drama.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-1014.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.