Also called: Cartoon Voice Actor
Voices characters in animated TV shows and movies.
An animation voice actor stands in a booth with headphones, performs a character's lines in many ways, and records 'efforts' like screams and laughs, often with the director on a speaker.
Voice work is freelance and paid per session or project. SAG-AFTRA scale for TV animation is roughly $1,000+ per session; most voice actors piece together commercials, games, e-learning, and animation.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. Acting training and voice-over classes; a demo reel.
Ways in: Self-taught, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Theater, Acting.
Growing slowly. Competitive; AI voices are a major concern.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. AI voice clones now cover many minor roles and smaller projects; union deals protect some, but breaking in gets harder.
Classes: Theater, Choir, Speech and debate, English literature.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-2011.
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.