Also called: Foley Walker
Performs everyday sound effects live in a studio to match picture: footsteps, punches, rustling clothes.
A foley artist watches a scene on a big screen and walks in place on gravel in boots to match each step, then snaps celery for breaking bones and shakes leather for a horse's saddle.
Approximate; Motion Picture Editors Guild (Local 700) rates on studio projects.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. Usually learned by apprenticing at a foley studio; acting and timing skills help.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Apprenticeship. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Theater, Film Production, Audio Engineering.
Growing slowly. Tiny field with only a few hundred full-time artists in the US.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI can generate footsteps and cloth sounds from video, a growing threat; skilled foley performance still wins on top projects.
Classes: Theater, Music (percussion), Physical education, Film/video production CTE.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-4014.
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.