Animation Salary
$33.5K is the 25th percentile. Wages below this are outliers.
$22K - $33.5K
25% of jobs
$33.5K - $45K
0% of jobs
$45K - $56.5K
19% of jobs
The median wage is $61.5K / yr.
$56.5K - $68K
13% of jobs
$68K - $79.5K
5% of jobs
$79.5K - $91K
1% of jobs
$91K - $102.5K
0% of jobs
$102.5K - $114K
1% of jobs
$124.9K is the 75th percentile. Wages above this are outliers.
$114K - $125.5K
12% of jobs
$125.5K - $137K
7% of jobs
$137K - $148.5K
18% of jobs
$22K
$65K
$146K
$81,974
/year
$39.41
/hour
Animation Salary Comparison by Location
Nationwide
United States
$81,974
Columbus
Ohio
$79,178
Do you get a good deal as an Animation?
Take The Breakroom Quiz to find out if your job offers fair pay and conditions. The 3-minute quiz lets you compare your pay, hours, benefits, and more.
Take The Breakroom Quiz
How much does an Animation make?
As of Jun 16, 2026, the average annual pay for an Animation in the United States is $81,974 a year.
Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $39.41 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,576/week or $6,831/month.
While ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $146,000 and as low as $22,000, the majority of Animation salaries currently range between $45,500 (25th percentile) to $133,000 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $146,000 annually across the United States. The average pay range for an Animation varies greatly (by as much as 87500), which suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience.
An Animation in your area makes on average $79,178 per year, or $2,796 (3.411%) less than the national average annual salary of $81,974. Ohio ranks number 43 out of 50 states nationwide for Animation salaries.
To estimate the most accurate annual salary range for Animation jobs, ZipRecruiter continuously scans its database of millions of active jobs published locally throughout America.
Find your next high paying job as an Animation on ZipRecruiter today.
What are Top 10 Highest Paying Cities for Animation Jobs
We've identified 10 cities where the typical salary for an Animation job is above the national average. Topping the list is Paramount, CA, , with Bally, PA, and Nome, AK, close behind in the second and third positions. Nome, AK, beats the national average by $19,714 (24.0%), and Paramount, CA, furthers that trend with another $26,127 (31.9%) above the $81,974 average.
With these 10 cities having average salaries higher than the national average, the opportunities for economic advancement by changing locations as an Animation appears to be exceedingly fruitful.
Finally, another factor to consider is the average salary for these top 10 cities varies very little at 9% between Paramount, CA, and Sitka, AK, , reinforcing the limited potential for much wage advancement. The possibility of a lower cost of living may be the best factor to use when considering location and salary for an Animation role.
City | Annual Salary | Hourly Wage |
|---|---|---|
Paramount, CA | $108,101 | $51.97 |
Bally, PA | $103,415 | $49.72 |
Nome, AK | $101,688 | $48.89 |
Cupertino, CA | $101,135 | $48.62 |
California City, CA | $100,536 | $48.33 |
Mercer Island, WA | $100,396 | $48.27 |
Collings Lakes, NJ | $100,387 | $48.26 |
Berkeley, CA | $100,372 | $48.26 |
Redwood City, CA | $100,365 | $48.25 |
Sitka, AK | $98,752 | $47.48 |
What are Top 5 Best Paying Related Animation Jobs in the U.S.
We found a few related jobs that pay more than jobs in the Animation category.
For example Digital Content Designer jobs pay as much as $43,411 (53.0%) more than the average Animation salary of $81,974. If you're qualified, finding work as an Digital Content Designer may help you make more money than that of the average Animation position.
Job Title | Annual Salary | Hourly Wage |
|---|---|---|
Digital Content Designer | $125,385 | $60.28 |
Junior Vfx Artist | $105,989 | $50.96 |
Senior Multimedia Designer | $77,513 | $37.27 |
Animation Background Artist | $60,546 | $29.11 |
3D Rigger | $54,114 | $26.02 |
About Our Data
ZipRecruiter salary estimates, histograms, trends and comparisons are derived from both employer job postings and third party data sources.
