Arts, Design & Media
Stage & Production Designers
SOC 27-1027
Design and oversee sets for theater, film, and television productions.
The job
Median pay
$75k
$53k to $104k typical range
Outlook, 2025 to 2035
Growing
+1.4% projected
Openings a year
2k
BLS projection
Typical education
Bachelor's
Our model
AI displacement risk
High
How much of this job AI may do instead of the person
Works with AI
7/100
AI alongside the person rather than instead of them
AI exposure
58th pct
More exposed than 58% of occupations · modeled estimate · 77th pct in Microsoft's data
Future-proof
43/100
Key skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Active Learning
Pay and jobs by state
BLS OEWS May 2025, 51 states. Sorted by jobs; per 1,000 is jobs per thousand workers in the state; vs national compares that rate with the country's. A tilde marks a figure estimated from the parent occupation group where BLS publishes none.
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 2,690 | 0.1 | 2.2× | $105k |
| New York | 1,690 | 0.2 | 2.5× | $99k~ |
| Florida | 740 | 0.1 | 1.1× | $61k |
| Maryland | 420 | 0.2 | 2.2× | $81k |
| Utah | 340 | 0.2 | 2.9× | $45k |
| Illinois | 330 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $76k~ |
| North Carolina | 318 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $49k~ |
| Georgia | 310 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $67k |
| Missouri | 290 | 0.1 | 1.4× | $52k |
| Ohio | 290 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $55k |
All 51 states
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 280 | 0.1 | 2.1× | $63k |
| Massachusetts | 230 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $75k |
| Tennessee | 230 | 0.1 | 1.0× | $60k~ |
| New Jersey | 220 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $76k |
| Texas | 210 | 0.0 | 0.2× | $57k |
| Washington DC | 190 | 0.3 | 4.0× | $77k |
| Nevada | 180 | 0.1 | 1.7× | $51k |
| Colorado | 170 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $79k~ |
| Washington | 170 | 0.0 | 0.7× | $77k |
| Minnesota | 150 | 0.1 | 0.7× | $66k |
| Michigan | 140 | 0.0 | 0.5× | $51k |
| Pennsylvania | 120 | 0.0 | 0.3× | $60k |
| Virginia | 120 | 0.0 | 0.4× | $59k |
| Indiana | 110 | 0.0 | 0.5× | $72k |
| Louisiana | 97 | 0.1 | 0.7× | $60k~ |
| Alabama | 94 | 0.0 | 0.7× | $59k~ |
| Kansas | 84 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $59k~ |
| Arizona | 70 | 0.0 | 0.3× | $46k |
| Connecticut | 70 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $61k |
| New Mexico | 70 | 0.1 | 1.2× | $63k~ |
| Iowa | 60 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $51k |
| Arkansas | 50 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $39k |
| Nebraska | 50 | 0.0 | 0.7× | $74k |
| Oklahoma | 50 | 0.0 | 0.4× | $61k~ |
| South Carolina | 50 | 0.0 | 0.3× | $61k~ |
| Wisconsin | 50 | 0.0 | 0.3× | $68k~ |
| Hawaii | 49 | 0.1 | 1.1× | $69k~ |
| Idaho | 49 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $59k~ |
| Mississippi | 47 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $52k~ |
| Montana | 41 | 0.1 | 1.2× | $61k~ |
| Kentucky | 40 | 0.0 | 0.3× | $53k |
| Maine | 40 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $64k~ |
| Rhode Island | 40 | 0.1 | 1.2× | $78k~ |
| New Hampshire | 36 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $71k~ |
| North Dakota | 26 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $59k~ |
| West Virginia | 26 | 0.0 | 0.5× | $55k~ |
| South Dakota | 25 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $55k~ |
| Vermont | 25 | 0.1 | 1.2× | $75k~ |
| Delaware | 21 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $72k~ |
| Alaska | 17 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $64k~ |
| Wyoming | 13 | 0.0 | 0.7× | $60k~ |
Top metro areas
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA1,870 jobs · $107k median
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ1,620 jobs · $87k median
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV420 jobs · $83k median
- Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL310 jobs · $61k median
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA290 jobs · $109k median
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN280 jobs
- Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA240 jobs · $63k median
- Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD220 jobs · $80k median
Explore the rankings
Explore Stage & Production Designers interactively →Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2025-2035). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How these numbers are made.