Alabama State University dance students performing at the Alabama Dance Festival in January 2025. Photo: Clark Scott/Alabama Dance Festival
A new nationwide survey shows many U.S. artists are economically vulnerable and often overlooked as part of the workforce. The report, authored by Gwendolyn Rugg of NORC at the University of Chicago and funded by the Mellon Foundation, draws on responses from more than 2,600 artists across disciplines and working arrangements. Respondents answered questions about housing, hours worked, health benefits and income sources.
Rugg, a senior research scientist at NORC, said the study was designed to fill a surprising data gap. “We all know the trope of the starving artist,” she said, “but there’s actually surprisingly little reliable data out there to back this up.” The report aims to provide a more complete, nuanced picture of how artists make a living today.
Major findings include:
– 57% of artists said they were “somewhat or very worried” about affording food, housing, medical care or utilities.
– 37% reported receiving income from public assistance, including Social Security or state and local welfare programs.
– 34% identified as self-employed; 11% held three or more jobs at once.
– 28% provided unpaid care to a family member or friend because of a health condition or disability.
The survey reinforces earlier research showing that many artists do not earn steady incomes and often lack safety nets. Museums, grant programs and venues can be unstable funding sources; during the COVID-19 pandemic, performance spaces were among the first to close and last to fully reopen.
Gonzalo Casals, who commissioned the survey while he was a senior policy fellow for arts and culture at the Mellon Foundation and now co-directs the Culture and Arts Policy Institute, said the lack of comprehensive data leaves artists effectively invisible. “And not having that data,” he said, “you’re invisible.”
Local arts leaders say the numbers reflect day-to-day realities. Kerri-Noelle Humphrey, executive director of the Alabama Dance Council, uses available research to advocate for dancers and dance organizations. She noted that many company dancers lack employer-provided health insurance, despite the athletic demands of their work. “Most dancers who work in a company don’t have health insurance benefits,” Humphrey said. “When you work in a career that is athletic, you would think having the ability to go to a doctor for regular care would be part of your full-time job. And it is not necessarily that way. So the data helps us quantify those stories that we see every day.”
Rugg emphasized that strong programs and policies rely on good data, but she acknowledged that many arts organizations have avoided collecting or using data because of limited resources or institutional reluctance. To help change that, the research team has published the full study and the survey instrument so others can use or replicate the work. Rugg said the team spent more than a year developing the questionnaire, adapting high-quality items from other sources and creating new questions to fill gaps. By releasing the instrument publicly, she said, other groups can apply it to their own communities.
The study’s findings highlight a tension: while the arts are frequently credited with positive economic impact and educational benefits, many individual artists still struggle to meet basic needs and to access reliable supports. Advocates hope the new data will make those struggles harder to ignore and help shape policies and programs that address the realities of artists’ work and livelihoods.