3,200 professional artists in Hamilton in 2021
Most artists are self-employed, and typical income levels are low
The article offers an analysis of the demographics, employment characteristics, and incomes of artists in Hamilton, along with a brief summary of workers in arts leadership occupations and those in all occupations in the arts, culture, and heritage (a category that includes artists and arts leaders). The article is based on custom data that Hill Strategies requested from Statistics Canada’s 2021 long-form census.
The article is made possible with the support of the City of Hamilton. Hill Strategies Research retained editorial control of the content.
The occupational perspective in this article counts people who work across the economy, as long as they are classified into one of 10 artist occupation groups, 5 arts leadership occupation groups, or 52 cultural occupation groups. Details about the occupation groups included in each of the categories are available, as are the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups. Contextual information about the strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers is also available.
Provincial and national context: Artists, arts leaders, and all cultural workers
The 81,800 professional artists who reside in Ontario account for 40% of the 202,900 artists in Canada. As a percentage of the overall labour force, artists represent 1.0% in both Ontario and Canada. A finer analysis shows that 1 in every 96 Ontario workers and every 102 Canadian workers is an artist. (Articles related to Ontario artists and Canadian artists are available. The Canadian post provides a list of the 10 artist occupation groups.)
56,200 Canadians, including 23,000 Ontarians, work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders. Ontario accounts for 41% of Canada’s arts leaders, slightly higher than the province’s share of all workers (38%). For more information on the occupation groups included as arts leaders, please see this Canada-wide article. Readers should note that two arts leadership occupations (conductors / composers and producers / directors / choreographers) are also included as artists. As such, the number of arts leadership workers should not be added to the number of artists in any jurisdiction.
The broadest analysis relates to the 370,000 Ontarians and 914,000 Canadians who work in arts, culture, and heritage occupations. These workers represent 4.7% of Ontario’s labour force and 4.4% of the Canadian labour force. One in every 21 Ontario workers and every 23 Canadian workers has a cultural occupation. The 52 occupation groups in this category include the 10 artist occupation groups as well as the 5 arts leadership occupation groups, other cultural occupations (e.g., graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations), and heritage occupations (e.g., librarians, curators, and archivists).
The concentration of artists in Hamilton is equal to the provincial and national averages
The 3,200 professional artists in Hamilton account for 1.0% of the City’s labour force, equal to both the provincial average (1.0%) and the national average (also 1.0%).
In Hamilton, 1 in every 96 workers is a professional artist.
In the census, artists would have to spend more time as artists than in any other occupation to be classified into an artist occupation group. More specifically, occupational data from the census are based on the number of people who worked more hours in an occupation than in any other between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more in that occupation than any other between January of 2020 and May of 2021.
To ensure confidentiality and data reliability, no estimates of fewer than 40 people are presented in this article.
Hamilton artists by occupation and industry
Hamilton is home to many different types of professional artists. From most to least common, there are:
630 musicians (20% of the city’s artists)
480 writers (15%)
450 producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations (14%)
420 artisans & craftspeople (13%)
340 photographers (10%)
310 actors, comedians & circus performers (10%)
270 painters, sculptors & other visual artists (8%)
160 dancers (5%)
90 conductors, composers & arrangers (3%)
90 other performers (3%)
In general, the proportions of artists in these occupation groups mirror the provincial averages, with two minor exceptions: there is a somewhat higher proportion of artisans and craftspeople in Hamilton than in Ontario (13% vs. 9%) and a somewhat lower proportion of producers, directors, and choreographers (14% vs. 18%).
Hamilton’s artists work throughout the economy. The largest industry sector is arts, entertainment, and recreation, which employs 29% of the city’s artists. This industry sector includes a category for “independent artists, writers, and performers”, which accounts for 19% of artists in Hamilton. Another 9% work directly in performing arts companies (another sub-group of arts, entertainment, and recreation).
Two other industry sectors employ similar proportions of Hamilton’s artists: educational services (19%) and information and cultural industries (18%).
Many artists work in other sectors of the economy: all other industries (excluding the three largest ones) employ 34% of artists.
Demographic and employment characteristics of artists in Hamilton
Among the 3,200 artists in Hamilton:
65% are self-employed, five times higher than the percentage of all Hamilton workers (13%) but somewhat lower than that of all Ontario artists (69%).
53% are women (including some non-binary people), higher than the proportion of all Hamilton workers (48%) and equal to that of all Ontario artists (53%).
41% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, much higher than the percentage of all Hamilton workers (31%) but below that of all Ontario artists (48%).
34% have a child at home, lower than the percentage of all Hamilton workers (42%) but somewhat higher than that of all Ontario artists (30%).
24% are 55 years of age or older, essentially equal to the percentage of all workers in Hamilton (23%) and slightly below that of all Ontario artists (28%).
17% are immigrants to Canada, lower than the percentages of all Hamilton workers (26%) and all Ontario artists (25%).
13% are members of racialized groups, roughly one-half of the proportions of all Hamilton workers (25%) and all Ontario artists (23%).
3.2% are French speakers (i.e., official language minority), higher than the percentage of all Hamilton workers (2.4%) but lower than that of all Ontario artists (5.0%).
1.5% are Indigenous, similar to the percentage of all Hamilton workers (2.0%) and slightly lower than the proportion of all Ontario artists (2.5%).
Professional artists in Hamilton had low median incomes in 2020
The financial analysis in this article offers three measurements of artists’ incomes: employment income, personal income, and household income. Employment income shows the work-related earnings of artists from all paid or self-employed positions that they held during the year. Personal income includes all sources, such as employment income, net revenue from self-employment, pandemic supports, rental income, investment income, and others. Finally, household income provides a measure of the family situation of artists.
Median incomes were chosen as the key measurement, because the median should provide a better indication of the situation of a typical artist than the average (i.e., the “mean”), a statistic that is more strongly affected by a few individuals with very high incomes. All income statistics are shown before taxes.
The challenging context of the pandemic in the spring of 2021 is important to keep in mind when interpreting census data on artists, which were collected in May of 2021. Income data from the census relate to the 2020 calendar year, which included many pandemic related restrictions and significant slowdowns in artistic activity.
During a year that was incredibly difficult for many artists, the median employment income of Hamilton artists was $12,000 in 2020, which is just three-tenths of the median employment income of all Hamilton workers in the same year ($42,000). However, the median employment income of artists in Hamilton in 2020 is similar to the provincial average ($11,200).
The median personal income of Hamilton’s artists (from all sources) was $28,400 in 2020, 43% below that of all Hamilton workers ($49,600). The median personal income of local artists is close to the median of all artists in Ontario ($29,600).
The accompanying graph shows the median personal incomes of artists and all workers in Hamilton and Ontario. The difference in median personal income between artists and other workers in Hamilton (-43%) is significant, but it is similar to the difference in all of Ontario (-41%).
In 2020, the median household income of Hamilton artists was $95,000, 23% lower than that of all workers in the city ($124,000) and 3% below the median of all artists in Ontario ($98,000).
800 arts leaders in Hamilton
There are 800 Hamilton residents who work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders, with the broad grouping of producers, directors, and choreographers accounting for over one-half of them. In Hamilton, there are:
450 producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations (57% of the arts leaders in the city)
140 managers in publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting & performing arts (18%)
90 library, archive, museum & art gallery managers (11%)
90 conductors, composers & arrangers (11%)
Fewer than 40 conservators & curators (below the threshold of reliability)
More than 13,000 cultural workers
The 13,200 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in Hamilton account for 4.2% of the local labour force, similar to the national average (4.4%) but slightly below the provincial average (4.7%). One in every 24 workers in Hamilton has a cultural occupation.
In 2020, a typical cultural worker in Hamilton had:
Employment income of $34,800, 17% less than all Hamilton workers ($42,000)
Total personal income of $43,200, 13% less than all workers in the city ($49,600)
Household income of $113,000, 9% less than all workers in the city ($124,000)
