How much do producers make in 2026?
Producers are reported in SOC 27-2012, producers and directors, which BLS OEWS May 2025 puts at a national median of $90,360 a year, or $43.44 an hour, with a P10 to P90 range of $45,780 to $198,540 across 143,120 workers. That code pools producers and directors across scripted film and television, news, live events, corporate video, streaming and advertising, and the formats have almost nothing in common financially. A corporate video producer at a mid-sized company sits near the lower quartile on a salary; a network news producer sits around the median; a scripted television or feature producer sits in the upper quartile and is typically engaged per production rather than employed annually. The other structural fact is that much of this work is freelance or fixed-term, so an annual wage figure describes people on payroll and understates both the volatility and the ceiling for those who are not. Several categories of production work are covered by collective bargaining agreements, and where they apply the negotiated minimums are published by the unions concerned rather than derived from wage surveys. BLS projects 4.9% growth through 2034 with roughly 12,800 openings a year. → Full producer career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $90,360 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Producers earn a national median $90,360/yr ($43.44/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 27-2012); the P10 to P90 range is $45,780 to $198,540.
- Producers share SOC 27-2012 with directors across every format, so the published band mixes corporate video, news, live events and scripted production into a single row.
- Much of this work is engaged per production rather than salaried, which means the annual wage series describes staff producers and understates the volatility freelancers experience.
- Where collective bargaining agreements apply, negotiated minimums are published by the unions themselves and are a separate source from the BLS wage data on this page.
US Producer Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do producers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 27-2012; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 27-2012, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a producer earn at each career stage?
Producer pay follows the budget and format you are trusted with. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 27-2012.
By State
Which states pay producers the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 27-2012 scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index. Production employment follows tax incentive regimes more closely than it follows general wage levels, which is why Georgia, New Mexico and Louisiana host far more work than a cost-of-living model would predict.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($103,910), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay producers the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, and are not BLS metropolitan observations. Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta dominate this occupation's employment for reasons of studio infrastructure and incentives, not metro cost of living.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a producer’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does producer pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Producers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify producer wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a producer actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Producer Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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