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Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film

SOC 27-4031 · 2024-2034

Operate television, video, or film camera to record images or scenes for television, video, or film productions.

How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.

What California expects of this job

Typical pay in California
$109,892per year
Projected openings
5,700
Projected change
+7.7%
Usually needs
Bachelor's degree

Skills this work uses most

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.

  1. Active Listening
  2. Judgment and Decision Making
  3. Coordination
  4. Speaking
  5. Reading Comprehension
  6. Critical Thinking

Pay by region

RegionTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openings
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County)$105,0935,060
Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties)$97,571150
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties)$91,1691,010
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County)$81,14750
San Rafael MD (Marin County)$74,27930
Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County)$71,902160
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties)$64,096100
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County)$52,653230
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties)$45,987170

What the pay actually ranges across

The lowest-paid tenth earn under
$55,419
A quarter earn under
$78,189
Half earn under
$109,892
Three quarters earn under
$134,626
The highest-paid tenth earn over
$158,558

A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.

Similar work

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.

OccupationTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openingsProjected change
Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologists and Technicians$83,8331,700+5.3%
Audio and Video Technicians$66,4299,360+6.3%
Broadcast Technicians$74,8382,230+3.6%
Producers and Directors$133,42331,850+12.2%
Avionics Technicians$95,0951,040+8.3%
Sound Engineering Technicians$80,3383,530+2.2%

Programs that train for this job — 8