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California training programs, and what happened to the people who took them

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Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance

SOC 39-5091 · 2024-2034

Apply makeup to performers to reflect period, setting, and situation of their role.

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

What California expects of this job

Typical pay in California
$144,438per year
Projected openings
2,590
Projected change
+12.5%
Usually needs
Postsecondary non-degree award

Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth

The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.

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

Pay by region

RegionTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openings
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County)$136,9392,630
Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County)$51,708180

What the pay actually ranges across

The lowest-paid tenth earn under
$78,274
A quarter earn under
$127,961
Half earn under
$144,438
Three quarters earn under
$147,084
The highest-paid tenth earn over
$173,886

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
Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists$39,63968,190+7.3%
Costume Attendants$73,8554,480+12.5%
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators$59,8706,030+6.3%
Skincare Specialists$39,75223,330+9.9%
Fashion DesignersNot reported6,620-3.7%
Manicurists and Pedicurists$37,55865,240+10%

Programs that train for this job — 23