Skip to Content | Visit Sponsors
How to Job Search
Before You Search
Career Research Center
Sites with Job Listings
Resumes & Cover Letters
Research & Target Employers
Network, Interview, & Negotiate
Salary Guides
Info for Recruiters & Employers
What's New
A-Z Index
About the Guide
Contact Us
Riley Guide Home
The Riley Guide is on Facebook!
Become a fan to receive daily alerts and updates!
Relevant Careers
- TV And Radio Broadcast Engineers
- Audio-Video Technicians And Operators
- Camera Operators
- Film And Video Editors
- Multimedia Designers
- Music Directors And Composers
- Musicians
- Photography Professionals
- Public Relations Specialists
- All Careers
Search jobs in healthcare and other job search engines at JustJobs.com
The Riley Guide: Career Research Center
Camera Operators
Job Numbers and Growth
Approximately 27,000 people work as camera operators. For this occupation, the unemployment is considered to be high.
Part-Time Work and Self-Employment
Employees that work part-time represent 19% of the total in 2008. Camera operators who work for themselves represent about 17% of the total.
Training and Education
A postsecondary vocational award is useful when pursuing this career. Among employees, 58% graduated from college with 4 year degrees. 29% of people working as camera operators went to college but did not obtain a degree. 13% of workers completed high school but did not pursue a college education. Recommended schools are shown in the column to the right; request information from them to help you decide which, if any, could help you with this career.
Area Job Conditions
Finding jobs for employees may be easier in Elizabethtown (Kentucky), Hartford (Connecticut), and Reno (Nevada), and the most challenging in Minneapolis (Minnesota), Santa Ana (California), and Houston (Texas).
The pay for these jobs is highest in Santa Ana (California), Albany (New York), and Washington (District of Columbia) and lowest in Sioux Falls (South Dakota), Madison (Wisconsin), and Jackson (Mississippi).
Career Overview Video About Camera Operators
Camera Operators: Job and Salary Data by Metropolitan Area
The table below shows data for Camera Operators, as of 2008. The Popularity in Area number tells you how common jobs for Camera Operators are in the area, compared to other US metro areas. A value of 1.0 means an average number of people in the position for area population. Lower numbers mean fewer of these positions in the metro area. The most popular areas for Camera Operators are starred 
.
| State | Area | Positions | Typical Pay | Popularity in Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Birmingham | 80 | $34,500 | 1.6 |
| Arizona | Phoenix | 300 | $50,810 | 1.7 |
| California | Oakland | 140 | $64,660 | 1.4 |
| California | Sacramento | 110 | $50,920 | 1.3 |
| California | San Francisco | 360 | $58,280 | 3.8 |
| California | San Jose | 50 | $47,890 | 0.6 |
| California | Santa Ana | 40 | $64,470 | 0.3 |
| California | Santa Barbara | 30 | $51,360 | 2 |
| Colorado | Denver | 270 | $40,950 | 2.3 |
| Connecticut | Hartford | 370 | 6.8 | |
| District of Columbia | Washington | 550 | $63,520 | 2.5 |
| Florida | Miami | 310 | $33,580 | 3.3 |
| Florida | Orlando | 130 | $31,580 | 1.3 |
| Florida | Tampa | 190 | $37,660 | 1.7 |
| Florida | West Palm Beach | 50 | $32,160 | 1 |
| Georgia | Atlanta | 440 | $50,110 | 2 |
| Hawaii | Honolulu | 110 | $39,070 | 2.7 |
| Illinois | Chicago | 360 | $44,320 | 1 |
| Iowa | Des Moines | 70 | $45,070 | 2.3 |
| Kansas | Wichita | 40 | $32,210 | 1.4 |
| Kentucky | Elizabethtown | 30 | $44,030 | 8.6 |
| Louisiana | New Orleans | 120 | $34,450 | 2.5 |
| Maine | Portland | 50 | $30,200 | 2.7 |
| Maryland | Baltimore | 240 | $51,090 | 1.9 |
| Maryland | Bethesda | 220 | $51,000 | 4.1 |
| Massachusetts | Boston | 330 | $53,140 | 2 |
| Michigan | Grand Rapids | 50 | $27,300 | 1.4 |
| Minnesota | Minneapolis | 60 | $41,430 | 0.4 |
| Mississippi | Jackson | 40 | $26,600 | 1.7 |
| Missouri | Kansas City | 180 | $32,570 | 1.9 |
| Missouri | Springfield | 30 | $35,270 | 1.7 |
| Missouri | St Louis | 190 | $53,520 | 1.5 |
| Nevada | Las Vegas | 70 | $43,530 | 0.8 |
| Nevada | Reno | 90 | $32,340 | 4.8 |
| New Mexico | Albuquerque | 60 | $59,540 | 1.7 |
| New York | Albany | 100 | $54,660 | 2.4 |
| New York | Buffalo | 50 | 1 | |
| New York | Nassau | 60 | $43,130 | 0.5 |
| New York | New York | 1,790 | $46,590 | 3.7 |
| New York | Syracuse | 40 | $38,070 | 1.4 |
| North Carolina | Charlotte | 100 | $34,570 | 1.2 |
| North Carolina | Durham | 40 | $46,010 | 1.6 |
| North Carolina | Raleigh | 50 | $42,550 | 1 |
| Ohio | Cincinnati | 90 | $48,410 | 0.9 |
| Ohio | Cleveland | 170 | $51,440 | 1.7 |
| Ohio | Columbus | 90 | $50,750 | 1 |
| Ohio | Dayton | 90 | $47,030 | 2.5 |
| Ohio | Youngstown | 40 | $33,900 | 1.9 |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma City | 80 | $32,840 | 1.5 |
| Oklahoma | Tulsa | 70 | $34,180 | 1.7 |
| Oregon | Portland | 140 | 1.4 | |
| Pennsylvania | Harrisburg | 80 | $40,060 | 2.7 |
| Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | 100 | $43,240 | 0.6 |
| Pennsylvania | Pittsburgh | 140 | $37,530 | 1.3 |
| Pennsylvania | Scranton | 50 | $28,090 | 2.1 |
| Rhode Island | Providence | 50 | $39,500 | 0.9 |
| South Carolina | Charleston | 110 | $26,640 | 4.1 |
| South Carolina | Columbia | 50 | $31,810 | 1.5 |
| South Dakota | Sioux Falls | 30 | $22,310 | 2.4 |
| Tennessee | Knoxville | 40 | $30,980 | 1.3 |
| Tennessee | Memphis | 100 | $44,340 | 1.7 |
| Tennessee | Nashville | 110 | $42,240 | 1.5 |
| Texas | Houston | 60 | $27,960 | 0.2 |
| Texas | San Antonio | 50 | $41,500 | 0.6 |
| Utah | Salt Lake City | 70 | $53,260 | 1.2 |
| Virginia | Richmond | 70 | $40,550 | 1.2 |
| Washington | Seattle | 270 | $57,660 | 2 |
| Wisconsin | Madison | 50 | $31,910 | 1.6 |
Our camera operators schools and career data is © Copyright 2004-2009 Moving Traffic, Inc, of CityTownInfo.com.
This Google Custom Search will search this site plus select others that we feel will be helpful to you in your search for job and career information.
Recommended Schools for Camera Operators
Known schools with online forms to request info on becoming Camera Operators. For info from a school, click the school name.
Arizona
British Columbia
California
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Nevada
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
- Search for Jobs
- Post Your Resume
- Visit JobsRated.com
Employers: Post Your Job today to our exclusive network of 500+ local and niche sites
The Riley Guide is Copyright 1998 - 2009, Margaret F. Dikel. The data contained in the Career Research Center is Copyright 2004-2009 by Moving Traffic, Inc. Permission to reproduce and/or distribute print copies of these pages is hereby granted for non-profit purposes only, except where noted. No changes may be made to these copies without the express permission of the author. All other requests for copying and distribution including electronic distribution must be directed to the author. Permission is granted for you to link to this page or The Riley Guide at any time, but the location address (URL) may not be hidden through the use of frames. Please read our disclaimers. The Riley Guide is located at www.rileyguide.com and hosted by Godaddy.com. How to Contact Us.