Have you ever wondered what the salary spread is for folks in the anime industry? Do you wonder if animators are really paid as little as you’ve heard?
Well, wonder no more! A new infographic based on Shirobako, the anime about making anime, outlines the average salaries of the various positions presented in the show.
The breakdown is as follows:
- Animator: 1.1104 million yen ($9,400)
- College Student: 2.003 million yen ($17,200)
- Part-timer/”Freeter”: 2.18 million yen ($18,700)
- Production Assistant: 2.28 million yen ($19,500)
- CG Animator: 2.61 million yen ($22,400)
- Episode Director: 3.336 million yen ($28,600)
- Series Director: 4.955 million yen ($42,500)
- Chief Animator: 5.131 million yen ($44,000)
- Executive Producer: 7.54 million yen ($64,600)
- A-list Voice Actor: 70 million yen ($599,900)
As one would expect, the voice actors make the big bucks, while those who toil the hardest to make the shows we love end up at the very bottom of the pay scale. Heck, even college kids and part-timers take home more than the average animator, which says a lot about the state of the industry, at this point.
It’s a cute way of presenting a fairly depressing reminder that not all positions are created equally in the anime industry.