Production across New York City has been increasing since 2011, for feature films and TV shows, and this has led to an increase in animation jobs around the city. With more and more entertainment using CGI animation than ever before, now is a great time to be an animator in the Big Apple. Some notable animated films that were created by NYC production companies include the Ice Age franchise, the Rio franchise, and The Peanuts Movie (2015).

According to Glassdoor, some of the highest-rated animation companies in NYC include Digital Elixir Studios, The Studio, Augenblick Studios, Nickelodeon Digital, Tronic Studio, and Comedy Central.

Although animation is a competitive industry, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts positive growth for this field over the next decade, fueled by the ever-increasing need for CGI animation in all forms of media. The most successful animators are masters of animation software, such as Maya, After Effects, and Photoshop. They use computers to bring complex characters and motions to life, and they can quickly and efficiently move through the software packages required for their field, many of which require steep learning curves.

The top ranked schools in NYC with programs and degrees in animation are New York University (NYU, $49,962 per year, out-of-state), Colombia University ($49,300 per year, out-of-state), and Syracuse University ($41,794 per year, out-of-state), according to rankings published by the Hollywood Reporter and Hack College in 2016.

In NYC, the most popular animation jobs are UX Designers, Character Riggers, Environment Artists, CGI Modelers, CGI Animators, and Graphic Designers.

Some of the top cities for finding jobs in animation tend to be Los Angeles, NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami. You could build a successful career in animation in any one of these cities. However, out of those cities, NYC ranks second in terms of the total number of animation jobs available and the average level of salaries in the field. Among those cities, about 18% of all animation jobs are located in NYC.

Professionals working in animation in NYC also tend to work in the following industries, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Interactive Entertainment, Corporate Videos/Presentations, Advertising, Technology, Marketing, Virtual Reality, Architecture, Engineering.

The following are estimates of salaries and wages for animation jobs in NYC, which were compiled from Salary.com, Glassdoor, and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Art Director Assistants - $90,000 per year, or $43.27 per hour

Creative Directors - $132,000 per year, or $63.46 per hour

Art Directors - $131,000 per year, or $62.98 per hour

Multimedia Artists, Animators, and CGI Artists - $71,000 per year, or $34.13 per hour

Graphic Designers - $59,000 per year, or $28.37 per hour

Graphic Designers - $59,000 per year, or $28.37 per hour

Animators - $58,000 per year, or $27.88 per hour