California · NAICS 512 · Annual, 2025

Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries in California

Employment, establishments and average pay for NAICS 512 in California, 2004–2025, from DTG's QCEW-based estimates.

In 2025, Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (NAICS 512) employed about 120,500 people in California across roughly 11,757 establishments, with average annual pay of $138,460.

Employment in Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries in California declined 8.0% from 2024 to 2025. The industry is 2.9× as concentrated in California as in the nation as a whole (location quotient 2.85). Average pay in the industry is 42.8% above the all-industries average in California. Quarterly values, full industry detail and projections to 2036 for California are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.

  • 120,500Employment, 2025
  • 11,757Establishments
  • $138,460Avg. annual pay
  • 0.7%Share of California jobs
  • 2.85Location quotient

Employment, 2004 to 2025

Annual average · all ownerships

Employment in Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries in California, 2004–2025Line chart of annual employment from 2004 to 2025, from 160,500 to 120,500.050K100K150K200K20042010201520202025

Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 160,500; 2005 151,400; 2006 150,700; 2007 151,900; 2008 154,000; 2009 141,100; 2010 143,400; 2011 143,000; 2012 141,500; 2013 142,000; 2014 144,200; 2015 151,500; 2016 171,300; 2017 146,100; 2018 141,800; 2019 146,800; 2020 116,200; 2021 141,600; 2022 172,600; 2023 131,200; 2024 131,000; 2025 120,500.

Last ten years

Annual · 10 years

YearEmploymentEstab.Avg. annual payChangeSource
2025120,53611,757$138,461 8.0%pub.
2024130,97112,054$134,817 0.2%pub.
2023131,24812,541$124,703 23.9%pub.
2022172,58312,749$115,530 21.9%pub.
2021141,59612,723$135,425 21.8%pub.
2020116,21112,361$131,613 20.8%est. · 1.00
2019146,82811,806$116,975 3.5%pub.
2018141,82410,746$115,275 2.9%est. · 1.00
2017146,1369,066$108,887 14.7%pub.
2016171,2908,207$92,309 13.1%pub.

† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.

The full history from 2004 and quarterly values are available with a free account.

Where these numbers come from

Reading these figures

The figures on this page come from one named vintage, stated below, and are annual values for all ownerships combined. Where QCEW withheld a value, the marked figure is an estimate that DTG produced under the constraints of the published record; suppression is a property of QCEW, not of DTG, and a withheld value is marked rather than silently omitted. Two things DTG itself holds back, and says so where it does: an estimate that cannot be given a reliability score is not shown, and average pay is not shown where fewer than three jobs are reported. The row is marked withheld, with the reason in a note beneath the table. The mark is on every row that carries a value: the headline, the yearly history, the subsectors and the other states. An estimated value that rounds below one is shown as less than one, not as zero. Quarterly figures, county figures and projected years are in the app.

How this figure was built

Employment is the average of the three monthly counts in each quarter, averaged across the year, and establishments are averaged across the year the same way. Average annual pay is the year’s total wages divided by that average employment. Each of these is DTG’s value: QCEW’s published figure where QCEW disclosed it, and DTG’s estimate, marked, where it did not. How withheld values are estimated, and what the reliability score beside a figure means, are described on the industry data and disclosure and provenance pages.

Estimated by Data Tactical Group from BLS QCEW, with CES/SAE and projection inputs described in the methodology. Method: Disclosure, Industry.

Notes

Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.

Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries in California, quarterly, at full depth

This page shows annual figures for motion picture and sound recording industries in California. A free account shows every detailed industry beneath it, quarterly, for every state, with projections to ten years. No card.

County figures, file export and the API are on paid plans.