This article was written in collaboration with Gunda Menkhaus, whose insights and contributions helped shape the piece.
Anyone interested in becoming an illustrator will eventually reach a point where it is no longer just about drawing, ideas and developing their own style. The financial side of the profession matters too, because you want to know whether it is possible to turn your creative work into a career that pays the bills and under what conditions that might work.
There is no straightforward answer to this question. Some illustrators work freelance full time while others do it alongside another job. Some focus on books or editorial illustration while others work in advertising, corporate communications or entirely different fields.
What Do the Figures Tell Us About Germany?
The latest professional survey on the working conditions of illustrators in Germany is the Berufssituation Illustrator:innen 2025, conducted by the market research institute SKOPOS on behalf of Illustratoren Organisation. A total of 856 illustrators took part in the survey, of whom:
75 percent work freelance as their main occupation.
23 percent work freelance as a secondary occupation.
One percent are employed.
Another one percent are in vocational training or higher education.
For 2024, the survey also asked about annual net turnover from illustration work. Among those working freelance as their main occupation, the figures were as follows:
23 percent generated less than 12,000 € in annual turnover.
16 percent generated between 24,000 € and less than 36,000 €.
11 percent generated between 36,000 € and less than 48,000 €.
7 percent generated between 48,000 € and less than 60,000 €.
7 percent generated 72,000 € or more.
There are additional turnover brackets in between, but even these figures show just how much the financial situation can vary.
One distinction is particularly important here: turnover is not the same as income. Turnover from illustration work is the money generated through your work, from which you have to cover professional expenses, taxes, insurance contributions and other costs. Only after accounting for these expenses can you see how much is actually left to cover your personal living expenses.
69.60 € Per Hour: What Does That Actually Mean?
One particularly interesting figure in the study is the average hourly rate of 69.60 € in the respective main area of work, excluding usage rights. This is the calculated price for one hour of work, meaning that if you charge a client this rate for an hour, 69.60 € flows into your business as revenue. However, that amount does not automatically become your personal earnings, as professional expenses, taxes and other contributions still need to be accounted for.
Another factor is that not every working hour can be billed to a client. Finding new clients, writing emails, having meetings, making revisions, doing bookkeeping, promoting your work and developing new projects are all part of everyday life as an illustrator. An hourly rate of 69.60 € is therefore not the same as personally earning 69.60 € for every hour you work.
Can You Make a Living From Illustration Alone?
Again, there is no simple answer. For 27 percent of respondents, annual turnover from illustration accounts for at least 75 percent of their total household income, which means that for many others illustration represents only part of their overall income. According to the study, common additional sources include:
A second source of work in the creative sector
Teaching
Side jobs outside the creative sector
Other forms of income
At the same time, 36 percent of respondents say they have no additional income.
Building a creative income does not have to stop at one additional source of work, though. Books and licensing deals can be part of the picture, along with workshops, talks, an online shop or digital products. A blog, Patreon or other offerings can also develop into additional sources of income over time. The goal is not to offer as many different things as possible all at once, but to gradually develop an income model that depends less on individual commissions.
Not All Illustration Work Is the Same
The field you work in also makes a difference. For example, the average hourly rates in the professional survey range from 46 € for children's and young adult books to 163 € for graphic recording and sketchnotes. Editorial illustration comes in at 66 € while packaging and product design averages 76 €, with all figures referring to the respective fields of work and excluding usage rights.
These numbers are not a ranking, as a higher hourly rate does not automatically mean a higher annual income. What matters just as much is how regularly commissions come in, how much working time can actually be billed and which additional services are paid separately. This is precisely where it becomes clear how difficult it is to reduce the profession to a single average figure.
A Look Beyond Germany
There are considerable differences internationally as well. The State of Illustration: The International Illustrator Survey is based on data from the Illustrator Survey 2024, which received responses from 1,271 illustrators across 76 countries. For full-time illustrators in the United States, the report gives a median annual income of 56,697.90 US dollars, meaning that half of the respondents earn more than this amount while the other half earn less.
However, this figure is not suitable for a direct comparison with Germany. The German professional survey reports turnover figures while the international report refers to income, and the surveys themselves as well as the composition of the respondent groups also differ. The figure is therefore best understood as an international reference point rather than a direct comparison between countries.
So What Determines How Much an Illustrator Earns?
Drawing skills are obviously the foundation, but they are not the only factor that determines how much you can earn from illustration. Several other factors play a role:
Your area of specialisation
The types of clients you work with
Your experience and positioning
Your visibility
How consistently you have work
Your pricing calculations
Your ability to negotiate fees and usage rights
Usage rights are a particularly important part of the financial side of illustration. 91 percent of respondents say they negotiate the type and scope of the usage rights requested by clients or the amount charged for those rights. Being an illustrator therefore involves much more than creating the artwork itself. If you work freelance, you also need to assess the value of your work, present it to potential clients and decide under which conditions a commission makes sense.
Conclusion
The figures reveal a profession with an unusually wide range of financial outcomes, with no fixed income and no typical career path. Annual turnover from illustration can range from less than 12,000 € to 72,000 € or more, with many different working arrangements and personal circumstances in between.
It is important to interpret these figures in the right context: turnover is not personal income, an hourly rate is not the same as an hourly wage and charging a high fee for an individual project does not guarantee a high annual income. If you want to make a living from illustration in the long term, you need more than your own style and good ideas. The business side is part of the profession too, from finding clients and calculating fees to understanding usage rights and pricing your work appropriately.
Perhaps that is one of the most important things to take away from all of this: there is no single path to success as an illustrator. What matters is developing a business model that suits your work and can sustain you in the long run.
If you're still figuring out how to make illustration work financially, having a day job can be more helpful than you might think. Read more about it in Why Having a Day Job Can Help Your Illustration Career.
Sources
Illustratoren Organisation e. V. / SKOPOS: Berufssituation Illustrator:innen 2025. Untersuchungsbericht, 12 September 2025.
State of Illustration: The International Illustrator Survey, data from the Illustrator Survey 2024.
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