California’s creative economy packs a $209 billion punch.

A study commissioned by Otis College of Art and Design shows the state’s creative industries support 2.68 million jobs, generate $209.6 billion in labor income and provide an annual $650 billion boost to the Golden State’s economy.

More than 1 million workers are directly employed in California’s creative industries and another 1.6 million indirect jobs support those operations, the study said. That accounts for 15.4% of the state’s overall employment. In Los Angeles County, creative industries account for an even bigger 16.3% of the total job base.

So what, exactly, are the creative industries? The report breaks them into five categories:

Architecture and related services – Drafting services, interior design and ornamental and architectural metal work manufacturing, among others

– Drafting services, interior design and ornamental and architectural metal work manufacturing, among others Creative goods and products – Furniture manufacturing, industrial design, toy manufacturing and services related to advertising, among others

– Furniture manufacturing, industrial design, toy manufacturing and services related to advertising, among others Entertainment and digital media – Graphic design, motion picture/video production, commercial photography and data processing, among others

– Graphic design, motion picture/video production, commercial photography and data processing, among others Fashion – Apparel manufacturing, jewelry wholesaling and cosmetics manufacturing, among others

– Apparel manufacturing, jewelry wholesaling and cosmetics manufacturing, among others Fine arts and performing arts – Art galleries, musical groups, dance companies and fine arts schools, among others

Fashion is the only creative sector in Southern California that has seen steady declines in wage and salary employment, according to a new report.

Southern California has the largest share (49%) of wage and salary workers in California’s creative economy, thanks to its vibrant entertainment industry, myriad performance venues, fashion district and a broad array of business operations. The region is followed by the Bay Area (36.8%), San Diego and Imperial counties (5.5%), the Inland Empire (3.1%), the Central Coast and Capital region (both 2%), Central Valley (1%) and Northern California (0.2%).

Southern California also has the largest percentage of contract workers in creative industries. The region employs 51.8% of the state’s total, while the Bay Area employs 23.2%.

Fashion is the only creative sector in the Southland that has seen steady declines in both wage and salary employment, and contract employment. It’s also the lowest paying, with an average annual wage of $53,600 in 2018.

The biggest employment sector

Entertainment and digital media is California’s biggest creative employment sector, with 740,000 workers. It added 120,000 jobs over the past five years and accounts for 71% of the state’s creative workforce. Sound recording, which falls under that umbrella, grew at a rate of 22% over the past five years, well outperforming New York State’s 9% employment growth rate over the same time period.

Technology-driven fields are evolving fast, the study said, and the Bay Area is beginning to rival Southern California as the state’s creative epicenter for entertainment and digital media.

“These two parts of the state are starting to look more like each other,” said Adam Fowler, director of research at Beacon Economics, which prepared the report. “With all of the streaming platforms that are emerging, money is being thrown at content production both here in Southern California and in the Bay Area.”

The gig economy continues to gain traction throughout the state, and particularly in the Inland Empire, as creatives seek contract work at increasing rates, the report said. The Inland Empire is the only region in which both wage and salary employment and contract employment have grown across all five creative sectors.

The study notes that Orange County, home to Disneyland, has a robust creative ecosystem of its own, bolstered by a rapid expansion in the creative goods and products sector which saw wage growth of nearly 25% between 2013 and 2018. The entertainment and digital media sector has Orange County’s highest average annual wage among the creative industries — nearly $90,000.