イラストレーター salaryaverage ¥4.92M · percentiles · top pay · projected pay in 10 years

Japan Writing & Media Confidence ★★★★★

Average annual pay
¥4.92M
≈ $31,302
Top pay (est.)
¥8.28M
Top 10% ¥7.16M
Pay in 5 years
¥5.22Mest.
2031
Pay in 10 years
¥5.53Mest.
¥4.75M–¥6.42M
Outlook score
26/100
★☆☆☆☆ Weak
AI replacement risk
60%
Moderate
Labor demand
Very low
Openings-to-applicants 0.17x

イラストレーター salary

The average annual pay for イラストレーター in Japan is ¥4.92M (≈ $31,302; Basic Survey on Wage Structure (2025), national). The estimated median is ¥4.58M, the typical range is ¥3.43M–¥8.28M and the top 10% earn about ¥7.16M.

Average pay
¥4.92M
≈ $31,302
Median (est.)
¥4.58M
≈ $29,126
Low end (est.)
¥3.43M
Entry level, early 20s
Top 10% (est.)
¥7.16M
≈ $45,533
Top pay (est.)
¥8.28M
≈ $52,655
Hourly wage
¥2,385
2.0× the national minimum wage (¥1,177)
Advertised monthly wage
¥266,000
vs. last year +¥6,000

How does your pay compare with people your age?

Your numbers are not sent or stored. The distribution is estimated from Japan's national wage statistics, including pay differences by age.

Pay by ageest.

20s
¥3.88M
30s
¥4.59M
40s
¥5.20M
50s
¥5.74M

Estimated from the average pay and average age (39.8) using the age-wage curve of the Basic Survey on Wage Structure.

Pay by experienceest.

Entry level
¥3.70M
1–3 yrs
¥4.10M
3–5 yrs
¥4.51M
5–10 yrs
¥5.04M
10+ yrs
¥5.66M

Pay by employment typeest.

Full-time employee ¥4.92MPart-time ¥2.07MFreelance / self-employed ¥5.17MContract / temp ¥3.84M

The average hourly wage of ¥2,385 is 2.0× Japan's national average minimum wage of ¥1,177 (fiscal 2026). Minimum wage by prefecture →

Japanese pay is shown in yen (¥5.57M = 5.57 million yen ≈ 557万円). Dollar figures use the current rate of 157.25 yen per dollar and are for reference only; purchasing power differs.

Pay over time

YearAverage payEmploymentOpenings ratio
2021¥4.87M——
2022¥4.67M——
2023¥5.21M—0.20x
2024¥4.53M—0.18x
2025¥4.92M—0.17x

How median, percentiles and the pay range are defined →

Projected pay for イラストレーター (3, 5 and 10 years)est.

Today ¥4.92M → in 3 years ¥5.10M → in 5 years ¥5.22M → in 10 years ¥5.53M (10-year range ¥4.75M–¥6.42M). The model assumes pay growth of +1.2% per year.

¥4.92M
Now
2026
¥5.10M
In 3 yrs
2029
¥4.71M–¥5.55M
¥5.22M
In 5 yrs
2031
¥4.70M–¥5.81M
¥5.53M
In 10 yrs
2036
¥4.75M–¥6.42M

What drives the annual growth rate

Base wage growth +1.8%Labor demand -0.52%Wage momentum +0.18%AI impact -0.3%Total +1.2% / yr

Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (the job-openings-to-applicants ratio), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →

The same job in the United States

イラストレーター
Japan
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
United States
Median / average pay¥4.92M
≈ $31,302
$55,490
Pay in 10 years (est.)¥5.53M$71,900
Outlook score2649
AI replacement risk60% Moderate51% Moderate
Workers—11K

Matched by occupation (SOC code). Yen converted at 157.25 JPY/USD for reference; Japanese figures are averages, U.S. figures are medians, and the surveys define occupations differently.

Pay and employment figures are national statistics. Projected pay, outlook scores and AI replacement risk are estimates from the Shigoto Zukan model, not guarantees. To request a correction, use the contact form. How to read the data
Sources: Basic Survey on Wage Structure (2025), Population Census and Hello Work employment statistics as published on the MHLW job tag site (retrieved Nov 1, 2026); Occupational Information Database (JILPT). Pay ranges, projections and scores are Shigoto Zukan estimates.