Industry mag Game Developer has done a lil' diggin', and come up with the average annual incomes for various jobs in the US games industry. In 2006, the average bacon-count for the industry was USD$73,316. A lot of cash money, yeah, but it's actually down a bit from 2005's figure of $75,039.

When you break the numbers down job-by-job, it looks a little like this:

• Programmers: $80,886
  
• Artists: $65,107
  
• Game Designer: $61,538
  
• Production Personnel: $77,131
  
• QA: $37,861
  
• Audio: $69,935
  
• Business & Legal: $95,596

• So are the long hours and crummy conditions worth the pay? Consider the average income for an American family is around $70,000 and you can have a good think about it (poor sods in QA excepted). Luke Plunkett

  2006 Game Developer Salary Survey Reveals Industry Trends [Gamasutra]