Talent Agency and Management Company Revenue Benchmark

Average Talent Agency Revenue per Year 2022 Economic Census

The 2022 Economic Census counts every agency and management company representing artists, athletes, entertainers and public figures that has paid employees, and publishes their combined annual receipts, which are the commissions and fees earned rather than the earnings of the clients represented. Dividing that total by the number of agencies gives the average annual revenue per employer establishment shown below.

≈$2,197,000 /year

Average annual gross revenue per employer establishment

How this is calculated: about $10.8 billion in combined annual receipts divided by 4,921 employer establishments works out to an average annual revenue of $2,197,000 per employer establishment.

Scope: Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures, NAICS 711410. The Census category is Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures, which counts talent agencies, sports agents and personal managers. Event promoters and modeling schools are counted in separate categories. Nothing outside that code is counted on this page.

Source US Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census, Summary Statistics (ECNBASIC): ESTAB, RCPTOT and PAYANN by NAICS · Vintage 2022 Economic Census · Calculation BusinessNES · Accessed September 2026

Employer Establishments at Year Five Endpoint only

Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures, NAICS 7114, the 2018 starting count compared with the count of five-year-old establishments in 2023.

Across the 2014 to 2018 cohorts, five-year results ranged from 40.5 to 55.4 percent. This benchmark covers Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures, NAICS 7114, as a whole, and this category accounts for 4,921 of the 4,921 employer establishments in it. A count by age is not a survival rate, because the figures compare two headcounts rather than follow one set of businesses.

Payroll as a Share of Revenue Official data

Payroll divided by receipts, both as published for the same year.

Payroll share of receipts, Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

Approximately 31.0 percent of every revenue dollar goes to annual payroll, a substantial share because agents, managers and their assistants are the business and the revenue is commission rather than the gross value of the deals they arrange.

Payroll here excludes benefits, employer taxes and owner compensation, and revenue here means commissions and fees, not the amounts paid to the clients represented, so the figure describes what an agency earns rather than what its talent earns.

Business Scale and Ownership Structure Official data

How large the average establishment is, and whether the population is independent operators or multi-site companies.

Scale and ownership, Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

The average establishment employed about 4.8 people, and the industry averaged 1.0 employer establishments per firm, which confirms that multi-establishment ownership exists in the published population without showing how establishments are distributed across firms. As an illustration, that headcount could be a small team of agents or managers with assistants.

These are arithmetic industry averages. They state the size of the average establishment and show that multi-establishment ownership exists. They do not show the distribution of business sizes and they do not measure market concentration.

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Data Source Notice

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures above are from the 2022 Economic Census reference year, released by the Census Bureau in 2024 and 2025; markets have moved since.

Questions Worth Asking BusinessNES analysis

Talent Agency and Management Company: what commissions, rosters and licensing do to a small agency's average.

Before you rely on this benchmark

• Agent or manager? Agents procure work and are licensed in some states and fields, while managers advise careers under different rules and commission structures. Both sit in this category, and the distinction shapes what an agency can do and charge.
• Who is on the roster? An agency's revenue is a slice of its clients' earnings, so one star client can carry a small agency and one departure can hollow it out. Roster concentration is the central risk and is invisible in an average.
• Which field? Sports agents, literary agents, modeling agencies and music managers work under different commission norms, union rules and seasons. The category blends fields whose economics differ widely.
• Which licenses apply? Talent agency licensing, bonding and fee rules vary by state, and some fields have their own regulations for agents. Compliance depends on where and whom an agency represents.
• How do deals get done? Bookings, endorsements and contracts depend on relationships with producers, teams, brands and casting professionals built over years. That network is the agency's real asset and appears nowhere in receipts.
• How lumpy is the year? Commissions arrive when clients are paid, so a large contract or tour can make a year and a quiet season can undo it. Annual receipts flatten a revenue pattern that agencies feel deal by deal.