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Wedding photographer pay

How Much Do Wedding Photographers Make?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau do not split wedding photographers out of photographers of all kinds. The BLS handbook says 67% of photographers are self-employed, and nobody publishes what wedding photographers earn.

We found no wedding photographer who published a full year's income without also selling courses or coaching, so this page uses what couples paid, official figures and published packages. For the wider trade, read our page on photographers of all kinds. Here you get three figures side by side, a ZIP tool and a calculator.

A wedding photographer in dark clothes photographs a couple outdoors in late-afternoon light, seen from the side.
$3,000 per wedding
What couples paid a photographer on average, The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study of 10,474 couples married in 2025[7]
This is the price, before gear, editing time, insurance and tax.
$62,740 a year
Where the top quarter of employed photographers of all kinds start, BLS May 2025[1]
The self-employed, who are 67% of photographers of all kinds.
$36,050 a year
Where the bottom quarter of employed photographers end, BLS May 2025, so these two figures mark the middle half[1]
The self-employed, and it is not wedding work specifically.

A wedding photographer's year depends on the price per wedding, how many weddings they shoot, and what the costs take.

Wedding photographer pay near you

Employed photographers in New York earn a median of $60,050, 34% above the national median

Every US ZIP code is matched. BLS counts employees only and publishes no wedding-only figure, so the tool shows photographers of all kinds. 200 of 528 areas report a median and Census has one-person photography business receipts for 2,711 counties. The result says which it shows.

New York: employed photographers of all kinds earn a median of $60,050
New York is 34% above the national median, BLS May 2025, employees only. One-person photography businesses of all kinds in New York County averaged $55,332 gross in 2024 across 2,385 businesses, before expenses. For weddings, The Knot's closest regional prices are $3,800 in the Mid-Atlantic and $3,700 in Northeast/New England, which are what couples paid and not what photographers earned.
Seattle: employed photographers of all kinds earn a median of $51,790
Seattle is 16% above the national median, BLS May 2025, employees only. One-person photography businesses of all kinds in King County averaged $33,772 gross in 2024 across 2,099 businesses, before expenses. The Knot's average price in the West is $2,900. On one photographer's own page, B. Jones Photography in Seattle starts lead photographer collections at $6,000 for 8 hours.
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas has the lowest median of any area with at least 30 employed: $28,110
This area is 37% below the national median, from 70 employed photographers of all kinds, BLS May 2025, with the self-employed not surveyed. The Knot's closest regional prices for a wedding photographer are $2,600 in the Southwest and $2,700 in South/Southeast, both what couples paid.

Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 27-4021 by area, employees only; Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024, NAICS 54192 by county (five digits, all photographic services), gross receipts before expenses; Census ZIP-to-county file; USDA rural-urban codes. Of 528 BLS areas, 200 report their own median and the other 328 use the state figure. County receipts cover 2,711 counties, and 40,767 ZIP codes are mapped. Percentages against the national median are our arithmetic. No agency publishes self-employed pay by area, so the calculator applies the local employee pay level to wedding prices. Your ZIP code stays in your browser.

Wedding photographer pay by state

New York pays employed photographers a median of $60,050; Arkansas pays $32,810

The first column is a wage for employees, from BLS, and it leaves out the self-employed. The second is what one-person photography businesses took in on average before expenses, from Census. Both columns cover photographers of all kinds, and the two count different people.

StatePhotographers of all kinds, employed, median a year (BLS May 2025)Photographers of all kinds, one-person business, average gross (Census 2024)
United States$44,660$29,379
Highest five
District of Columbia$110,970$40,034
New York$60,050$41,782
Massachusetts$57,990$33,689
Oregon$53,630$29,870
Utah$52,140$25,310
Lowest five
Arkansas$32,810$24,241
Idaho$33,320$23,637
Indiana$35,960$23,922
West Virginia$36,110$21,979
Alabama$36,130$25,270
Most people employed in this job
California$47,840$33,265
Florida$42,640$29,582
Texas$41,280$27,006
Illinois$36,570$26,530
North Carolina$37,120$26,432
Pennsylvania$40,520$27,842

BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 27-4021, state medians for employees only; the self-employed are not surveyed. Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024, NAICS 54192, average gross receipts of one-person businesses before expenses. Both sources cover photographers of all kinds. The District of Columbia, at $110,970, is a federal-city outlier and a district, not a state.

What wedding photographers keep

12 weddings at $3,000 gross $36,000, about the 25th-percentile wage for employed photographers; 21 gross $63,000, about the 75th

The figures at the top of this page count different people and different money. One is the price a couple pays for a wedding, before the photographer's costs come out of it. The others are wages, which employees receive before tax and which leave out the self-employed.

Choose one
ASelling your own weddings
+Our arithmetic: 12 weddings at $3,000 is $36,000, about the $36,050 25th-percentile wage for employed photographers of all kinds (BLS May 2025, self-employed not surveyed)
+Our arithmetic: 21 weddings at $3,000 is $63,000, about the $62,740 75th-percentile wage for the same employees
+In The Knot's study of 10,474 couples, the price by budget tier was $1,500 in the lower quartile, $2,800 at the median and $4,700 in the upper quartile
+Three photographers' own pages, read in November 2026, are three photographers and not a survey: aj photo company, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, lists $2,450 plus tax for up to 5 hours, $3,150 for up to 7 and $3,950 for up to 9, each with a second photographer and an engagement session
+B. Jones Photography, Seattle, starts lead photographer collections at $6,000 for 8 hours and associate photographer collections at $4,500, and says "Most B. Jones couples invest: $7,000 to $9,000"
+Yin Fu, Los Angeles, lists 8 hours with 2 photographers starting at $6,000, with a $3,000 deposit
+Professional Photographers of America's 2024 Financial Benchmark Survey of member studios, 2023 tax year, gives home-based wedding-only studios average sales of $172,274, no sample size published, with cost of sales 27.5%, general expenses 31% and 41.5% left as net profit plus owner compensation; average sales are a studio's gross, not a photographer's income
−Both arithmetic lines are before gear, insurance, travel, software, any second shooter and tax, while the wage is what the employee receives before tax
−The Knot's figures are prices couples paid, recruited from The Knot's membership, and they are not photographer income
−Culling, editing and client work are unpaid hours on top of the wedding day, and we found no survey that counts them
−Michelle Jackson of Bambino International, quoted on The Knot's cost page, says "Most professional wedding photographers work with at least one second shooter"
BAn employed photographer's wage
+The middle half of employees earn $36,050 to $62,740 a year (BLS May 2025, self-employed not surveyed)
+The 10th percentile for employees is $30,820 a year, in the same BLS release
+The BLS handbook puts 17% of photographers of all kinds in photographic services
−These figures are employees only, photographers of all kinds, and mostly not wedding work
−These jobs are the minority: the BLS handbook says 67% of photographers are self-employed

Nobody publishes what wedding photographers take home, and we found no current US survey of how many weddings they shoot a year. So put your own price and number of weddings in the calculator.

Wedding photography income calculator

Work out what a year of weddings brings in before tax

The starting price is The Knot's 2026 average and 20 weddings a year is an example, so change both. Gear, insurance, travel, software and any second shooter are not deducted: subtract your own costs. With a ZIP code, the price follows that area's photographer pay level, which is our assumption.

  • Weddings in a year$60,000
  • Your share$60,000
  • Card fees− $1,800
Before tax, a year$58,200about $1,119 a week

Example figures from The Knot and Stripe's pricing page, checked in November 2026. Nothing here deducts gear, insurance, travel, software or a second shooter, so subtract your own costs from the total. The ZIP code price is our assumption: it follows the pay level of photographers in that area.

Do wedding photographers get tips

The IRS lists wedding photographers as a tipped job, entry 503

Tipping is the most-asked question on this page, the top row on our chart at 100 phrasings. The IRS names the occupation and gives no amount.

IRS entry 503 names wedding photographers and gives no tip amount[5]

The entry reads: "Private event and portrait photographers. Photograph people, landscapes, or other subjects; may use lighting and editing. Wedding photographer, headshot photographer 27-4021". The list names the occupation and says nothing about how much anyone is tipped.

The IRS caps the deduction for qualified tips at $25,000 a year[6]

The IRS describes "qualified tips" as voluntary cash or charged tips. For the self-employed, the deduction may not exceed the person's net income from the business. It phases out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income, or $300,000 for joint filers.

No survey we could read gives tips as a share of wedding photographer pay[5]

The IRS list gives no amount and we found no other source that does, so this page gives no tip figure and no verdict on whether a couple should tip.

How much do new wedding photographers make

The lowest-paid tenth of employed photographers earn under $30,820

We have no pay figure for new wedding photographers, so this section uses the lowest official wages and what smaller bookings cost couples.

The 10th percentile for employed photographers is $30,820 a year[1]

BLS May 2025, SOC 27-4021, employees only and photographers of all kinds. The self-employed are not surveyed, and this is not wedding work specifically.

The lower quartile of what couples paid a photographer is $1,500[7]

That figure is by budget tier in The Knot's study of 10,474 couples. It is what a couple at the lower end paid, not what a new photographer earned.

A smaller booking costs $3,000 at Yin Fu and $600 an hour at aj photo company[12][10]

Yin Fu in Los Angeles lists a micro wedding of 4 hours with 1 photographer at $3,000. aj photo company in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin charges $600 an hour for one photographer and $850 for two on bookings under 4 hours. These are two photographers' own published prices, not a survey.

BLS projects photographer employment to decline 1 percent from 2025 to 2035[4]

BLS expects about 10,700 openings a year on average, for photographers of all kinds. Its handbook says employment of self-employed photographers is projected to grow, and that AI-generated images are dampening demand for salaried photographers.

Check your city and state for business registration

We found no state that licenses wedding photography as a trade in the rules we read; check your city and state for general business registration.

What people ask about wedding photographer pay
Each bar counts the distinct ways people phrase the question in Google's suggestions, from fixed starting points per row at the same depth for every row, so the numbers compare. Phrasings that name a place are counted separately.
about payaround the edgesthe control
Tipping wedding photographers
100
Per wedding
98
Packages and pricing
63
Per year
59
Starting out
36
Per hour
30
Second shooters
29
Weddings a year and hours
25
Is it worth it
12
Self-employed and full-time
4
By state or city
4
Domain and email
0
Tipping is the most-asked row, with 100 phrasings
The IRS lists wedding photographers as a tipped occupation and gives no amount, and we found no survey of tips as a share of their pay.
Pay per wedding has 98 phrasings, then packages and pricing with 63
The Knot's study of 10,474 couples puts the average a couple paid at $3,000, which is the price and not the photographer's income. Per year follows at 59 phrasings and starting out at 36.
Per hour has 30 phrasings and second shooters have 29
Weddings a year and hours has 25 phrasings, and self-employed and full-time has 4. No survey we found answers either of those two rows for wedding photographers.

Measured by us in November 2026, from Google's US suggestions. Courses and workshops were measured but left off the chart.

Wedding photographer pay questions

Related
Booking software for photographersTake bookings and deposits for your photography work.How much do photographers makePay figures for photographers of all kinds, with the national median and Census averages.How much do wedding planners makeThe same pay question for the people who plan the wedding.

If you shoot weddings, take bookings and deposits online without the back and forth.

The free plan takes your first 100 bookings without a credit card.

  • A booking page clients can use from your website or a link
  • Each service with its own length and price: a full-day wedding collection, an engagement session, a retainer at booking
  • A deposit at booking, or a card on file charged with the client's permission, into your own Stripe account
  • Tap to Pay on iPhone, to take a card at the wedding with no reader
Free to start. No credit card needed.
A photographer holding a camera at a vineyard wedding venue, seen from behind.
A photographer reviewing the back of a camera beside a reception table.
Hands holding a camera with a long lens.
The kiwilaunch iPhone app showing today's bookings and payments
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Sources

Where every number on this page comes from. Official figures link to the agency that published them. Package prices come from each photographer's own page, three photographers and not a survey.

  1. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Photographers (27-4021), national, state, metro and nonmetro areas, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employees only; the self-employed are not surveyed. 200 of 528 areas report a median for 27-4021.
  2. Nonemployer Statistics 2024, NAICS 54192, national, state and county, U.S. Census Bureau Gross receipts of businesses with no paid employees, before costs and tax. An average, not a median. Includes part-time businesses.
  3. Stripe pricing, standard US card rate, Stripe, 2026-10-25 the card processor kiwilaunch uses; quoted for the 3% card fee in the calculator
  4. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Photographers, fetched November 2026, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Self-employment share, industries and the 2025 to 2035 projection.
  5. Occupations that customarily and regularly received tips on or before Dec. 31, 2024, fetched November 2026, Internal Revenue Service Entry 503, Private event and portrait photographers, SOC 27-4021.
  6. One Big Beautiful Bill Act: tax deductions for working Americans and seniors (no tax on tips), Internal Revenue Service, 2026-11-09
  7. The Knot 2026 Real Weddings Study: average cost of a wedding photographer, The Knot, 2026-10-12 Read from the Internet Archive capture of October 12, 2026; the live page returns 403. 10,474 US couples married in 2025; what couples paid, not what photographers earn.
  8. The Knot Worldwide, 2026 Real Weddings Study release, The Knot Worldwide, 2026-02-18 10,474 US couples married in 2025; 88% hired a photographer.
  9. Benchmark Business Guide 2025, 2024 Financial Benchmark Survey, Professional Photographers of America PPA member studios, 2023 tax year. Average sales, not income. No sample size published.
  10. Wedding collections, fetched November 2026, aj photo company
  11. Seattle wedding photography pricing, fetched November 2026, B. Jones Photography
  12. Wedding photography, 8 hours, 2 photographers, fetched November 2026, Yin Fu

Not tax, legal or financial advice. Pay and what you keep vary by state and city. A tax professional who knows your situation can answer for you.