While I generally appreciate your sentiment the information you have on average actor salary is simply not correct.

Per the most recent annual report from Actor’s Equity, the professional actors union in the U.S., the effective unemployment rate for union members was about 86%. Additionally, the median income from acting for the 14% that did work was approximately $7,500 for the year.

Turning to the Film/TV/Media industry, a recent academic research paper found similar metrics. Roughly 70% of people in the study had a career that lasted a year or less and the estimate of the percentage of actors able to make a living in the business was approximately 2%.

The idea that actors as a class of workers make $56,000/yr is without real evidence.

I don’t cite this to denigrate the aspirations of those who’s calling is acting. My son is currently at an acting conservatory in NY. But, to pursue such a career without understanding the true nature of the sacrifice necessary to do so often serves to decrease what are already dismal odds.

The truth is artists, in general, suffer from a severe imbalance between supply and demand. The supply of actors is overwhelmingly greater than the demand. This more than anything is what creates a level of dysfunction in the marketplace that allows exploitation, pay-to-play, ineffective and expensive training, and worse (see Harvey Weinstein).

Incorrect metrics about the business only serve to make matters worse.