According to the ESA, the video game industry is growing faster than the U.S. itself. Based on their new study called Video Games in the 21 st Century, from 2009 to 2012, annual job growth in the video game industry was at 9 percent, while the rest of the United States labor market averaged only .72 percent. That’s bigger by a factor of thirteen!
Our industry alone employes 42,0009 people across 35 states in 2012. This is up by 30 percent from numbers posted in 2009. Developers also make impressive salaries, around $95,000 a year as opposed to $92,000 a year in 2009. This is well beyond the median household income of families in the U.S ($44,389).
All of this points to one thing: the video game industry is thriving. So if you are looking for a new job, consider gaming! According to the study, California has the most game developers employed, with the state alone hosting 17,000 employees. Texas is the next biggest with 5,000 video game development employees. So you might have to move, but according to these numbers it might be worth it.
Source: ESA