Average Salaries

• In 2010, model salaries averaged $42,560 per year, which would average $20.46 for models working full-time, according to the BLS. However, models don't always work full-time, 8-hour days, as their hours and frequency of assignments vary. Frequently they work part-time, and they typically experience periods of unemployment. The state of the economy plays a large role in opportunities for models, with jobs subject to significant fluctuation. The top 10 percent of models earned an average of $60,030, or $28.86 per hour, in 2010. The lowest-earning 10 percent made $19,830, or $9.53 per hour.
  
  

Metropolitan Areas

• Top-paying metropolitan areas in 2010 included the Santa Ana, Los Angeles, Portland, and St. Louis areas. In the Santa Ana area, models earned an average of $68,210. In Los Angeles, they earned $46,410, and in Portland, $32,750. Models in St. Louis averaged $30,380. Meanwhile, states employing the most models included California, New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Oregon.
  
  

Factors

• Models frequently work for an agency that arranges their assignments. The agency receives a percentage of what they make in exchange for booking their assignments. Models commonly work for a client for just one day, making a good agent crucial, because models would otherwise have to invest an enormous amount of time in finding new clients. Models must usually provide their own benefits like health-care. Clients typically pay travel expenses when models must travel far to an assignment. Women typically earn more than men in this field, says the BLS.
  
  

Record Salaries

• Supermodels have notoriously earned far more, and gained much more exposure, than the majority of modeling professionals. Their salaries began to skyrocket as far back as the 1940s, when Dorian Leigh earned a groundbreaking $300,000, according to Elle magazine. Cindy Crawford held a $3 million-per-year contract with Revlon in the 1980s. Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen earned $35 million in 2009, marking the highest model salary of all time.