Family photography reflects both how families are formed and how people decide to preserve important moments. The available figures describe a market shaped by household diversity, online discovery, mobile image sharing, professional wages, and camera demand. The dates and geographies differ, so each statistic is identified by its measurement period and source.
Contents
- How families are structured
- Children, parents, and household life
- How people look for photographers
- Phones and the habit of sharing images
- The photographer workforce
- Camera shipments and equipment demand
How families are structured
The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 family-household figures show a large but varied audience for family photography. About 39% of U.S. family households included the householder’s children under 18. At the same time, about 57% of family households had no members under 18, while 19% had one member under 18, 16% had two, and 9% had three or more. These figures describe family households, not every household in the country.
Family size also matters. Just over half, or 52%, of family households had three or more family members in 2024. Children of the householder were most common where the householder was age 40 to 44: 84% of those family households included children of the householder. Less than 10% of all family households included children under age 3.
Homeownership varies sharply by the age of the householder. About 37% of householders under age 25 owned their home, compared with nearly 90% of householders age 65 or older. For photographers, these figures do not establish booking behavior, but they provide context for the different life stages represented in family imagery: young households, households with children, and older households documenting extended family relationships.
The Census Bureau’s 2020 overview adds a longer-running household perspective. Family households made up about two-thirds of all U.S. households in 2020. Married-couple households accounted for about 71% of family households, but married-couple households were 55% of all U.S. households in 1990 and 46% in 2020. Family households with their own children under 18 decreased by 6% over the decade ending in 2020.
| Household statistic | Measurement | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| Family households with three or more family members | 52% in 2024 | Census family households 2024 |
| Family households with no member under 18 | 57% in 2024 | Census family households 2024 |
| Family households with children under 18 | 39% in 2024 | Census family households 2024 |
| Family households that were married-couple households | 71% in 2020 | Census family households still the majority |
| One-person households | 28% of households in 2020 | Census family households still the majority |
Children, parents, and household life
Household relationships are not limited to one family pattern. In 2022, 65% of all family groups with children under 18 were maintained by married parents. About 74% of mothers lived with their child and the child’s other parent, while about 91% of fathers did so. In 2023, 75% of children under age 6 lived with two parents, compared with 68% of children ages 12 to 17.
The share of families living with their own children under 18 has changed over time. It was 48% in 2003, 43% in 2013, and 39% in 2023. These are Census family measures and should not be read as a forecast of future family composition. They do show why a family photographer’s audience can include parents with young children, couples without children at home, adult children, and extended-family groups.
Age at marriage is another part of the context. In 2023, 34% of adults age 15 and over had never been married. The median age to marry for the first time was 30.2 for men and 28.4 for women. Among opposite-sex married-couple families with children under 15, about 23% of children had a stay-at-home mother and only 1% had a stay-at-home father.
Young adults’ living arrangements also connect family photography to multigenerational life. More than half, 56%, of adults ages 18 to 24 lived in their parental home in 2023, while only 16% of adults ages 25 to 34 did. A separate Census measure for 2022 found that about 57% of men ages 18 to 24 and 55% of women ages 18 to 24 lived in their parents’ home.
The Census Bureau reported 38.1 million one-person households in 2023, equal to 29% of all households. In 2020, there were about 36 million married-couple households without their own children under 18, compared with about 22 million married-couple households with their own children under 18. About 9 million U.S. households were maintained by a cohabiting couple; approximately 3 million of those had children under 18 in the home and 6 million had no children in the home.
The 2020 household population was 323.2 million people. The householder, spouse or partner, and children accounted for 288.1 million people, or 89% of the household population. There were 93.8 million children of the householder; 94% were biological children, alongside 3.8 million stepchildren and 1.9 million adopted children. About 61% of stepchildren were under 18, while children ages 18 to 29 made up 29% of all stepchildren of U.S. householders.
How people look for photographers
The Professional Photographers of America’s family portrait consumer research describes a decision process that begins socially and often ends digitally. Consumers most often start with word-of-mouth referrals, yet 60% of family portrait seekers ultimately hire a photographer found online. The same PPA family portrait consumer research says hiring decisions happen within two weeks of starting the search.
PPA also describes these consumers as more experienced: they have hired a photographer before and come prepared with a budget in mind. Physical locations inspire family portrait ideas, while social media content helps shoppers visualize a photographer’s process and working style. These findings point to discovery as a combination of personal recommendation, visual evidence, and practical preparation.
PPA’s Behind the Booking Decision 2026 says nearly half of consumers cite cost as a barrier to booking a photographer. It also says consumers often need the right moment, reason, or reassurance before booking. During research, clients commonly review websites, browse social media, read reviews, and compare multiple photographers.
In that 2026 PPA report, perceived value is shaped by the emotional importance of the session, such as family or milestones; confidence in the final result; and the quality of the overall experience. The report identifies transparent pricing and packages, clear expectations about the experience, responsive communication, and a simple booking process as key decision factors.
PPA’s research hub says its consumer reports help photographers learn who buys professional photography, discover when and why consumers hire a photographer, and stay informed about the current photography market. The research labels above identify the PPA source and period; they do not turn non-quantified observations into percentage estimates.
Phones and the habit of sharing images
Pew Research Center’s photo-and-video-sharing figures show how ordinary image-making had become among adult internet users. About 54% of adult internet users posted original photos or videos, while about 47% reposted photos or videos they found online. About 42% of internet users reposted photos to image-sharing sites, and about 36% reposted videos to video-sharing sites.
The older device figures provide a dated baseline rather than a current estimate. In 2013, about 92% of Americans owned a cell phone and 58% owned a smartphone. Among cell phone owners, 9% used Snapchat and 18% used Instagram. Pew’s 2015 device ownership figures put cellphone ownership among American adults at 92%, smartphone ownership at 68%, and desktop or laptop ownership at 73%.
Smartphone ownership was 35% of adults in 2011 and 68% in 2015. In 2015, ownership was 98% among adults ages 18 to 29, 78% among adults age 65 and older, and 87% among rural residents. Tablet ownership was 45% in 2015, up from 4% in 2010; in 2015 it was 62% among college graduates, 35% among adults with a high school diploma, and 19% among adults without a high school diploma.
Pew’s smartphone-owner measures show the range of image-related activity. Eight in ten smartphone owners used their phone to access the internet or send photos or videos to others. Three-quarters used email, two-thirds downloaded apps or played music or games, and six in ten recorded videos or accessed social networking sites. Among smartphone owners age 50 and up, texting and picture taking each reached 80%; around two-thirds accessed the internet, sent photos or videos, or used email, and half had downloaded apps.
In a Pew mobile-data-activities measure, 54% of cell owners had sent someone a photo or video, 23% had accessed a social networking site by phone, 20% had watched a video, and 15% had posted a photo or video online. Product purchases and charitable donations by phone were each reported by 11%.
Age differences were substantial in that measure: 81% of cell owners ages 18 to 29 sent a photo or video to someone else, compared with 63% of those ages 30 to 49, 40% of those ages 50 to 64, and 18% of those 65 and older. Among cell owners ages 18 to 29, 93% used their mobile devices to take pictures. Among cell owners ages 30 to 49, 83% took pictures in 2010, up from 71% in April 2009.
The photographer workforce
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a median hourly wage of $20.44 for photographers in May 2024. The lowest 10% earned less than $14.23 per hour, while the highest 10% earned more than $45.56. The median for all occupations was $23.80 per hour, so the photographer median was $3.36 lower in that comparison.
Median hourly wages differed by industry. Photographers in publishing, broadcasting, and content providers had a median of $28.62. The median was $18.41 in retail trade, $18.13 in arts, entertainment, and recreation, and $18.08 in photographic services. These are occupational wage measures, not prices charged to clients for a family session.
BLS projects photographer employment to grow 2% from 2024 to 2034, compared with 3% for all occupations. The projection rises from 151,200 photographers in 2024 to 154,000 in 2034, a numeric increase of 2,800. About 12,700 openings are projected each year, on average, over the decade.
The BLS 2023 photographic-services industry table listed 300 personal care and service workers, with a median hourly wage of $19.23 and a median annual wage of $51,710. It listed 270 media and communication equipment workers other than the main group, whose median hourly wage in photographic services was $15.20.
Camera shipments and equipment demand
Camera demand provides a global equipment context for professional and enthusiast photography. The Camera & Imaging Products Association reported 8,490,227 digital camera shipments worldwide in 2024, equal to 110.0% of 2023 shipment volume. Built-in-lens cameras accounted for 1,880,414 units, while interchangeable-lens cameras reached 6,609,813.
Within interchangeable-lens digital cameras, mirrorless shipments reached 5,612,205 units, or 85% of interchangeable-lens camera shipments. SLR shipments were 997,608 units. Regional shipments included 1,012,037 units to Japan, 1,948,133 to China, 1,148,038 to Asia excluding Japan and China, 1,992,767 to Europe, 2,083,032 to the Americas, and 306,220 to other regions.
CIPA also reported 10,312,728 interchangeable lenses shipped in 2024, or 107.0% of the 2023 level. Lenses for 35 mm and larger format cameras totaled 4,899,408 units, while lenses for smaller than 35 mm format cameras totaled 5,413,320.
CIPA’s 2025 figures are forecasts, not completed shipment results. The association forecast 8.58 million digital camera shipments, including 1.92 million built-in-lens digital cameras and 6.66 million interchangeable-lens digital cameras. It forecast 10.56 million interchangeable-lens shipments. Keeping those estimates separate from the 2024 shipment counts is essential when using camera statistics to understand the family photography environment.