Salary Range

• The average pay rate for cinema projectionists as of May 2010 was $11.03 per hour, equaling $22,950 for those who work full-time year-round, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle 50 percent of cinema projectionists were making $8.26 to $12.29 per hour. The bottom 10 percent of the pay scale was at or below $7.44 per hour, and the top 10 percent at $15.72 per hour and higher.
  
  

Top-Paying States

• The top-paying state for cinema projectionists in 2010 was Hawaii, where they earned $15.38 per hour on average. Rounding out the top five were New York at $14.30 per hour on average, Pennsylvania at $13.76, Georgia at $13.03 and California at $12.71.
  
  

Top-Paying Metro Areas

• Philadelphia was the highest-paying metropolitan area for cinema projectionists in 2010. The average salary there was $20.32 per hour, or $42,270 for those working full-time year-round. Other high-paying regions for cinema projectionists were the greater San Francisco area, where their average salary was $18.23 per hour; the greater New York City area, at $15.97; the greater San Jose, California, area, at $14.48; and the greater Atlanta metro area, at $14.36 per hour.
  
  

Other Employment Settings

• Although nearly all projectionists work in movie theaters, a very small number find work in higher-paying industries. Performing arts companies paid projectionists an average hourly wage of $12.09 in 2010, about 9 percent higher than the average salary in movie theaters. Projectionists working for museums, historical sites and similar employment settings earned $14.24 per hour on average; for promoters of performing arts and sports, $14.70; for colleges, universities and professional schools, $15.46; and for business, professional, labor, political and similar organizations, $16.38 per hour.