She rose to prominence for her work on the anthology series American Horror Story, starring in the seasons Murder House (2011), Coven (2013–2014), Roanoke (2016) and Apocalypse (2018).

[12] Although Farmiga initially planned on becoming an accountant,[13] she was persuaded by her sister, Vera, to appear in her directorial debut drama Higher Ground, where she was cast as the 16-year-old version of the lead character, Corinne Walker.

[19] She next joined the cast of Sofia Coppola's crime satire The Bling Ring, based on the real life criminal group of the same name, portraying 17-year-old wild child Sam Moore.

[21] She then portrayed Audrey Martin, an uptight teen touring a college campus, in the romantic comedy At Middleton, co-starring with her sister Vera and Andy García.

[34][35] The third and final film was Pippa Bianco's short drama Share, in which she played Krystal Williams, a teenager who returns to school after an explicit video of her sexual assault goes viral.

[37][38] Farmiga next appeared as Karen McClaren, a young journalist who gets caught up in the hunt for a serial killer, in ABC's short-lived crime drama series Wicked City (2015).

[43] In 2016, she made her stage debut as Shelly in the Off-Broadway revival of Sam Shepard's drama Buried Child,[44] also starring Ed Harris and Amy Madigan.

Teen Titans, directed by Sam Liu, which premiered at the 2016 WonderCon,[48] and thereafter returned to American Horror Story for the sixth season of the series, Roanoke, where she guest starred as Sophie Green in the November 2016 episode "Chapter 9".

[49] Farmiga next co-starred as Sarah Bransford in Warren Beatty's ensemble romantic comedy-drama Rules Don't Apply, which premiered at the 2016 AFI Fest to mixed reviews.

[61] In 2022, Farmiga began starring in the HBO period drama series The Gilded Age as socialite Gladys Russell, the daughter of Carrie Coon’s character.

[63] Farmiga next starred in the independent romantic drama film She Taught Love in the supporting role of Samantha Miron, which was released by Hulu on September 27, 2024.