Art Directors salary

SOC 27-1011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$114,850

per year, nationally

Middle half

$82,480–$162,640

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

53,070

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.2%

12,300 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$64,900$213,050

10th: $64,900
25th: $82,480
Median: $114,850
75th: $162,640
90th: $213,050

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: 5 years or more
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where art directors earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Massachusetts	$149,320	105.8	1,850	1.49×
2	California	$137,780	110.7	12,430	2.00×
3	New York	$137,320	107.9	8,720	2.64×
4	Oregon	$133,840	103.4	1,040	1.55×
5	New Hampshire	$132,000	104.2	160	0.70×
6	Vermont	$129,260	98.0	80	0.82×
7	New Jersey	$129,200	108.8	1,840	1.26×
8	Washington	$121,170	107.0	650	0.54×
9	Georgia	$110,430	96.3	1,420	0.85×
10	Minnesota	$109,700	98.6	920	0.92×
11	Utah	$106,500	98.9	290	0.50×
12	Indiana	$105,690	93.3	350	0.32×
13	Illinois	$103,550	100.0	2,960	1.42×
14	Virginia	$101,150	101.1	670	0.48×
15	Missouri	$100,940	90.8	780	0.78×
16	Maine	$100,300	97.0	—	—
17	Colorado	$99,990	103.1	720	0.73×
18	Florida	$99,660	103.4	2,520	0.74×
19	Maryland	$98,400	105.0	570	0.60×
20	Nevada	$98,070	100.0	290	0.56×
21	Pennsylvania	$97,450	97.6	1,250	0.60×
22	Ohio	$94,390	92.8	1,050	0.55×
23	North Carolina	$90,000	94.3	—	—
24	Tennessee	$89,860	91.9	930	0.83×
25	Hawaii	$89,300	110.0	40	0.18×
26	Texas	$88,270	97.1	2,480	0.52×
27	South Carolina	$87,990	93.7	550	0.70×
28	Michigan	$86,660	96.2	1,080	0.72×
29	Louisiana	$83,640	88.2	160	0.24×
30	North Dakota	$83,170	89.0	30	0.23×
31	Wisconsin	$81,130	94.1	730	0.73×
32	Iowa	$80,940	87.8	280	0.52×
33	Oklahoma	$80,680	87.8	290	0.49×
34	Idaho	$80,680	95.5	—	—
35	Alabama	$77,220	88.8	210	0.30×
36	Kentucky	$76,160	90.2	320	0.47×
37	Alaska	$75,200	102.4	40	0.35×
38	Montana	$73,850	94.6	100	0.56×
39	Nebraska	$73,270	90.1	140	0.40×
40	Rhode Island	$72,550	102.3	90	0.55×
41	Arkansas	$71,930	86.9	240	0.54×
42	Connecticut	$71,900	103.6	1,160	2.00×
43	South Dakota	$66,610	88.6	30	0.21×
44	Mississippi	$66,020	87.0	90	0.23×
45	West Virginia	$63,550	89.5	30	0.14×
46	Kansas	$60,460	90.1	—	—

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where art directors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for art directors

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$170,140	110.4	600	1.56×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$165,210	115.6	2,390	2.95×
3	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$153,890	100.9	50	1.22×
4	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$151,820	108.3	1,550	1.68×
5	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$145,410	105.4	880	2.14×
6	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$142,990	112.6	8,980	2.77×
7	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$137,560	113.6	6,590	3.08×
8	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$133,680	99.8	70	1.29×
9	Worcester, MA	$131,240	102.5	100	0.82×
10	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$126,410	109.9	40	1.06×
11	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$126,050	111.9	630	1.21×
12	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$124,610	111.1	520	0.73×
13	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$123,420	105.1	30	0.34×
14	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$121,920	110.5	100	0.90×
15	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$121,540	103.2	90	1.06×
16	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$119,020	104.8	780	1.18×
17	Syracuse, NY	$118,560	95.7	60	0.58×
18	Savannah, GA	$117,650	95.2	40	0.58×
19	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$117,110	109.4	60	0.63×
20	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$113,180	102.7	180	0.89×
21	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$112,050	101.1	30	0.53×
22	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$111,480	100.1	1,190	1.20×
23	Portland-South Portland, ME	$110,420	101.9	40	0.45×
24	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$110,180	107.8	40	0.57×
25	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$109,500	108.8	50	0.76×
26	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$109,470	100.9	180	0.63×
27	Fresno, CA	$109,420	102.2	60	0.35×
28	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$107,770	98.9	50	0.81×
29	Boulder, CO	$107,130	105.2	80	1.19×
30	Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT	$106,500	98.2	60	0.58×
31	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$106,390	106.7	310	0.84×
32	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$105,990	108.9	820	0.77×
33	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$105,270	95.7	160	0.42×
34	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$105,260	102.6	780	0.79×
35	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$104,570	103.6	2,560	1.66×
36	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$104,360	106.4	320	0.55×
37	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$103,990	98.2	200	0.78×
38	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$103,440	101.6	40	0.75×
39	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$103,150	114.2	1,090	1.14×
40	Cedar Rapids, IA	$103,120	89.0	40	0.77×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where art directors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Graphic Designers$62,960
Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers$39,390
Interior Designers$67,190
Floral Designers$37,360
Commercial and Industrial Designers$83,910
Fashion Designers$80,960
Special Effects Artists and Animators$102,030
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators$55,490