Creative Director salary

Q: What state pays Creative Directors the most?

California pays Creative Directors the most in the United States, with an average salary of $165,697 per year, or $79.66 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Creative Director?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Creative Director if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in New York you should be paid close to $145,570 per year.

Q: How do you become a creative director?

To become a creative director, you must get a bachelor's degree and have at least 7 to 10 years of experience working in your field. The creative director position usually requires a bachelor's degree or master's degree in a specific creative field, such as marketing, graphic design, or fine arts.

Q: How much do creative directors make?

Creative directors make $103,000 per year, on average. However, there is a considerable range in what a creative director can earn based on the industry or location of the position. Creative directors can start as little as $61,000 a year to as much as $174,000 a year.

Q: How much should a creative director charge?

A creative director's charge rate is based on many factors and can range from $500.00 on the low end to as high as $10,000+ per project / per day. The total cost depends entirely on the scope of work, if freelance or onsite requirements, what type of project, service, or creative direction is needed.

Q: Is being a creative director a good career?

Yes, being a creative director is a good career. Working as a creative director is lucrative and a rewarding career path for a seasoned creative professional who understands the industry.

Average creative director salary

$137,779

$66.24 hourly rate

Entry-level creative director salary

$82,000 yearly salary

Updated January 8, 2025

How much does a creative director make?

The average creative director salary in the United States is $137,779. Creative director salaries typically range between $82,000 and $228,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for creative directors is $66.24 per hour.

Creative director salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Creative directors earn the highest average salary in California.

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Creative director salary by:

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Where can a Creative Director earn more?

Compare salary by location

207k

187k

167k

147k

127k

107k

87k

67k

Columbus, OH$184,999

Boulder, CO$96,752

Compare salary by company

240k

220k

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Apple$226,183

Trion Worlds$190,144

Creative Director salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Glassdoor, Ziprecruiter, Comparably and Payscale, the average salary for a creative director typically falls between $95,969 and $165,972.

zippia

$137,779yearly

glassdoor[1]

$165,972yearly

indeed[2]

$112,202yearly

comparably[3]

$125,408yearly

Salary.com[4]

$146,780yearly

ZipRecruiter[5]

$129,750yearly

payscale[6]

$95,969yearly

Average creative director salary by state

The average creative director salary in California, New York, and Washington are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average creative director salary states are Indiana, Kentucky, and Nebraska.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Highest paying states for creative directors

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	California	$165,697	$79.66
2	New York	$145,570	$69.99
3	Washington	$144,458	$69.45
4	Alaska	$143,583	$69.03
5	Vermont	$126,894	$61.01
6	Illinois	$125,414	$60.30
7	Kansas	$139,976	$67.30
8	Idaho	$134,116	$64.48
9	New Jersey	$132,965	$63.93
10	Oregon	$123,107	$59.19
11	Wyoming	$118,181	$56.82
12	Iowa	$138,937	$66.80
13	Mississippi	$114,883	$55.23
14	Maine	$133,968	$64.41
15	Louisiana	$112,838	$54.25
16	North Carolina	$119,656	$57.53
17	Nevada	$124,860	$60.03
18	Massachusetts	$115,088	$55.33
19	Minnesota	$114,365	$54.98
20	Georgia	$115,128	$55.35
21	North Dakota	$110,782	$53.26
22	New Hampshire	$113,947	$54.78
23	Michigan	$114,952	$55.27
24	District of Columbia	$114,238	$54.92
25	Montana	$111,204	$53.46
26	South Dakota	$98,472	$47.34
27	Rhode Island	$108,008	$51.93
28	Connecticut	$114,458	$55.03
29	West Virginia	$92,668	$44.55
30	Texas	$104,417	$50.20
31	Utah	$100,535	$48.33
32	Pennsylvania	$108,817	$52.32
33	Delaware	$105,376	$50.66
34	Virginia	$102,832	$49.44
35	Ohio	$101,574	$48.83
36	New Mexico	$103,964	$49.98
37	Colorado	$96,891	$46.58
38	Oklahoma	$87,204	$41.92
39	Arizona	$96,015	$46.16
40	Hawaii	$106,953	$51.42
41	Missouri	$93,730	$45.06
42	Maryland	$91,406	$43.95
43	Alabama	$80,715	$38.81
44	Tennessee	$88,775	$42.68
45	Florida	$90,170	$43.35
46	Wisconsin	$92,415	$44.43
47	Indiana	$87,187	$41.92
48	Kentucky	$86,200	$41.44
49	Nebraska	$83,916	$40.34
50	Arkansas	$80,991	$38.94
51	South Carolina	$83,364	$40.08

Top creative director jobs near you

Highest paying cities for creative directors

The highest-paying cities for creative directors are Menlo Park, CA, Seattle, WA, and New York, NY.

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Menlo Park, CA	$184,999	$88.94
2	Seattle, WA	$151,616	$72.89
3	New York, NY	$151,007	$72.60
4	Portland, ME	$138,984	$66.82
5	Chicago, IL	$127,849	$61.47
6	Las Vegas, NV	$127,456	$61.28
7	Portland, OR	$123,240	$59.25
8	Raleigh, NC	$122,919	$59.10
9	Detroit, MI	$116,376	$55.95
10	Atlanta, GA	$116,256	$55.89
11	Boston, MA	$116,037	$55.79
12	Washington, DC	$115,027	$55.30
13	Minneapolis, MN	$114,737	$55.16
14	Philadelphia, PA	$110,169	$52.97
15	Austin, TX	$105,950	$50.94
16	Arlington, VA	$103,776	$49.89
17	Columbus, OH	$101,519	$48.81
18	Salt Lake City, UT	$99,758	$47.96
19	Phoenix, AZ	$97,221	$46.74
20	Boulder, CO	$96,752	$46.52

Creative Directors are the most in-demand in these five cities:

Creative Director salary details

A creative director's salary ranges from $82,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $228,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average Creative Director Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a creative director's salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$228,000	$19,000	$110
75th Percentile	$179,000	$14,917	$86
Average	$137,779	$11,482	$66
25th Percentile	$105,000	$8,750	$50
10th Percentile	$82,000	$6,833	$39

Highest paying creative director jobs

The highest paying types of creative directors are executive creative director, senior creative director, and associate creative director.

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Graphic Design Manager	$66,975	$5,581	$32.20	48,269
Designer/Art Director	$97,448	$8,121	$46.85	53,314
Freelance Art Director	$85,453	$7,121	$41.08	9,215
Art Director	$88,367	$7,364	$42.48	11,472
Creative Services Director	$108,980	$9,082	$52.39	60,237
Creative/Art Director	$125,743	$10,479	$60.45	10,403

Top companies hiring creative directors now:

Which companies pay creative directors the most?

Creative director salaries at Apple and Meta are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average creative director salary at companies like Airbnb and Ropes & Gray are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Apple	$226,183	$108.74
2	Meta	$221,411	$106.45
3	Airbnb	$219,354	$105.46
4	Ropes & Gray	$213,434	$102.61
5	Google	$213,076	$102.44
6	Bloomberg	$212,522	$102.17
7	The Howard Hughes	$209,110	$100.53
8	Okta	$208,829	$100.40
9	Zoox	$208,229	$100.11
10	THINX	$204,718	$98.42
11	Trailer Park	$197,552	$94.98
12	Netflix	$197,116	$94.77
13	Amazon	$196,284	$94.37
14	Fullscreen	$196,170	$94.31
15	Citi	$193,996	$93.27
16	Riot Games	$193,954	$93.25
17	Blurb	$193,408	$92.98
18	BBDO Detroit	$190,671	$91.67
19	Mayo Clinic	$190,366	$91.52
20	Trion Worlds	$190,144	$91.42

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$131,000$128,800$126,600$124,400$122,200$120,000

MaleFemale

Creative Director salary by industry

The average creative director salary varies across industries:

The average creative director salary in the technology industry is $162,278, the highest of any industry.
The average creative director salary in the finance industry is $159,581.
Creative directors in the retail industry earn an average salary of $149,826, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for creative directors

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Technology	$162,278	$78.02
2	Finance	$159,581	$76.72
3	Professional	$158,526	$76.21
4	Start-up	$157,924	$75.92
5	Media	$154,871	$74.46
6	Manufacturing	$154,803	$74.42
7	Retail	$149,826	$72.03

High Paying Creative Director Jobs

Creative Director salary trends

The average creative director salary has risen by $22,677 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average creative director earned $115,102 annually, but today, they earn $137,779 a year. That works out to a 8% change in pay for creative directors over the last decade.

Compare creative director salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average creative director salary over time

Compare creative director salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

National Average
Columbus, OH

Creative Director salary by year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2025	$138,000	$66.24	+3.1%
2024	$133,000	$64.16	+1.5%
2023	$131,000	$63.18	+0.3%
2022	$131,000	$62.99	+2.9%
2021	$127,000	$61.17	+0.1%

Recently added creative director salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Startupaz Foundation	Remote Creative Director	Pine, AZ	12/17/2024	$120,000
Monolithic Power Systems	Creative Director	Kirkland, WA	12/16/2024	$150,000
Iamag	Creative Director, Digital Media	Los Angeles, CA	12/16/2024	$150,000
VMLY&R	Creative Resource Director	Newport Beach, CA	12/16/2024	$75,000
Capital One	Manager, Creative Director	New York, NY	12/15/2024	$147,800
Harry's Seafood	Creative Strategy Director (Flamingo)	New York, NY	12/15/2024	$158,400
Flamingo	Creative Strategy Director	New York, NY	12/15/2024	$158,400
Montrose Environmental Group	Creative Director	Durham, NC	12/15/2024	$125,000
Chime	Creative Director	New York, NY	12/15/2024	$168,570
Millerknoll	Creative Director, Herman Miller	New York, NY	12/15/2024	$277,900

Creative Director salary FAQs

What state pays Creative Directors the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Creative Director?

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Creative Director
Creative Director Salary

Updated January 8, 2025

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