Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries
Art Directors
Art Directors formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual productions and media, such as print, broadcasting, video, and film. Direct workers engaged in artwork or layout design.
Table of contents
- Average salary
- Starting salary
- Salary rank
- Salary range
- Highest paying states
- Highest paying industries
Average salary
Starting salary
Entry-level Art Directors with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $54,530 to $71,610 per year or $26 to $34 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.
Salary rank
We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Art Directors to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.
Salary range
Level | Hourly | Annual |
---|---|---|
Highest (Top 10%) | $96 | $199,250 |
Senior (Top 25%) | $66 | $136,310 |
Middle (Mid 50%) | $47 | $97,270 |
Junior (Bottom 25%) | $34 | $71,610 |
No experience (Bottom 10%) | $26 | $54,530 |
Highest paying states
State | Hourly | Annual |
---|---|---|
NY | $68 | $142,210 |
CA | $68 | $140,740 |
NJ | $59 | $121,940 |
OR | $55 | $115,070 |
WA | $55 | $113,610 |
MN | $54 | $111,960 |
IL | $54 | $111,880 |
MA | $53 | $109,420 |
NC | $51 | $106,460 |
GA | $50 | $104,840 |
Another simple way to increase your salary as an Art Director is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like NY doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at NY might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.
According to BLS, the highest paid Art Directors are in the states of NY, CA, NJ, OR and WA.
Highest paying industries
Salary by industry | Annual | Hourly |
---|---|---|
Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing | $149650 | $71.95 |
Motion Picture and Video Industries | $141480 | $68.02 |
Cable and Other Subscription Programming | $138730 | $66.70 |
Insurance Carriers | $131830 | $63.38 |
Other Food Manufacturing | $131180 | $63.07 |
Apparel, Piece Goods, and Notions Merchant Wholesalers | $131010 | $62.99 |
Other Information Services | $127770 | $61.43 |
Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services | $127570 | $61.33 |
Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers | $125940 | $60.55 |
Radio and Television Broadcasting | $124890 | $60.04 |
Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers | $123780 | $59.51 |
Business Support Services | $122260 | $58.78 |
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services | $121080 | $58.21 |
Sound Recording Industries | $121030 | $58.19 |
Computer Systems Design and Related Services | $120320 | $57.85 |
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services | $120230 | $57.80 |
Software Publishers | $118260 | $56.86 |
Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses | $117950 | $56.71 |
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | $116820 | $56.17 |
Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities | $115540 | $55.55 |
Employment Services | $115270 | $55.42 |
Scientific Research and Development Services | $112630 | $54.15 |
Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods | $111940 | $53.82 |
Specialized Design Services | $111250 | $53.49 |
Management of Companies and Enterprises | $109590 | $52.69 |
Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services | $108900 | $52.36 |
Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities | $107270 | $51.57 |
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services | $106790 | $51.34 |
Credit Intermediation and Related Activities | $105720 | $50.83 |
Other Support Services | $105420 | $50.68 |