2027 Salary Guide · Marketing & Creative
There is no official BLS creative director salary. The title is counted in the Art Directors occupation, whose median was $114,850 in May 2025, and creative directors typically sit near the top of it: between $162,640 at the 75th percentile and $213,050 at the 90th. In 2027 terms that band is about $173,000 to $226,500.
How the data works
BLS classifies jobs by the work performed, not by title. O*NET, the Labor Department's occupation database, lists Creative Director, Creative Services Director and Design Director among the reported titles for Art Directors, so creative directors are counted in that occupation.
That occupation also includes associate and junior art directors, which pulls its median down. A creative director who sets the creative strategy for a brand or agency, manages art directors and copywriters, and presents to clients is doing the senior end of that work, so the 75th and 90th percentiles are the honest benchmark, not the median.
BLS publishes percentiles only up to the 90th. Executive and chief creative officers at large agencies and brands can earn more than the top figure shown here, but there is no BLS data to say how much more.
Pay distribution
The bar shows all art directors. The shaded band, the 75th to 90th percentile, is where creative director roles usually land, because they lead art directors, copywriters and designers rather than working beside them.
Typical for the Creative Director title: $162,640 to $213,050 (75th to 90th percentile of Art Directors)
| Percentile | BLS, May 2025 | 2027 planning estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $64,900 | $69,000 |
| 25th percentile | $82,480 | $87,500 |
| Median | $114,850 | $122,000 |
| 75th percentile | $162,640 | $173,000 |
| 90th percentile | $213,050 | $226,500 |
BLS has no creative director category. This guide benchmarks the title to the top quarter of Art Directors.
Upper-range pay by metro
Ranked by the number of art directors employed. These are the BLS figures for the whole occupation in each metro, the columns where creative director offers usually fall.
| Metro | 75th percentile | 90th percentile | Art directors employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $198,160 | $271,220 | |
| Los Angeles | $191,950 | $238,320 | |
| Chicago | $134,860 | $172,750 | |
| San Francisco Bay Area | $208,960 | $277,730 | |
| Boston | $169,710 | $218,270 | |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $103,130 | $161,270 | |
| Atlanta | $157,750 | $201,260 | |
| Miami | $128,520 | $163,990 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, Art Directors (SOC 27-1011). Employment counts exclude the self-employed.
Local pay
These are art director figures, so for a creative director read the right-hand columns. The San Francisco Bay Area has the highest median, $165,210, and New York's 90th percentile reaches $271,220. New York and Los Angeles together employ about 15,570 art directors, more than the next eight metros combined.
| Metro area | Median | 10th – 90th | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Bay Area | $165,210 +44% | $88,460 – $277,730 | 2,390 |
| Boston | $151,820 +32% | $80,680 – $218,270 | 1,550 |
| Portland | $145,410 +27% | $96,070 – $224,310 | 880 |
| New York City | $142,990 +25% | $85,040 – $271,220 | 8,980 |
| Los Angeles | $137,560 +20% | $83,720 – $238,320 | 6,590 |
| San Diego | $126,050 +10% | $78,140 – $211,550 | 630 |
| Seattle | $124,610 +8% | $76,610 – $216,120 | 520 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | $119,020 +4% | $72,400 – $177,930 | 780 |
| Hartford | $113,180 -1% | $66,310 – $161,690 | 180 |
| Atlanta | $111,480 -3% | $49,990 – $201,260 | 1,190 |
| Metro area | Median | 10th – 90th | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington, DC | $105,990 -8% | $56,360 – $168,330 | 820 |
| Philadelphia | $105,260 -8% | $72,090 – $170,130 | 780 |
| Chicago | $104,570 -9% | $73,800 – $172,750 | 2,560 |
| Raleigh | $103,990 -9% | $52,490 – $175,130 | 200 |
| Miami | $103,150 -10% | $56,780 – $163,990 | 1,090 |
| Nashville | $101,470 -12% | $61,340 – $186,200 | 520 |
| Albany | $101,300 -12% | $61,640 – $165,750 | — |
| Austin | $100,690 -12% | $63,780 – $230,410 | 400 |
| Denver | $99,990 -13% | $73,930 – $160,330 | 520 |
| Baltimore | $97,460 -15% | $59,310 – $159,070 | 230 |
| Pittsburgh | $96,420 -16% | $62,320 – $138,560 | 180 |
| Buffalo | $95,770 -17% | $52,960 – $177,830 | 140 |
| Detroit | $95,390 -17% | $57,700 – $173,040 | 650 |
| Houston | $91,570 -20% | $53,920 – $155,220 | 310 |
| Tampa | $90,360 -21% | $55,790 – $159,130 | 310 |
| Charlotte | $90,000 -22% | $70,420 – $134,510 | — |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $87,810 -24% | $59,210 – $161,270 | 1,210 |
| Providence | $81,820 -29% | $57,160 – $194,000 | 120 |
BLS metro estimates, May 2025. Percent compares the metro median with the national median. "Jobs" is BLS estimated employment in the metro; blank where BLS does not publish it.
What moves pay
Across the national range, the gap between those two points is about $50,410. These are the factors that most often explain it.
Leading one brand or product line is a different job from owning the creative output of a whole agency office or a multi-brand company. Pay follows the number of accounts, brands and people involved.
Creative directors who win new business, defend accounts in reviews or own a production budget are tied to revenue, and that is easier to pay for than craft alone.
Agency creative directors are usually judged on pitches and campaigns across clients. In-house creative directors run a brand's design, content and video teams. Both can reach the top of the range; the path and the scrutiny differ.
The 90th percentile is above $270,000 in New York and the Bay Area and under $165,000 in Dallas and Miami. Where the job sits matters as much as the title.
Compare
The art director figures match this page exactly because BLS counts both titles together; the difference is where in the range each title sits. Marketing managers have a higher median, and creative directors at the 75th percentile out-earn the median video producer and UX designer.
| Role | BLS median | 2027 estimate | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creative Director | $114,850 | $122,000 | Average |
| Art Director | $114,850 | $122,000 | Average |
| Marketing Manager | $166,790 | $177,500 | Much faster than average |
| Video Producer | $90,360 | $96,000 | Average |
| UX Designer | $104,000 | $110,500 | Faster than average |
Outlook
BLS projects average growth for art directors as a whole, with about 12,200 openings a year across 140,200 jobs. BLS does not split openings by level, and creative director jobs are usually filled from the art director and senior copywriter ranks.
BLS Employment Projections via O*NET OnLine. Projections cover Art Directors as a whole.
FAQ
BLS counts creative directors as art directors. In that occupation, the 75th percentile was $162,640 and the 90th percentile $213,050 in May 2025, which is where creative director roles usually fall. The occupation's overall median was $114,850. Adjusted to 2027 at 3.1% a year, the creative director band is about $173,000 to $226,500.
No official figure exists. BLS does not publish a separate creative director occupation. O*NET lists Creative Director as a reported title for Art Directors, so creative director pay is reported inside that group, alongside junior and mid-level art directors. That is why this guide uses the upper percentiles rather than the median.
In the New York metro area, art directors earned a median of $142,990 in May 2025, with $198,160 at the 75th percentile and $271,220 at the 90th. Creative directors usually fall in the upper part of that range. New York also has the most art director jobs of any metro, about 8,980.
BLS reports both titles as one occupation, so the published figures are identical. The difference is position in the range: art directors span most of it, from about $82,500 to $162,600 for the middle half, while creative directors, who lead art directors and copywriters, usually sit between the 75th and 90th percentiles.
Creative directors usually come up through art director or senior copywriter roles. BLS says art directors themselves typically have five or more years of experience in another occupation, such as graphic design, before reaching that title, so creative director is typically a later-career title.
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