NextChapter

Creative Director salary: median $178,500 a year

Creative Director listings that state pay run from $165,000 to $221,000 for the middle half, based on 62 current job listings. 103 creative director roles are open now.

Creative Director pay range

From 62 open listings that state pay. Annual, in US dollars.

Lower quarter
$165,000
Median
$178,500
Upper quarter
$221,000

Do AI skills change creative director pay?

For Design roles in general, as of November 9, 2026. This is the function’s figure, not one for creative director alone: one title rarely has enough listings on both sides.

Among Design listings, those that ask for an AI skill advertise a median $193,500, against $144,500 for those that never mention AI (+34.1%). That raw gap is not matched on level or industry.

Listings that ask for an AI skill
$193,500
median, from 380 paid listings
Listings that never mention AI
$144,500
median, from 198 paid listings

Advertised pay only: the midpoint of the range an employer posted, on live U.S. postings read from the full text. “Asks for an AI skill” means the posting names a specific AI skill; “no AI” means it never mentions AI. A difference in what is advertised is not a promise of what you would be paid, and it does not show that learning a skill causes a raise.

See the AI-skill pay table for every function · Check your own pay against these listings

More pay data: Design pay by level, skills that pay more and pay by employer size.

Creative Director salary by state

States with at least 8 listings that state pay.

Between jobs? Unemployment benefits and severance rules in these states, or in every state.

Open creative director jobs

Verified against the employer’s own career site within the last week.

Showing the newest 15 of about 103 verified open jobs here. Search all jobs

All 103 creative director jobs

Design jobs in the rankings

Rankings about design jobs

Design jobs · Top Design employers · All rankings

Send this to a friendLinkedInEmail

Related salaries

Creative Director salary questions

How much does a creative director make?
Among 62 open creative director listings that state pay, the median is $178,500 a year, and half of listings fall between $165,000 and $221,000.
Where does this creative director pay data come from?
From current job listings on employers’ own career sites that state a pay range. Hourly pay is converted at 2,080 hours a year, and a listing’s midpoint is used. Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
Which state pays creative directors the most?
Of the states with enough listings, California has the highest median listed pay at $217,500.

Applying and hearing nothing back?

Find out where you stand: your odds, the jobs that fit you and a plan for the week ahead. Free. No résumé needed.

Already a member? Log in

Get my Market Reality Assessment

Hiring creative director roles and not seeing the right people?

Leave your work email. We'll send how to reach people searching for creative director jobs.

See employer options