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Role hub · Art Directors

Creative Director: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of creative directors earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$114,850
Hourly
$55.22
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Creative Directors formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual productions and media, such as print, broadcasting, video, and film. The median pay is $114,850 a year ($55.22 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (68% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$114,850
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
53,070
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation
Most common education
Bachelor's Degree
68% of workers

Data Government data groups this job as Art Directors (O*NET-SOC 27-1011.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Explore the role

Every page for Creative Directors

SalaryCreative Director salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeCreative Director how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →ResumeCreative Director resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

Open →Interview questionsCreative Director interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

Open →
The work

What creative directors do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Work with creative directors to develop design solutions.
  2. Present final layouts to clients for approval.
  3. Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements.
  4. Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to coordinate creative activities.
  5. Confer with clients to determine objectives, budget, background information, and presentation approaches, styles, and techniques.
  6. Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound.
  7. Review and approve art materials, copy materials, and proofs of printed copy developed by staff members.
  8. Create custom illustrations or other graphic elements.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Active ListeningcoreSpeakingcoreJudgment and Decision MakingcoreReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingCoordinationComplex Problem SolvingTime ManagementPersuasion

Knowledge areas: Design, English Language, Computers and Electronics, Fine Arts, Communications and Media, Sales and Marketing.

Tools and technology

Software creative directors use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Adobe After EffectsVideo creation and editing softwareIn demand
  • Adobe Creative Cloud softwareGraphics or photo imaging softwareIn demand
  • Adobe IllustratorGraphics or photo imaging softwareIn demand
  • Adobe InDesignDesktop publishing softwareIn demand
  • Adobe PhotoshopGraphics or photo imaging softwareIn demand
  • FigmaGraphical user interface development softwareIn demand
  • Atlassian ConfluenceNetwork conferencing softwareHot technology
  • FacebookWeb page creation and editing softwareHot technology
  • WordPressWeb page creation and editing softwareHot technology
  • Adobe DirectorVideo creation and editing software
  • Adobe DreamweaverWeb page creation and editing software
  • Adobe ImageReadyGraphics or photo imaging software

Also called: Art Director, Art Supervisor, Creative Director (CD Director), Creative Manager, Creative Services Director, Creative Services Manager.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).