Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 27-1011

Art Directors

The published band from $64,900 to $213,050 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Special Effects Artists and Animators.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Art Directors: Special Effects Artists and Animators ($102K) , Sound Engineering Technicians ($73K) , Technical Writers ($90K) , Fashion Designers ($81K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Art Directors publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 27-1011 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Work with creative directors to develop design solutions
  2. 2. Present final layouts to clients for approval
  3. 3. Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements
  4. 4. Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to co…
  5. 5. Confer with clients to determine objectives, budget, background information, and presentation approaches, styles, and techniques
  6. 6. Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphic…
  7. 7. Review and approve art materials, copy materials, and proofs of printed copy developed by staff members
  8. 8. Mark up, paste, and complete layouts and write typography instructions to prepare materials for typesetting or printing
  9. 9. Create custom illustrations or other graphic elements
  10. 10. Attend photo shoots and printing sessions to ensure that the products needed are obtained
  11. 11. Review illustrative material to determine if it conforms to standards and specifications
  12. 12. Hire, train, and direct staff members who develop design concepts into art layouts or who prepare layouts for printing

Art Directors: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 27-1011 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Design. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.0
  2. 2. Speaking 4.0
  3. 3. Reading Comprehension 3.8
  4. 4. Critical Thinking 3.8
  5. 5. Judgment and Decision Making 3.8
  6. 6. Coordination 3.6
  7. 7. Complex Problem Solving 3.6
  8. 8. Time Management 3.6

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Design 4.3
  2. 2. English Language 4.3
  3. 3. Computers and Electronics 4.2
  4. 4. Fine Arts 4.2
  5. 5. Communications and Media 4.1
  6. 6. Sales and Marketing 3.7
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$64,900 to $213,050
median $114,850 · ~3.3× spread
$115K
National median
↑ +4%
Growth 2024-2034
12,300
Annual openings
53,070
Estimated US jobs
Special Effects Artists and Animators
Highest-pay peer · $102K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree
Related experience 5 years or more

Top Paying States for Art Directors

1. Massachusetts $149,320
2. New York $137,320
3. New Hampshire $132,000
4. California $137,780
5. Vermont $129,260
6. Washington $121,170
7. Georgia $110,430
8. Oregon $133,840
9. New Jersey $129,200
10. Minnesota $109,700

Other Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations titles

  1. 1. Special Effects Artists and Animators $102,030
  2. 2. Technical Writers $90,390
  3. 3. Fashion Designers $80,960
  4. 4. Writers and Authors $76,910
  5. 5. Producers and Directors $90,360
  6. 6. Sound Engineering Technicians $73,130

The OEWS band for Art Directors runs from $64,900 (10th) to $213,050 (90th), about 3.3× wide, with median $114,850. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +4% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 12,300 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry and 5 years or more as the typical related-work-experience category. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Massachusetts at $149,320. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Special Effects Artists and Animators at $102,030. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Art Directors pay-rank #1 in Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations

Among 36 detailed Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations with a published OEWS median, Art Directors is pay-rank #1, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Art Directors is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Art Directors salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 27-1011

Massachusetts · top state for Art Directors

$149K published median

New York · #2 state pay

$137K · behind Massachusetts

Special Effects Artists and Animators

Highest-pay peer vs Art Directors · $102K

Sound Engineering Technicians

Lower-pay peer beside Art Directors · $73K

Compare Art Directors

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Art Directors with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations titles sit near Art Directors at the top of the pay table? ▼
Art Directors is pay-rank #1 of 36 detailed Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Special Effects Artists and Animators ($102K), Technical Writers ($90K), Producers and Directors ($90K), Commercial and Industrial Designers ($84K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do art directors do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Art Directors. Leading ones include: Work with creative directors to develop design solutions; Present final layouts to clients for approval; Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements; Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to co…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for art directors? ▼
For SOC 27-1011, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.0), Speaking (4.0), Reading Comprehension (3.8), Critical Thinking (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Design, English Language, Computers and Electronics. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Art Directors? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $64,900 and the 90th at $213,050 for Art Directors (3.3× spread). The national median is $114,850. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Art Directors? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Art Directors is +4%. Projected annual openings: about 12,300. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Art Directors? ▼
BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Art Directors. Related-work-experience category: 5 years or more. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Art Directors? ▼
Massachusetts ($149,320), New York ($137,320), New Hampshire ($132,000) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Art Directors card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 27-1011. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Art Directors. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics