Art Directors
US occupation · SOC 27-1011
Job titles people report: Art Director, Art Supervisor, Creative Director (CD Director), Creative Manager, Creative Services Director, Creative Services Manager, Design Director, Graphic Design and Art Production Manager, Group Art Supervisor, Presentation Director
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $114,850
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $82,480 – $162,640
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 53,070
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- +4.2%
- At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 12,200
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- Bachelor's degree
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
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.
Main tasks
- 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 coordinate creative activities.
- Confer with clients to determine objectives, budget, background information, and presentation approaches, styles, and techniques.
- Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound.
- Review and approve art materials, copy materials, and proofs of printed copy developed by staff members.
- Create custom illustrations or other graphic elements.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience in a related job: 5 years or more
- O*NET Job Zone 4
- Considerable preparation
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Artistic: creating, designing and self-expression
- Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 3 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Visual & Performing Arts
- Digital Arts
- Graphic Design
- Intermedia/Multimedia
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Visual & Performing Arts at the Major step.
Where many students take visual & performing arts
- Savannah College of Art and DesignSavannah, GA · 42% of degrees · 15,243 undergraduates
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 4% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- University of Central FloridaOrlando, FL · 8% of degrees · 59,146 undergraduates
- New York UniversityNew York, NY · 16% of degrees · 28,663 undergraduates
- The New SchoolNew York, NY · 68% of degrees · 6,563 undergraduates
- Berklee College of MusicBoston, MA · 57% of degrees · 7,468 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Graphic Designers
$62,960 median · -1.7% projected
- Special Effects Artists and Animators
$102,030 median · -0.3% projected
- Producers and Directors
$90,360 median · +4% projected
- Project Management Specialists
$102,320 median · +6.7% projected
- Writers and Authors
$76,910 median · -0.3% projected
- Set and Exhibit Designers
$75,240 median · +1.4% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk