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Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2022

27-1011 Art Directors

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. Excludes “Set and Exhibit Designers” (27-1027).


National estimates for Art Directors
Industry profile for Art Directors
Geographic profile for Art Directors

National estimates for Art Directors:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Art Directors:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
54,470 3.3 % $ 59.76 $ 124,310 1.1 %

Percentile wage estimates for Art Directors:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $ 27.80 $ 37.13 $ 50.57 $ 73.92 $ 99.55
Annual Wage (2) $ 57,820 $ 77,220 $ 105,180 $ 153,760 $ 207,060


Industry profile for Art Directors:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Art Directors are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Art Directors, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Art Directors:

Industry Employment (1) Percent of industry employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services 16,730 3.48 $ 62.53 $ 130,050
Motion Picture and Video Industries 4,590 1.10 $ 78.39 $ 163,050
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services 4,130 0.23 $ 52.47 $ 109,130
Specialized Design Services 3,880 2.58 $ 43.78 $ 91,070
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers 3,270 1.07 $ 45.93 $ 95,530

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Art Directors:

Industry Employment (1) Percent of industry employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services 16,730 3.48 $ 62.53 $ 130,050
Specialized Design Services 3,880 2.58 $ 43.78 $ 91,070
Motion Picture and Video Industries 4,590 1.10 $ 78.39 $ 163,050
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers 3,270 1.07 $ 45.93 $ 95,530
Performing Arts Companies 1,220 1.01 $ 40.56 $ 84,370

Top paying industries for Art Directors:

Industry Employment (1) Percent of industry employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Motor Vehicle Manufacturing (8) (8) $ 88.75 $ 184,600
Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services 180 0.10 $ 85.10 $ 177,000
Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers 130 0.02 $ 82.64 $ 171,880
Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities 110 0.01 $ 81.52 $ 169,560
Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers 1,110 0.48 $ 81.22 $ 168,940


Geographic profile for Art Directors:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Art Directors are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Art Directors, see the Create Customized Tables function.



Map of employment of art directors by state, May 2022


States with the highest employment level in Art Directors:

State Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
California 13,060 0.74 2.01 $ 71.90 $ 149,560
New York 9,980 1.10 2.97 $ 74.04 $ 154,000
Illinois 4,190 0.71 1.94 $ 54.42 $ 113,200
Texas 3,750 0.29 0.78 $ 42.82 $ 89,060
New Jersey 1,960 0.48 1.29 $ 60.79 $ 126,450


Map of location quotient of art directors by state, May 2022


States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Art Directors:

State Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
New York 9,980 1.10 2.97 $ 74.04 $ 154,000
California 13,060 0.74 2.01 $ 71.90 $ 149,560
Illinois 4,190 0.71 1.94 $ 54.42 $ 113,200
District of Columbia 470 0.68 1.84 $ 67.54 $ 140,480
Oregon 1,020 0.54 1.47 $ 54.79 $ 113,950


Map of annual mean wages of art directors by state, May 2022


Top paying states for Art Directors:

State Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
New York 9,980 1.10 2.97 $ 74.04 $ 154,000
California 13,060 0.74 2.01 $ 71.90 $ 149,560
District of Columbia 470 0.68 1.84 $ 67.54 $ 140,480
New Jersey 1,960 0.48 1.29 $ 60.79 $ 126,450
Washington 1,010 0.30 0.80 $ 60.23 $ 125,270



Map of employment of art directors by area, May 2022


Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Art Directors:

Metropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 10,570 1.15 3.12 $ 73.68 $ 153,250
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 8,090 1.33 3.60 $ 72.60 $ 151,020
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI 3,680 0.83 2.26 $ 55.53 $ 115,500
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA 2,120 0.89 2.41 $ 81.69 $ 169,920
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 1,680 0.44 1.20 $ 43.34 $ 90,140
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 1,280 0.47 1.27 (8) (8)
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH 1,260 0.47 1.26 $ 61.23 $ 127,360
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 960 0.51 1.39 $ 51.08 $ 106,240
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 960 0.52 1.40 $ 44.11 $ 91,740
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 900 0.30 0.80 $ 58.61 $ 121,920


Map of location quotient of art directors by area, May 2022


Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Art Directors:

Metropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 8,090 1.33 3.60 $ 72.60 $ 151,020
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 10,570 1.15 3.12 $ 73.68 $ 153,250
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA 2,120 0.89 2.41 $ 81.69 $ 169,920
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI 3,680 0.83 2.26 $ 55.53 $ 115,500
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT 300 0.76 2.06 $ 58.59 $ 121,860
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 860 0.73 1.97 $ 54.85 $ 114,090
Santa Fe, NM 40 0.70 1.91 $ 34.17 $ 71,080
Provo-Orem, UT 190 0.68 1.85 $ 42.11 $ 87,580
Trenton, NJ 150 0.64 1.74 $ 56.24 $ 116,970
Austin-Round Rock, TX 630 0.54 1.46 $ 44.86 $ 93,300


Map of annual mean wages of art directors by area, May 2022


Top paying metropolitan areas for Art Directors:

Metropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA 2,120 0.89 2.41 $ 81.69 $ 169,920
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 590 0.52 1.42 $ 78.71 $ 163,710
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 10,570 1.15 3.12 $ 73.68 $ 153,250
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 8,090 1.33 3.60 $ 72.60 $ 151,020
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA 60 0.27 0.73 $ 63.58 $ 132,240
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 870 0.43 1.16 $ 62.68 $ 130,380
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH 1,260 0.47 1.26 $ 61.23 $ 127,360
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC 70 0.22 0.58 $ 59.88 $ 124,540
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA 580 0.39 1.06 $ 59.80 $ 124,370
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA 190 0.18 0.49 $ 59.29 $ 123,320

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest employment in Art Directors:

Nonmetropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Southwest Maine nonmetropolitan area 40 0.22 0.59 $ 37.66 $ 78,320
Alaska nonmetropolitan area 40 0.37 1.01 $ 28.63 $ 59,550

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Art Directors:

Nonmetropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Alaska nonmetropolitan area 40 0.37 1.01 $ 28.63 $ 59,550
Southwest Maine nonmetropolitan area 40 0.22 0.59 $ 37.66 $ 78,320

Top paying nonmetropolitan areas for Art Directors:

Nonmetropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Southwest Maine nonmetropolitan area 40 0.22 0.59 $ 37.66 $ 78,320
Alaska nonmetropolitan area 40 0.37 1.01 $ 28.63 $ 59,550


About May 2022 National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors, all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and all states and the District of Columbia. The top employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable XLS files.

The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(8) Estimate not released.

(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.


Other OEWS estimates and related information:

May 2022 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2022 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2022 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2022 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2022 Occupation Profiles

Technical Notes

 

Last Modified Date: April 25, 2023