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Job outlook for art department heads in the United States
Are art department head jobs in demand?
Art department head job and salary trends over time
Art department head jobs over time
Art department head job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,092 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 1,051 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 1,085 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 1,088 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 1,097 | 0.00% |
Average art department head salary over time
Art department head salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $51,551 | $24.78 | +0.2% |
| 2024 | $51,433 | $24.73 | --0.6% |
| 2023 | $51,751 | $24.88 | +4.5% |
| 2022 | $49,510 | $23.80 | --2.5% |
| 2021 | $50,782 | $24.41 | +5.1% |
Art department head jobs by state
Most common states for art department heads
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 236 | 8% |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 110 | 8% |
| 3 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 101 | 8% |
| 4 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 55 | 8% |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 480 | 7% |
| 6 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 382 | 7% |
| 7 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 246 | 7% |
| 8 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 78 | 7% |
| 9 | Alaska | 739,795 | 52 | 7% |
| 10 | Vermont | 623,657 | 44 | 7% |
| 11 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 723 | 6% |
| 12 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 642 | 6% |
| 13 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 434 | 6% |
| 14 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 63 | 6% |
| 15 | Delaware | 961,939 | 62 | 6% |
| 16 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 36 | 6% |
| 17 | Florida | 20,984,400 | 956 | 5% |
| 18 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 341 | 5% |
| 19 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 320 | 5% |
| 20 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 214 | 5% |
Most common cities for art department heads
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbus | 2 | 4% | $47,496 |
| 2 | Colleyville | 1 | 4% | $50,662 |
| 3 | Charleston | 1 | 1% | $43,016 |
| 4 | Chicago | 2 | 0% | $47,561 |
| 5 | Washington | 2 | 0% | $54,439 |
| 6 | Detroit | 1 | 0% | $70,240 |
Art Department Head job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of art department head experts
Eastern Illinois University
Samantha Osborne
Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, Owner, Samantha Osborne DesignEastern Illinois University
Art + Design
What skills stand out on Art Department Head resumes?
Samantha Osborne: Soft skills are equally important to hard skills. Graphic designers are visual communicators. Visual communication is a universal learned skill, vs. a linguistic capability. This means that graphic designers must learn to recognize and effectively utilize mood and tone in their own visual compositions in regard to color theory and psychology, gestalt principles, and font or lettering design. Essentially a well-skilled graphic designer becomes part psychologist in working through design problems and deciphering client direction, part problem-solver in developing an effective solution to the design problem, and part artist in bringing astonishing and original visual communication and graphics to reach a solution.
What soft skills should all Art Department Heads possess?
Samantha Osborne: Three soft skills stand out most: an ability to see the big picture, an ability to "read" people, and an ability to make a convincing argument for your design solution(s).
i. An ability to see big picture: there are an infinite number of details in graphic design, whether you work in website design on the front or back end, or in print media with physical outputs. It's easy to get caught up on the details, especially when clients are making specific demands about things such as paper type. A skilled designer must be able to see beyond the details and look at the big picture for an effective design solution. For example, a client may be asking for an invitation design for an up-coming event. A skilled designer will ask questions and dig in, eventually uncovering that perhaps for a successful event, the client also needs a splash page and social media, either in place of or in addition to an invitation. A skilled designer addresses design problems holistically, rather than minutely.
ii. An ability to "read" people: designers are trained in art-specific vocabulary. Hue, saturation, pixels, gestalt...most non-art folks don't use or speak that language. When clients are describing their goals, they aren't using art-vocabulary. It's a designer's job to translate what the client is saying into an advanced and effective creative solution. They must be able to speak and understand the language of non-creative folks, as well as the language of the broader creative industry.
iii. An ability to make a convincing argument for your design solution(s): many young and inexperienced designer tend to get their hearts broken when a client smashes one of their [very well thought-out] ideas. Rather than rolling over, a designer must learn to navigate how best to build support for their idea(s). That might mean in some instances you work more fluidly with the client throughout the design process, so that they feel they have ownership in the development of the solution. In other instances it might mean that the designer is presenting options, rather than a single solution, so that the client feels empowered to make choices throughout the design process. And in some instances, it might be a matter of better explaining and presenting your idea to a client; perhaps the designer needs to push back more, perhaps they need to provide more research as to why their solution is best, or maybe they simply need to present it with more excitement and enthusiasm.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Art Department Heads?
Samantha Osborne: This completely depends on which sector of the graphic design industry you're involved in. Generally speaking, a working knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite is essential, with expertise in other software as it applies to your field. I also find it refreshing and highly effective when designers can begin exploring and developing solutions in an more analog fashion on the front-end of projects, before jumping to the computer. For example, it's easier to visually organize complex ideas via a post-it/mood board wall in which you can physically move ideas around, especially when you're working with a team, which is more common than not.
What skills will help Art Department Heads earn the most?
Samantha Osborne: An ability to effectively communicate, navigate creative resources, network, empathize with others, and come up with innovative creative solutions. That said, your work still needs to be stellar and consistently great if you're going to be a big earner.