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The differences between creative directors and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a creative director has an average salary of $137,779, which is higher than the $91,578 average annual salary of a project manager.
The top three skills for a creative director include graphic design, creative concepts and creative direction. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Creative Director | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $137,779 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $66.24 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 11,610 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 40 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
A creative director is an individual who creates and maintains a vision for a company's products and branding through digital, print, and film installations. Creative directors supervise and innovative staff team such as graphic designers and artists to discuss and plan the vision's layout and visuals. They also meet with clients or marketing and advertising departments to create designs and make the necessary changes to the systems. Most creative directors must have a bachelor's degree in fine arts and should build work portfolios while starting their careers as graphic designers or photographers.
Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.
Creative directors and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Creative Director | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $137,779 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $228,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | Menlo Park, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a creative director and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Creative Director | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Business |
| Most common college | Harvard University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between creative directors' and project managers' demographics:
| Creative Director | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 40 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.7% Female, 35.3% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 7.8% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 10% |