The average creative director/owner salary is $124,243. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an graphic design major. It usually takes 4-6 years of experience to become a creative director/owner. Creative directors/owner with a Certified Advertising Specialist (CAS) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Creative Director/Owner Do

There are certain skills that many creative directors/owner have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed leadership skills, time-management skills and creativity.

How To Become a Creative Director/Owner

If you're interested in becoming a creative director/owner, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 73.4% of creative directors/owner have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.2% of creative directors/owner have master's degrees. Even though most creative directors/owner have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Creative Director/Owner Career Paths

Top Careers Before Creative Director/Owner

Top Careers After Creative Director/Owner

Average Salary for a Creative Director/Owner

Creative Directors/Owner in America make an average salary of $124,243 per year or $60 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $237,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $64,000 per year.
Average Creative Director/Owner Salary
$124,243 Yearly
$59.73 hourly

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

Roles and Types of Creative Director/Owner

There are several types of creative director/owner, including:

Owner

Role:

We know what you're thinking - as an owner, your only role is to hire people to run your company and then sit back and enjoy the view. Well, we're here to tell you that that's wishful thinking. While it'll probably pay off eventually, being an owner of a company is hard stuff.

Sure, you can still hire people to help carry out tasks, but you also need to be reviewing sales, coming up with marketing strategies, and even overseeing operations. The biggest role you have is finding new opportunities to grow or expand your business.

Many business owners who are just starting out typically work really long hours. It takes a lot of work to get an idea off the ground. In general, a 50-60-hour workweek isn't uncommon, especially in the beginning. Once the business takes off, then you can start to afford little luxuries, like working less hours.
  • Average Salary: $90,334
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Art Director

Role:

An art director's duties basically revolve around the handling of artistic trends and decisions in plans and campaigns. Several times, it is up to you to think up strategies and ensure the accomplishments of the goals and take charge in harmonizing with different artists and productive workers. In addition, as an art director, you must keep an eye on the improvement of workflow and the labor force, create ideas and strategies, and validate or give opinions on every ingenious achievement by workers.

You must exhibit good communication, project management, coordination, leadership skills, and aesthetic assessment. Additionally, you must have a bachelor's degree. Being an apprentice in an art-related industry can help as well. You will earn an average salary of $74,672 or $35.90 per hour.
  • Average Salary: $88,367
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Creative Director

Role:

Creative directors are key personnel in marketing and advertising agencies. They design media strategies and monitor communication campaigns for brands and products. They oversee the work of copywriters and graphic designers, revise presentations and coordinate the work of the creative team, making the final calls in creating advertisements.

The job of creative directors is essentially to whittle down the creative chaos their team generates into the most efficient, witty, and spot-on ad solutions. A good creative director will know how to motivate and inspire his/her or her team, bring the best out of the people they work with, and give space for great ideas to grow.

Advertising is a highly competitive and lucrative business for anyone involved, and creative directors are certainly not the ones to miss out on the financial perks. There are a lot of opportunities to show your worth, and as a creative director, you can make anything between $87,869 to $169,072 a year, depending on your location, the size and reputation of your agency, your experience in the field, and the results your work brings.

  • Average Salary: $137,779
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Creative Director/Owner Jobs

Number Of Creative Director/Owner Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,037$136,315
2New York1,943$147,115
3Florida945$90,495
4South Carolina679$95,423
5Utah637$117,210
6Arizona615$83,881
7Alabama518$112,477
8Louisiana457$110,967
9Oklahoma409$86,724
10Maryland309$98,442
11Mississippi275$116,365
12West Virginia259$103,225
13Massachusetts249$122,045
14Nevada197$107,904
15New Jersey187$129,659
16South Dakota173$104,033
17Delaware149$111,201
18Connecticut139$111,506
19Texas111$94,117
20Illinois105$129,687
21Montana68$107,168
22Pennsylvania56$99,182
23Washington53$122,072
24Georgia52$115,847
25New Hampshire49$105,060
26Rhode Island48$103,210
27Minnesota46$117,851
28North Carolina44$129,846
29Virginia44$121,301
30Maine43$118,314
31Ohio43$110,700
32Oregon42$124,008
33Colorado36$90,123
34Vermont35$115,562
35Missouri31$97,617
36Michigan27$119,967
37Iowa21$140,656
38Wisconsin21$99,414
39Tennessee20$95,490
40Alaska15$103,433
41Kentucky14$95,754
42Indiana12$97,663
43Kansas10$131,539
44Hawaii9$82,335
45Nebraska7$89,216
46Idaho5$120,347
47Arkansas5$76,778
48Wyoming4$110,871
49North Dakota4$110,802
50New Mexico3$93,713

Creative Director/Owner Education

Creative Director/Owner Majors

10.4 %

Creative Director/Owner Degrees

Bachelors

73.4 %

Associate

14.9 %

Masters

8.2 %

Top Colleges for Creative Director/Owners

1. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Business
History
English
Liberal Arts

2. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Psychology
English
Education
History

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Marketing
Communication
English
Liberal Arts

4. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Journalism
Liberal Arts
Communication
Psychology

5. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,465

Enrollment

6,483

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Theatre
Computer Applications
Graphic Design
Liberal Arts

6. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Communication
Photography
Psychology
Marketing

7. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Liberal Arts
Psychology
Communication
English

8. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,381

Enrollment

34,564

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Psychology
Liberal Arts
Marketing
English

9. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Communication
Graphic Design
Journalism
English
Computer Applications

10. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Photography
Psychology
Fine Arts
Journalism

Top Skills For a Creative Director/Owner

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 10.5% of creative directors/owner listed graphic design on their resume, but soft skills such as leadership skills and time-management skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Creative Director/Owner Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Creative Director/Owner templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Creative Director/Owner resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume
Creative Director/Owner Resume

Creative Director/Owner Demographics

Creative Director/Owner Gender Distribution

Male
Male
59%
Female
Female
41%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among creative directors/owner, 41.4% of them are women, while 58.6% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among creative directors/owner is White, which makes up 67.8% of all creative directors/owner.

  • The most common foreign language among creative directors/owner is Spanish at 51.2%.

Online Courses For Creative Director/Owner That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Creativity And Entrepreneurship

coursera

Creativity & Entrepreneurship will help you tap into your inner creativity and learn how to leverage it for career development or business innovation. Presented by Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship founder Panos Panay, this course features interviews with world renown entrepreneurs, innovators, songwriters, producers, creative directors, educators, performers, visual artists and chefs as they discuss parallels between the creative and entrepreneurial journeys. The course...

See More on Coursera

2. Creativity Course by a Creativity Coach Art & Innovation

udemy
4.7
(509)

Creativity & Innovation for Innovators, Artists, Entrepreneurs, Writers, & Students - By a Professional Creativity Coach...

See More on Udemy

3. Creativity, Design Thinking, and Innovation for Business

udemy
4.5
(18,945)

Creativity that Create an Innovative Corporate Culture Using Design Thinking & Problem Solving for the Workplace...

See More on Udemy
Show More Creative Director/Owner Courses
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary

How Do Creative Director/Owner Rate Their Jobs?

Working as a Creative Director/Owner? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary
Do you work as a Creative Director/Owner?
Rate how you like work as Creative Director/Owner. It's anonymous and will only take a minute.

Top Creative Director/Owner Employers

Most Common Employers For Creative Director/Owner

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1MAC Cosmetics$217,455$104.552
2MDS Pharma Services$198,570$95.472
3LEAP Legal Software$194,514$93.521
4Sony New Media Solutions$193,445$93.001
5Talon International$181,545$87.282
6Art Incorporated$178,632$85.882
7Safeway$176,529$84.871
8Michaels Stores$166,491$80.043
9J. The Jewish News of Northern California$165,093$79.372
10Clarke$162,697$78.221

Creative Director/Owner Videos