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Job outlook for creative directors/partner in the United States
Creative director/partner job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected creative director/partner job growth rate is 4% from 2018-2028.
About 4,700 new jobs for creative directors/partner are projected over the next decade.
Creative director/partner salaries have increased 8% for creative directors/partner in the last 5 years.
There are over 10,917 creative directors/partner currently employed in the United States.
There are 32,347 active creative director/partner job openings in the US.
The average creative director/partner salary is $169,703.
Are creative director/partner jobs in demand?
Creative director/partner job and salary trends over time
Creative director/partner jobs over time
Creative director/partner job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10,917 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 10,628 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 11,128 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 10,434 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 9,902 | 0.00% |
Average creative director/partner salary over time
Creative director/partner salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $169,703 | $81.59 | +3.2% |
| 2024 | $164,382 | $79.03 | +1.6% |
| 2023 | $161,869 | $77.82 | +0.3% |
| 2022 | $161,381 | $77.59 | +3.0% |
| 2021 | $156,705 | $75.34 | +0.1% |
Creative director/partner jobs by state
Most common states for creative directors/partner
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 199 | 23% |
| 2 | Arkansas | 3,004,279 | 569 | 19% |
| 3 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 567 | 18% |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 3,930,864 | 497 | 13% |
| 5 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 91 | 13% |
| 6 | Louisiana | 4,684,333 | 556 | 12% |
| 7 | Alabama | 4,874,747 | 536 | 11% |
| 8 | Mississippi | 2,984,100 | 319 | 11% |
| 9 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 565 | 8% |
| 10 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 84 | 8% |
| 11 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 276 | 7% |
| 12 | California | 39,536,653 | 2,203 | 6% |
| 13 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 498 | 6% |
| 14 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 194 | 6% |
| 15 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 83 | 6% |
| 16 | Vermont | 623,657 | 38 | 6% |
| 17 | New York | 19,849,399 | 1,063 | 5% |
| 18 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 642 | 5% |
| 19 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 392 | 5% |
| 20 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 61 | 5% |
Creative Director/Partner job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of creative director/partner experts
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Indiana University Bloomington
Bethel University
Troy University
Humboldt State University
The One Club
What general advice would you give to a Creative Director/Partner?
Frances Zhu: Get competing offers and negotiate a higher salary. Foster skills that lend to higher salaries. For example, even though marine biology may not pay the highest, if you have some coding experience, you will be one of the higher paid marine biologists in the field.
What Creative Director/Partner skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Frances Zhu: Do not feel locked into a career trajectory. Find some great mentors. So much information is conveyed through word of mouth. Put yourself in the way of luck (as assert yourself in situations of opportunities). Advocate for yourself as if your friend were advocating on your behalf.
What will help Creative Directors/Partner increase their earning potential?
Frances Zhu: With the rise of AI, we're seeing a lot of skills become irrelevant. Just 5 years ago, a software engineering job seemed ludicrous. Now those are the fastest jobs being replaced by AI. A skill that will never be irrelevant is creativity, which is a skill you can cultivate. Create content and think in new ways that no one (even AI) has ever thought of.
What general advice would you give to a Creative Director/Partner?
George Logothetis Jr: Create work that is undeniably great. Work that turns heads, shows daring and provocative thinking, and is attention-getting and impossible to ignore.
What Creative Director/Partner skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
George Logothetis Jr: Being able to flex between the various media channels and show competence and imagination in them all. Young creatives have to be versatile and fluent on all communication platforms. It’s also important to maximize your craft and continually hone it. Whether you are art or copy, having a heightened sense of design and writing will not only make the job easier, but you will be more productive. The better your skills are the more work you can create. If you bring lots of work to every meeting, you will always be appreciated.
What will help Creative Directors/Partner increase their earning potential?
George Logothetis Jr: Be focused on the strategic approaches that inform the creative process. Don’t think that being a creative person in advertising is solely about being creative. Show insight and appreciation for business initiatives and how strategies define them.
What general advice would you give to a Creative Director/Partner?
Becki Graves M.A.: I often refer to the 'swiss army knife' in my field. These students can sing, write songs, set up a stage, chart a song, lead a team, lead a room in worship, run worship software, and lead their peers. Don't just keep to one lane, try to learn the most about all of them.
What Creative Director/Partner skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Becki Graves M.A.: It is already vital in the field of creative arts and creative ministry but being a researcher. Research the current products on the market, trends in attendance, etc. This is a vital tool in being able to build the programs or ministry teams you envision.
What will help Creative Directors/Partner increase their earning potential?
Becki Graves M.A.: Try anything and everything—no work or job is beneath you. All your experiences will culminate into who you are as a person and employee and leader. Be ready to work several jobs. Most creative types end up being bi-vocational at some point in their career. Try to see this a gift—creative inspiration flows from having multiple lids open at once.
What general advice would you give to a Creative Director/Partner?
Christopher Stagl MFA: This industry is all about connections with people. You have to network and market yourself. This will lead to opportunities for you creatively - which may start small but you build upon success, grow your clients, and progressively begin to charge more and more as you grow in to your field. Never stop learning, never stop making (even if it's mistakes), and never stop networking.
What Creative Director/Partner skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Christopher Stagl MFA: Definitely video, motion, animation, and effects will continue to grow as some of the most needed skills - but if you can't think creatively, if you can't be unique and different in your problem solving and design thinking approach - then it doesn't matter how much technology you know or how good you are at Ai - you won't have a place in the industry. This industry is based on ideas - not technology. Skills can be learned, the most successful creatives think different.
What will help Creative Directors/Partner increase their earning potential?
Christopher Stagl MFA: a. Remain curious about creative problem solving with diverse and unique approaches. b. Seek feedback. Just because your classroom projects are over doesn't mean you still shouldn't be reaching out your peers and mentors to get feedback. c. Do your research, always. Never just assume you know the market or the demographic - do your due diligence and ask all the right questions to learn about your client. d. Tell a good story. The creative industry is really about people - figure out who the people are you're speaking for and speaking to and find the story that lives in those thrulines. e. Be Hungry and Hustle. Nobody is going to do this for you - creative work isn't going to come to you - you have to go get it.
How have salaries changed over time for Creative Directors/Partner?
Elizabeth McPherson: I actually do not know. Many performers' salaries have been cut or eliminated, but I do not have hard facts about this.
Hope this helps.
What certifications/licenses/courses can have the biggest impact for Creative Directors/Partner?
Rae Robison: This year has really hit home that performers need to have a better knowledge of lighting and costume. What does my light look like? Why is my white shirt flaring? Since so many are working from their homes they need answers to these questions so they can produce their best audition tape or performance. Everyone needs to embrace some tech knowledge so that we can continue to push our new art forms into the 21st century.
What general advice would you give to a Creative Director/Partner?
Yash Egami: A recent Forrester report says that the ad industry will lose 50,000 jobs through 2021, with 35,000 of them already lost since the pandemic. The traditional ad agency model was already in trouble, with many brands hiring away talent and creating their own in-house agencies. Add to that the recent reckoning with the Black Lives Matter movement, and what we're seeing is an industry that is being forced to go through monumental change in order to survive.
While traditional roles like art director or copywriter are on the decline, the good news is that, in an effort to reinvent themselves, agencies are seeking creatives with digital skills like UX design and programming. The rise of in-house creative departments has also meant more opportunities for job seekers within brands rather than agencies. And because of the demand for more diversity from clients and those within advertising, recruiters are making more of an effort to hire multicultural talent.
At The One Club for Creativity, we've been at the forefront of change in the industry through our diversity and inclusion, professional development and gender equality programs. We recently hosted our annual multicultural career fair, "Where Are All the Black People?" that brought together thousands of diverse talent with 40 agencies and companies looking to hire. We launched One School, a free online program for Black creatives who want to get into the industry but don't have a portfolio or the economic means to afford to go to ad school. And we're working on upskilling courses for professionals who want to reinvent themselves or keep up with the changing demands of our industry.
So if you're a recent graduate who specializes in art direction, our advice would be to keep an open mind about what kind of company you want to work for and think about expanding your skillset to include digital skills so that you can future-proof your career. Where you are isn't as important because, since the pandemic, agencies have become more comfortable with working remotely and they are more open to having a workforce not centered on the traditional agency hubs, like New York or Los Angeles.