Executive Creative Director Salary

Q: How much does an Executive Creative Director make?

Executive creative directors make $162,850 per year on average, or $78.29 per hour, in the United States. Executive creative directors on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $88,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $300,000. Location impacts how much an executive creative director can expect to make. Executive creative directors make the most in New York, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and New Jersey.

Updated February 6, 2023

Average Executive Creative Director Salary

$162,850yearly

$78.29 hourly

Entry level Salary

$88,000 yearly

$88,00010%

$162,850Median

$300,00090%

How much does an Executive Creative Director make?

Executive creative directors make $162,850 per year on average, or $78.29 per hour, in the United States. Executive creative directors on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $88,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $300,000.

Location impacts how much an executive creative director can expect to make. Executive creative directors make the most in New York, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and New Jersey.

Highest Paying States For Executive Creative Directors

If both location and money are important to you, then you might want to check out moving to New York, Illinois and Iowa, as these three states offer the highest salaries throughout the U.S. for executive creative directors. Quite opposite of that list is the lowest paying states, which are Arkansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Executive Creative Director average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Illinois	$160,815	$77.31	1,878
2	Massachusetts	$143,183	$68.84	1,451
3	Mississippi	$135,327	$65.06	436
4	Kansas	$151,907	$73.03	321
5	New Jersey	$143,990	$69.23	1,170
6	Vermont	$137,867	$66.28	99
7	Iowa	$153,495	$73.80	299
8	Louisiana	$130,649	$62.81	765
9	North Carolina	$137,267	$65.99	1,114
10	New York	$174,889	$84.08	684
11	Utah	$136,742	$65.74	387
12	Alabama	$128,506	$61.78	836
13	Idaho	$136,396	$65.58	180
14	Maine	$142,306	$68.42	112
15	Washington	$136,406	$65.58	967
16	Michigan	$137,025	$65.88	704
17	Minnesota	$132,184	$63.55	834
18	Georgia	$129,086	$62.06	1,260
19	Oregon	$141,083	$67.83	115
20	Nevada	$125,796	$60.48	266
21	Connecticut	$128,454	$61.76	424
22	North Dakota	$126,259	$60.70	99
23	Virginia	$129,445	$62.23	1,130
24	California	$142,134	$68.33	1,032
25	Rhode Island	$121,247	$58.29	157
26	Florida	$124,671	$59.94	1,738
27	Ohio	$121,006	$58.18	1,061
28	Wyoming	$123,432	$59.34	57
29	Montana	$117,201	$56.35	165
30	New Hampshire	$125,786	$60.47	168
31	Hawaii	$135,383	$65.09	73
32	South Carolina	$123,195	$59.23	390
33	Alaska	$129,725	$62.37	60
34	Tennessee	$115,700	$55.63	575
35	Delaware	$122,124	$58.71	134
36	District of Columbia	$128,925	$61.98	75
37	Missouri	$111,367	$53.54	706
38	Pennsylvania	$110,532	$53.14	1,263
39	Oklahoma	$103,654	$49.83	664
40	Texas	$107,598	$51.73	2,577
41	West Virginia	$112,208	$53.95	104
42	South Dakota	$113,109	$54.38	69
43	Wisconsin	$110,996	$53.36	541
44	Arkansas	$106,787	$51.34	270
45	Colorado	$93,020	$44.72	825
46	New Mexico	$111,177	$53.45	164
47	Arizona	$100,346	$48.24	734
48	Maryland	$108,109	$51.98	695
49	Indiana	$106,927	$51.41	568
50	Kentucky	$105,524	$50.73	317
51	Nebraska	$98,785	$47.49	219

Recent Job Searches

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Highest Paying Cities For Executive Creative Directors

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	New York, NY	$212,822	$102.32	4
2	Chicago, IL	$192,036	$92.33
3	San Francisco, CA	$154,003	$74.04
4	Detroit, MI	$148,612	$71.45
5	Charlotte, NC	$147,067	$70.71	1
6	Minneapolis, MN	$139,284	$66.96
7	Atlanta, GA	$138,631	$66.65
8	Richmond, VA	$136,849	$65.79
9	Dania Beach, FL	$128,832	$61.94
10	Pawtucket, RI	$125,234	$60.21
11	Cincinnati, OH	$124,812	$60.01
12	Philadelphia, PA	$113,250	$54.45
13	Boulder, CO	$92,932	$44.68

Executive Creative Directors Salary Details

Average Executive Creative Director Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is an Executive Creative Director's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$300,000	$25,000	$144
75th Percentile	$224,000	$18,667	$108
Average	$162,850	$13,571	$78
25th Percentile	$118,000	$9,833	$57
10th Percentile	$88,000	$7,333	$42

Highest Paying Types of Executive Creative Directors

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Graphic Design Manager	$66,975	$5,581	$32.20	48,269
Lead Graphic Designer	$76,009	$6,334	$36.54	46,260
Designer/Art Director	$97,448	$8,121	$46.85	53,314
Art Director	$88,367	$7,364	$42.48	11,472
Freelance Art Director	$85,453	$7,121	$41.08	9,215
Creative Services Director	$108,980	$9,082	$52.39	60,237

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Executive Creative Directors The Most?

The highest paying companies for executive creative directors are Estée Lauder and Aveda according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like BBDO Detroit and Qualcomm report highly competitive wages for executive creative directors.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Estée Lauder	$243,203	$116.92	35
2	Aveda	$234,129	$112.56
3	BBDO Detroit	$225,627	$108.47
4	Qualcomm	$220,620	$106.07
5	SoulCycle Holdings, LLC	$213,393	$102.59
6	Coach	$213,131	$102.47
7	Wunderman Thompson	$204,680	$98.40	4
8	Amazon	$203,846	$98.00	22
9	Shiseido Americas Corporation	$201,837	$97.04
10	Genvid Technologies	$198,857	$95.60
11	Cavalry Portfolio Services	$198,857	$95.60
12	WarnerMedia	$196,930	$94.68
13	Avanade	$196,884	$94.66	4
14	Creative Artists Agency	$191,379	$92.01	5
15	Petal	$190,937	$91.80
16	Chewy	$189,433	$91.07	14
17	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$188,542	$90.65	346
18	VICE	$188,517	$90.63
19	AKQA	$187,675	$90.23
20	Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide Inc	$183,402	$88.17	3

Executive Creative Director Pay Trends

Average Executive Creative Director Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Executive Creative Director Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$163,000	$78.29	+3.1%
2022	$158,000	$75.84	+1.5%
2021	$155,000	$74.68	+0.3%
2020	$155,000	$74.45	+2.9%
2019	$150,000	$72.30	+0.1%

Recently Added Executive Creative Director Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
DDB	Executive Creative Director, Copy	New York, NY	11/02/2022	$250,000
DDB	Executive Creative Director, Copy	New York, NY	11/02/2022	$250,000
Genvid Technologies	Executive, Creative Director, Marketing	New York, NY	10/26/2022	$237,000
Anheuser-Busch	Executive Creative Director-Draftline	New York, NY	08/24/2022	$168,000
Accenture	Executive Creative Director	Chicago, IL	07/07/2022	$204,667
Colorado State University	Executive Creative Director	Fort Collins, CO	07/02/2022	$145,000
Colorado State University	Executive Creative Director	Fort Collins, CO	07/02/2022	$145,000
Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement	Executive Creative Director	Kane, IL	05/10/2022	$159,516
Meati Foods	(Executive) Creative Director	Boulder, CO	05/03/2022	$160,000
Roblox	Executive Creative Director	San Mateo, CA	04/17/2022	$120,000

Executive Creative Director Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Executive Creative Directors The Most?

New York pays Executive Creative Directors the most in the United States, with an average salary of $174,889 per year, or $84.08 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As An Executive Creative Director?

You know if you are being paid fairly as an Executive Creative Director if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Illinois you should be paid close to $160,815 per year.

Have more questions? See all answers to common arts, entertainment, sports, and media questions.

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Updated February 6, 2023