JobAfterNext

Art Directors

Formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual productions and media, such as print, broadcasting, video, and film. Direct workers engaged in artwork or layout design.

Wages

Median annual wage, U.S.$114,850
Employment, U.S.53,070
Median hourly wage$55.22
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$64,900$82,480$114,850$162,640$213,050
By state (49)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama210$77,2200.30
Alaska40$75,2000.35
Arizona450Not available0.40
Arkansas240$71,9300.54
California12,430$137,7802.00
Colorado720$99,9900.73
Connecticut1,160$71,9002.00
District of Columbia310Not available1.30
Florida2,520$99,6600.74
Georgia1,420$110,4300.85
Hawaii40$89,3000.18
Idaho$80,680
Illinois2,960$103,5501.42
Indiana350$105,6900.32
Iowa280$80,9400.52
Kansas$60,460
Kentucky320$76,1600.47
Louisiana160$83,6400.24
Maine$100,300
Maryland570$98,4000.60
Massachusetts1,850$149,3201.49
Michigan1,080$86,6600.72
Minnesota920$109,7000.92
Mississippi90$66,0200.23
Missouri780$100,9400.78
Montana100$73,8500.56
Nebraska140$73,2700.40
Nevada290$98,0700.56
New Hampshire160$132,0000.70
New Jersey1,840$129,2001.26
New Mexico60Not available0.19
New York8,720$137,3202.64
North Carolina$90,000
North Dakota30$83,1700.23
Ohio1,050$94,3900.55
Oklahoma290$80,6800.49
Oregon1,040$133,8401.55
Pennsylvania1,250$97,4500.60
Rhode Island90$72,5500.55
South Carolina550$87,9900.70
South Dakota30$66,6100.21
Tennessee930$89,8600.83
Texas2,480$88,2700.52
Utah290$106,5000.50
Vermont80$129,2600.82
Virginia670$101,1500.48
Washington650$121,1700.54
West Virginia30$63,5500.14
Wisconsin730$81,1300.73

Similar occupations

Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.

#OccupationJob ZoneSimilarity
1Graphic Designers40.976
2Special Effects Artists and Animators40.956
3Fashion Designers30.952
4Film and Video Editors40.939
5Set and Exhibit Designers50.939
6Producers and Directors40.938
7Video Game Designers40.936
8Interior Designers40.935
9Media Programming Directors40.935
10Desktop Publishers30.935

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Art Directors, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.

OccupationSkill to buildLevel gapSimilarity
Producers and DirectorsManagement of Financial Resources0.870.938
Interior DesignersService Orientation0.760.935
Meeting, Convention, and Event PlannersService Orientation0.760.922
Web DevelopersProgramming3.500.913
Landscape ArchitectsMathematics0.880.911
Prepress Technicians and WorkersOperations Monitoring2.000.908
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary SchoolInstructing0.870.904
Market Research Analysts and Marketing SpecialistsReading Comprehension1.000.903
Management AnalystsSystems Analysis0.880.900
Computer and Information Systems ManagersMonitoring0.760.898

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Art Directors, excluding software Art Directors already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.

SoftwareSimilar jobs using itLift
Extensible markup language XML12 of 206.4x
Content management systems CMS5 of 2038.5x
Google Analytics8 of 209.2x
Social media sites8 of 208.6x
Google Ads7 of 2010.8x
Instagram5 of 2023.1x
Trimble SketchUp Pro7 of 208.7x
Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite6 of 2011.5x
Twitter6 of 2011.5x
Oracle JavaServer Pages JSP6 of 2010.7x

Skills

From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Active ListeningEssential skill 4.00 4.00
SpeakingEssential skill 4.00 4.00
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 3.75 4.00
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.75 3.88
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 3.75 3.75
CoordinationTransferable skill 3.62 3.88
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 3.62 3.75
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.62 3.62
WritingEssential skill 3.38 4.00
PersuasionTransferable skill 3.38 3.75
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 3.38 3.50
Active LearningEssential skill 3.25 3.88
MonitoringEssential skill 3.25 3.62
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 3.25 3.38
InstructingTransferable skill 3.12 3.38
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 3.00 3.38
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.00 3.38
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 3.00 3.25
NegotiationTransferable skill 3.00 3.25
Service OrientationTransferable skill 3.00 3.12
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 3.00 3.00
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 2.50 2.75
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 2.38 2.62
MathematicsEssential skill 2.25 2.62
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 2.12 2.00
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 1.75 1.00
ProgrammingTransferable skill 1.50 0.75
Technology DesignTransferable skill 1.50 0.50
ScienceEssential skill 1.25not rated
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.12not rated
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.12not rated
RepairingTransferable skill 1.12not rated
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 1.12not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Design 4.35 5.07
English Language 4.25 4.57
Computers and Electronics 4.24 4.94
Fine Arts 4.19 5.46
Communications and Media 4.12 4.69
Sales and Marketing 3.66 4.01
Customer and Personal Service 3.34 3.75
Production and Processing 2.97 3.24
Administration and Management 2.95 3.37
Sociology and Anthropology 2.74 3.30
Administrative 2.73 3.57
Telecommunications 2.67 2.73
Education and Training 2.55 3.24
Engineering and Technology 2.43 2.35
Psychology 2.31 2.16
Personnel and Human Resources 2.16 2.27
Mathematics 2.08 2.14
Geography 2.07 2.43
Philosophy and Theology 2.00 1.87
History and Archeology 1.98 1.78
Public Safety and Security 1.87 1.51
Transportation 1.79 1.41
Law and Government 1.72 1.50
Mechanical 1.69 1.15
Economics and Accounting 1.69 1.10
Foreign Language 1.65 1.12
Therapy and Counseling 1.46 0.93
Building and Construction 1.27not rated
Physics 1.22not rated
Chemistry 1.21not rated
Medicine and Dentistry 1.19not rated
Biology 1.18not rated
Food Production 1.11not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Originality 4.25 4.38
Fluency of Ideas 4.25 4.25
Near Vision 4.00 4.12
Oral Comprehension 4.00 4.00
Oral Expression 4.00 4.00
Written Comprehension 4.00 4.00
Visualization 3.88 3.88
Visual Color Discrimination 3.75 4.00
Information Ordering 3.75 3.88
Problem Sensitivity 3.75 3.75
Deductive Reasoning 3.62 4.00
Speech Clarity 3.62 3.62
Speech Recognition 3.62 3.62
Category Flexibility 3.50 3.88
Inductive Reasoning 3.50 3.88
Written Expression 3.38 3.88
Far Vision 3.12 3.75
Flexibility of Closure 3.00 3.00
Speed of Closure 2.75 3.00
Perceptual Speed 2.75 2.88
Selective Attention 2.75 2.75
Time Sharing 2.62 2.38
Mathematical Reasoning 2.50 3.12
Memorization 2.38 2.62
Finger Dexterity 2.38 2.00
Number Facility 2.25 2.62
Arm-Hand Steadiness 2.12 2.12
Manual Dexterity 2.12 2.00
Control Precision 1.88 1.38
Auditory Attention 1.75 1.50
Trunk Strength 1.62 1.12
Hearing Sensitivity 1.62 0.88
Wrist-Finger Speed 1.50 0.75
Depth Perception 1.38 0.50
Reaction Time 1.25not rated
Dynamic Strength 1.12not rated
Rate Control 1.12not rated
Spatial Orientation 1.12not rated
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Explosive Strength 1.00not rated
Extent Flexibility 1.00not rated
Glare Sensitivity 1.00not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.00not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 1.00not rated
Multilimb Coordination 1.00not rated
Night Vision 1.00not rated
Peripheral Vision 1.00not rated
Response Orientation 1.00not rated
Sound Localization 1.00not rated
Speed of Limb Movement 1.00not rated
Stamina 1.00not rated
Static Strength 1.00not rated

Software used

Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.

All 52
  • Apple Keynote
  • Apple iWork Keynote
  • Autodesk 3ds Max Design
  • Autodesk Maya
  • Computer assisted design software
  • Data visualization software
  • Drupal
  • Dynamic hypertext markup language DHTML
  • Extensible hypertext markup language XHTML
  • Google Slides
  • Mag+
  • Maxon Cinema 4D
  • Mobile application software
  • Quark enterprise publishing software
  • QuarkXPress
  • Social media software
  • Tablet application software
  • User interface design software
  • WeVideo
  • Web broswer software
  • WoodWing
  • YouTube

Where it concentrates

Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.

Metro areaEmploymentLocation quotientMedian annual
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA6,5903.08$137,560
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA2,3902.95$165,210
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ8,9802.77$142,990
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA8802.14$145,410
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH1,5501.68$151,820
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN2,5601.66$104,570
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA6001.56$170,140
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN5201.38$101,470
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR1201.29$76,570
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA6301.21$126,050

More metros, other thresholds