Side-by-side distribution
Art Director
$165,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 41.6%
- Live roles
- 640
Motion Designer
$120,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 25.6%
- Live roles
- 207
Highest-paying jobs
Director, Product Design
Director, User Experience Research – Experience Design (XD)
Sr Director of Design, Firefly
Director - Intel Foundry Pre-Silicon Design Quality and Reliability
Optoelectronic IC Package Design Director
Director, Physical Design (Silicon One)
Senior Director, AI SOC Design Verification
National Design Director - Sports Architecture
Director of Data Sciences - Supply Chain Network Planning and Design
Director Product Design
Highest-paying jobs
Staff Motion Designer, Design Innovation
Motion Designer / Video Producer
Motion Designer (Brand Team)
Staff Motion Designer
Staff UX Motion Designer - MetaMask
Motion Designer
Rive Motion Designer and Animator (Contract-to-Hire)
Motion Designer
Social Graphic / Motion Designer (Contract)
Motion Designer
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
VML
|
$127,500 | 17 |
Accenture
|
$146,300 | 7 |
Omnicom Media
|
$115,000 | 7 |
Syska Hennessy Group
|
$141,811 | 5 |
Dentsu
|
$127,213 | 5 |
|
Intel
|
$287,585 | 4 |
The New York Times
|
$132,990 | 4 |
| DE DEPT® | $121,750 | 4 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Highwire
|
$97,500 | 4 |
Wild Card Creative Group
|
$120,000 | 2 |
Directive
|
$69,443 | 2 |
|
Macroscope
|
$300,000 | 1 |
|
Pinterest
|
$242,818 | 1 |
|
Baseten
|
$215,000 | 1 |
|
Harvey
|
$196,300 | 1 |
|
Perplexity
|
$195,000 | 1 |
Art Director salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | $239,453 | 6 |
| San Francisco | $214,272 | 16 |
| London | $200,529 | 4 |
| Seattle | $196,325 | 8 |
| Los Angeles | $192,950 | 15 |
| Denver | $190,750 | 4 |
| Atlanta | $163,825 | 4 |
| New York | $140,000 | 85 |
| Boston | $138,050 | 8 |
| Chicago | $127,500 | 17 |
Motion Designer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $146,000 | 13 |
| New York | $121,250 | 12 |
| Los Angeles | $84,750 | 4 |
Art Director vs Motion Designer: which pays more?
The median for Art Director is $165,000 per year (typically $124,575–$217,625), versus $120,000 for Motion Designer ($96,551–$143,250). That puts Art Director about 38% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Art Director and Motion Designer are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.