Side-by-side distribution
Art Director
$163,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.3%
- Live roles
- 594
Product Designer
$175,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.7%
- Live roles
- 1,369
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Director, Design
Director, Product Design
Director Product & Design
Director / Principal Motion Designer, Expedia Design
Director - Intel Foundry Pre-Silicon Design Quality and Reliability
Optoelectronic IC Package Design Director
Director, Product Design - AI & Context
National Design Director - Sports Architecture
Executive Director, Head of Clinical Design & Delivery Center
Director of Data Sciences - Supply Chain Network Planning and Design
Highest-paying jobs
Product Designer ($300k - $500k)
Product Designer, Growth
Product Designer, Safeguards
Product Designer
Staff Product Designer (Contract)
Product Designer
Principal Product Designer
Product Designer, Design Systems
Product Designer, Claude Developer Platform
Product Designer, People Innovation Labs
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
VML
|
$127,500 | 11 |
Dentsu
|
$105,606 | 8 |
Omnicom Media
|
$115,000 | 7 |
Accenture
|
$146,300 | 5 |
|
Bristol Myers Squibb
|
$170,516 | 4 |
Syska Hennessy Group
|
$147,117 | 4 |
Ogilvy
|
$113,750 | 4 |
Real Chemistry
|
$101,250 | 4 |
Anduril Industries
Air Apps
Palantir
Esri
Clio
Robinhood
Compass
Art Director salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | $265,000 | 7 |
| Seattle | $212,500 | 7 |
| Denver | $212,500 | 3 |
| San Francisco | $211,250 | 14 |
| Los Angeles | $197,600 | 13 |
| Atlanta | $173,000 | 5 |
| Chicago | $147,500 | 15 |
| New York | $140,000 | 82 |
| Boston | $137,850 | 10 |
| Toronto | $81,209 | 14 |
Product Designer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $218,000 | 136 |
| Seattle | $213,000 | 35 |
| Austin | $209,125 | 8 |
| Los Angeles | $200,000 | 11 |
| New York | $187,500 | 176 |
| Denver | $182,250 | 18 |
| Chicago | $175,250 | 16 |
| Boston | $170,250 | 12 |
| Atlanta | $143,500 | 11 |
| London | $122,832 | 18 |
Art Director vs Product Designer: which pays more?
The median for Art Director is $163,000 per year (typically $115,000–$216,938), versus $175,000 for Product Designer ($136,138–$211,500). That puts Product Designer about 7% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Art Director and Product 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.