Side-by-side distribution
Creative Director
$163,900
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 52.4%
- Live roles
- 370
Motion Designer
$127,655
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 22.8%
- Live roles
- 197
Highest-paying jobs
Executive Creative Producer, Associate Director
Creative Director, Block
Creative Director, Tidal
Senior Creative Director, Marketing
Head of Creative, Banana Republic
Executive Creative Director, Health & Wellness
Head of Creative, Athleta
Creative Director, Copy
Creative Director, Art
Creative Director [Contract or Full-time]
Highest-paying jobs
Director / Principal Motion Designer, Expedia Design
Motion Designer (Contract)
Motion Designer / Video Producer
Motion Designer, Business Marketing
Motion Designer (Brand Team)
Staff Motion Designer - 3D
General Application, Motion Designer (contract)
Motion Designer
Motion Graphics Designer/ Animator
Rive Motion Designer and Animator (Contract-to-Hire)
VML
Monks
Protiviti
Ogilvy
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Highwire
|
$97,500 | 5 |
|
Expedia Group
|
$387,000 | 1 |
|
Macroscope
|
$300,000 | 1 |
|
OpenAI
|
$235,000 | 1 |
|
FLORA
|
$234,000 | 1 |
|
Baseten
|
$215,000 | 1 |
|
Mercury
|
$213,050 | 1 |
|
Perplexity
|
$195,000 | 1 |
Creative Director salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| London | $251,621 | 3 |
| San Francisco | $217,050 | 23 |
| Denver | $213,230 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | $175,000 | 20 |
| New York | $165,000 | 84 |
| Chicago | $165,000 | 13 |
| Toronto | $84,377 | 12 |
Motion Designer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $152,250 | 13 |
| New York | $122,500 | 13 |
| Chicago | $112,500 | 3 |
Creative Director vs Motion Designer: which pays more?
The median for Creative Director is $163,900 per year (typically $127,500–$200,000), versus $127,655 for Motion Designer ($98,812–$154,313). That puts Creative Director about 28% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Creative 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.