Side-by-side distribution
Creative Director
$159,250
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 53.6%
- Live roles
- 379
Product Designer
$176,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 43.7%
- Live roles
- 1,459
Highest-paying jobs
Creative Director, Tidal
Creative Director, Block
Head of Creative, Athleta
Head of Creative, Banana Republic
Creative Director
Director of Product Management, Adobe Lightroom Creative Pro
Head of Brand Creative
Creative Director
Creative Director
Group Creative Director - Social Innovation, 360i
Highest-paying jobs
Product Designer
Principal Product Designer, AI Native, Core
Staff Product Designer (Contract)
Product Designer
Product Designer, Evals & Prompts
Principal Product Designer
Senior Product Designer
Product Designer
Staff Product Designer, Discovery
Principal Product Designer, Brand and Experience (Contract, Hands-On)
VML
Accenture
Protiviti
Braze
Highwire
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Adobe
|
$231,850 | 13 |
Air Apps
|
$47,293 | 11 |
Palantir
|
$132,500 | 10 |
Esri
|
$144,456 | 8 |
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 7 |
Figma
|
$236,000 | 6 |
The New York Times
|
$189,300 | 6 |
Robinhood
|
$180,500 | 6 |
Creative Director salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| London | $207,621 | 3 |
| San Francisco | $200,590 | 22 |
| Denver | $182,000 | 3 |
| Atlanta | $180,150 | 3 |
| Austin | $175,250 | 6 |
| Seattle | $172,575 | 6 |
| New York | $165,000 | 87 |
| Chicago | $165,000 | 21 |
| Los Angeles | $163,200 | 20 |
| Boston | $107,496 | 6 |
Product Designer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $212,550 | 152 |
| Austin | $206,625 | 10 |
| Seattle | $191,000 | 34 |
| New York | $190,000 | 200 |
| Denver | $177,500 | 19 |
| Los Angeles | $176,164 | 10 |
| Chicago | $170,000 | 17 |
| Atlanta | $168,025 | 7 |
| Boston | $163,250 | 16 |
| London | $132,733 | 19 |
Creative Director vs Product Designer: which pays more?
The median for Creative Director is $159,250 per year (typically $127,500–$191,875), versus $176,000 for Product Designer ($141,000–$213,450). That puts Product Designer about 11% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Creative 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.