Side-by-side distribution
Creative Director
$162,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 51.3%
- Live roles
- 275
UX Designer
$175,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 41.3%
- Live roles
- 1,544
Highest-paying jobs
Creative Director, Block
Creative Director, Tidal
Creative Director
Head of Brand Creative
Creative Director
Creative Director
Head of Creative Design
Creative Director, Marketing
Head of Product Creative
Senior Director, Brand Strategy & Creative Studio
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)
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
VML
|
$165,000 | 12 |
Braze
|
$175,250 | 4 |
Highwire
|
$130,000 | 4 |
Ogilvy
|
$127,500 | 4 |
Code and Theory
|
$192,500 | 3 |
Monks
|
$175,000 | 3 |
The New York Times
|
$159,000 | 3 |
| SX SALT XC | $157,500 | 3 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Air Apps
|
$47,293 | 11 |
Palantir
|
$132,500 | 10 |
Esri
|
$144,456 | 8 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$128,750 | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $180,000 | 15 |
| Austin | $179,500 | 5 |
| New York | $165,000 | 60 |
| Chicago | $165,000 | 10 |
| Los Angeles | $162,500 | 12 |
| Boston | $130,500 | 3 |
| Toronto | $84,713 | 6 |
UX Designer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore | $219,600 | 4 |
| Austin | $215,000 | 9 |
| San Francisco | $211,250 | 138 |
| New York | $188,750 | 186 |
| Chicago | $180,000 | 13 |
| Seattle | $179,000 | 28 |
| Denver | $178,750 | 14 |
| Los Angeles | $168,664 | 12 |
| Boston | $160,000 | 19 |
| London | $132,733 | 19 |
Creative Director vs UX Designer: which pays more?
The median for Creative Director is $162,500 per year (typically $130,000–$189,280), versus $175,000 for UX Designer ($140,000–$210,700). That puts UX Designer about 8% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Creative Director and UX 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.