Art Directors in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$96,717
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$41,063
29.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,909
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$137,780
Kept after tax
$96,717
Worth in national money
$85,909
State rank
2
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California is one of the better-paying states for art directors. The middle earner takes $137,780, which ranks 2 of 46 states with published figures. That is about 19.97% above the national middle.
- Within California this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, art directors ranks 39 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $137,780, tax leaves $96,717 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $85,909 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $156,060, since top earners drag the number up.
- California ranks 2 of 46 states publishing a median for art directors, at $137,780 — about 19.97% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation California publishes a median for, art directors sits 39 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After tax, $96,717 remains from the California median of $137,780 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $85,909 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $156,060 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Art Directors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $81,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $137,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $249,210 |
| This salary | $137,780 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in California | $96,717 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $105,439 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$22,595 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $125,020 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$31,665 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $137,780 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $81,500 and the ninetieth is $249,210 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $96,717 take-home in California comes from $137,780. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 39 of 492.
- Two cautions on $85,909, the adjusted value of that $137,780 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of California. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 39 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $137,780 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $81,500 to $249,210. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $96,717, from $137,780, assumes a single California filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 39 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 2 of 46 for it.
- This $85,909 adjusted figure, worked from $137,780, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 39 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 39 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $156,060, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $81,500 and the top tenth $249,210 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $85,909 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; California then takes its own share, leaving $96,717.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in California is $156,060. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($81,500) and the ninetieth ($249,210) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $85,909 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $96,717 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.