Art Director salary in San Francisco, CA

Based on 22 certified H-1B filings in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Menlo Park, Oakland, Lafayette, Union City, Redwood City.

Median salary$200,075
Middle 50%$143.2k–$223.9k
vs. national median+48%comparison median $135,000
Filings22FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $95,977 and $340,050.
PercentileSalary
10th$108,000
25th$143,217
50th (median)$200,075
75th$223,894
90th$257,727

Salary by year

Median salary

$160k $190k $220k FY2020: median $180,090 (32 filings) FY2021: median $180,000 (17 filings) FY2022: median $187,110 (21 filings) FY2023: median $183,500 (12 filings) FY2025: median $204,575 (10 filings) FY2026: median $200,075 (12 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 32 filings FY20 FY2021: 17 filings FY21 FY2022: 21 filings FY22 FY2023: 12 filings FY23 FY2024: 8 filings FY24 FY2025: 10 filings FY25 FY2026: 12 filings FY26 32
Shaded: FY2025–FY2026, the years behind the figures above. Median shown for years with at least 10 filings. FY2026 covers Q1–Q3 only.
Show as table
Fiscal yearMedianP25P75Filings
FY2020$180,090$139,711$211,29532
FY2021$180,000$144,664$198,38717
FY2022$187,110$155,000$235,00021
FY2023$183,500$152,470$236,28712
FY2024–––8
FY2025$204,575$182,045$223,89410
FY2026$200,075$131,456$217,74812

Cost of living

San Francisco's median Art Director salary of $200,075 is worth about $173,100 at national average prices.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (U.S. = 100; San Francisco = 115.6).

Compared with all workers here

All Art Directors in the San Francisco, CA area earned a median of $165,210 in May 2025 (2,390 employed). The H-1B median here is $200,075, 21% higher.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS metropolitan area estimates. BLS wages include some incentive pay; H-1B figures are base salary.

Top employers filing

EmployerMedianFilings
Metatoo few5
Adobetoo few2
Senhmytoo few2
Xiu Ning Culture Foundationtoo few2

Employers with at least 2 filings here. Median shown at 10+ filings.

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I too few 2
Mid-level · Level II – 0
Senior · Level III – 0
Expert · Level IV $235,288 10

Median shown when a level has at least 10 filings.

Minimum H-1B salary by level

Wage levelPrevailing wage (most common)Median offered salaryFilings
Expert · Level IV$200,075$235,28810

The prevailing wage is the minimum an employer must pay for this job and area. Amounts vary by county within a metro and by wage source.