Art Directors · SOC 27-1011

Art Directors Salary in the Knoxville Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Knoxville, TN metro area

Figures describe the Knoxville, TN metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Knoxville city limits.

Median annual wage$79,500
Median hourly wage$38.22

Art Directors in the Knoxville, TN metro area earned a median of $79,500 per year ($38.22 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $46,440 at the 10th percentile to $141,820 at the 90th. BLS estimates 90 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Art Directors in the Knoxville metro area earn more than $79,500 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $62,060 and $106,380.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$46,440$62,060$79,500$106,380$141,820
Hourly$22.33$29.84$38.22$51.14$68.19

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • Knoxville metro areathis metro area
    $79,500 median for Knoxville metro area; middle half earns $62,060 to $106,380
  • Tennesseestate (TN)
    $89,860 median for Tennessee; middle half earns $71,590 to $125,590
  • $114,850 median for United States; middle half earns $82,480 to $162,640

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is −12% vs Tennessee overall and −31% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$53,040$92,073$131,107$170,140Wichita, KS — $53,040San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $57,580Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR — $69,570Springfield, MO — $70,690Jackson, MS — $71,120Asheville, NC — $72,710Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA — $73,850Lexington-Fayette, KY — $73,960Tucson, AZ — $74,510Lincoln, NE — $75,310Chattanooga, TN-GA — $76,110Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR — $76,570Urban Honolulu, HI — $77,570Omaha, NE-IA — $78,420Birmingham, AL — $78,710Knoxville, TN — $79,500Green Bay, WI — $79,640Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL — $79,740Columbia, MO — $80,060Oklahoma City, OK — $80,680Lansing-East Lansing, MI — $81,500Tulsa, OK — $81,500San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $81,730Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $81,820Manchester-Nashua, NH — $83,010Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $83,050Lancaster, PA — $83,060Madison, WI — $83,650Winston-Salem, NC — $84,100Wilmington, NC — $84,730Tallahassee, FL — $84,990Boise City, ID — $85,070Baton Rouge, LA — $85,090Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC — $85,510Greensboro-High Point, NC — $85,610Akron, OH — $85,630New Orleans-Metairie, LA — $86,630Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $87,570Charleston-North Charleston, SC — $87,610Peoria, IL — $87,790Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $87,810Columbia, SC — $87,990Kansas City, MO-KS — $88,610Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $89,520Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $89,860Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $90,000Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA — $90,000Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $90,360Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $91,260Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $91,570Colorado Springs, CO — $93,090Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC — $93,160Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $93,270Durham-Chapel Hill, NC — $93,740Reno, NV — $94,650Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA — $95,310Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $95,390Cleveland, OH — $95,420New Haven, CT — $95,680Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $95,770Pittsburgh, PA — $96,420Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $97,360Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $97,460Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $98,070Richmond, VA — $99,610Jacksonville, FL — $99,670Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $99,990Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $100,690Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $101,300Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $101,470St. Louis, MO-IL — $101,480Ann Arbor, MI — $101,880Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $101,940Columbus, OH — $101,990Rochester, NY — $102,070Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $102,490Cedar Rapids, IA — $103,120Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $103,150Eugene-Springfield, OR — $103,440Raleigh-Cary, NC — $103,990Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $104,360Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $104,570Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $105,260Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $105,270Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $105,990Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $106,390Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT — $106,500Boulder, CO — $107,130Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ — $107,770Fresno, CA — $109,420Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $109,470Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA — $109,500Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA — $110,180Portland-South Portland, ME — $110,420Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $111,480Fort Collins-Loveland, CO — $112,050Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $113,180Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY — $117,110Savannah, GA — $117,650Syracuse, NY — $118,560Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $119,020Trenton-Princeton, NJ — $121,540Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $121,920Stockton-Lodi, CA — $123,420Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $124,610San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $126,050Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA — $126,410Worcester, MA — $131,240Waterbury-Shelton, CT — $133,680Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $137,560New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $142,990Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $145,410Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $151,820Burlington-South Burlington, VT — $153,890San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $165,210San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $170,140

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Knoxville metro area has the 101st-highest published median for this occupation among the 116 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Other metro areas in Tennessee

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for art directors, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • Knoxville metro areathis page
    $79,500 median for Knoxville metro area; middle half earns $62,060 to $106,380
  • $101,470 median for Nashville-Davidson metro area; middle half earns $76,910 to $136,180
  • $89,860 median for Memphis metro area; middle half earns $74,990 to $123,500
  • $76,110 median for Chattanooga metro area; middle half earns $62,400 to $126,220

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Highest-paying metro areas for art directorss · Highest-paying occupations in Knoxville Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.