Salary Forecast: Digital Director

A digital director is in a unique position as this person combines business and technology to help an organization succeed. Working with business managers, they advance technological function in an organization and help the organization meet its business goals.  They identify solutions for the organization using technology that will boost its profitability and propel the organization to success using innovative technology when possible.

National Salary

The Bureau of Labor Statistics categorizes digital directors under the occupation of Computer Systems Analysts. These individuals earn a mean hourly wage of $44.59, or $92,740 per year, as of May 2017. The median hourly wage is $42.44, or $88,270 per year. Those in the tenth percentile earn $25.84 per hour, or $53,750 per year. Those in the 90th percentile earn $67.24 per hour, or $139,850 per year.

Salary by State

The state with the highest average pay for this position is New Jersey, where the hourly mean wage is $50.84, or $105,750 per year. The District of Columbia comes in second with an average hourly wage of $50.47, or $104,970 per year. New York is in third with an hourly average wage of $49.78, or $103,550 per year. California pays $49.45 per year, on average, or $102,860 annually. In fifth place is Virginia, where the average hourly wage is $48.12, or $100,090 per year.

Salary by Metro Area

Head to California if you want to earn some of the highest salaries in the nation as a digital director. San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA is the highest-paying metro area in the country at $58.84 per hour, on average, or $122,380 per year. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA comes in next at $56.74 per hour, on average, or $118,010. While third place belongs to New York-Jersey City, White Plains, NY-NY ($55.18 per hour, on average, or $114,760 per year), fourth place is again in California: Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA, where the average hourly wage is $53.82, or $111,940 per year. Danbury, Connecticut holds fifth place at $52.55 per hour, on average, or $109,300 per year.

Salary by Non-Metro Area

Move to the Los Alamos County, New Mexico non-metropolitan area if you want to earn the highest salary for digital directors in non-metro areas in the nation. There, the hourly mean wage is $48.37, or $100,610 per year. The Northeast Virginia non-metro area is also a great place to go. There the hourly mean wage is $45.05, or $93,700 per year. In the West Northwestern Ohio non-metro area, the hourly mean wage is the third-highest in the country for non-metro areas at $44.80 per hour, on average, or $93,180 per year. The Southeast Coastal North Carolina non-metro area pays $43.44 per hour, on average, or $90,350 per year, so you’ll earn a great salary there as well. If you move to the Northern Mountains Region of California non-metro area, the hourly mean wage is $42.87, or $89,180 annually.