Producer and Director Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Producers and Directors earn a median of $90,360 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). That is 77% above the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $43.44/hr. The middle half earn between $62,670 and $134,800. The top 10% earn $198,540 or more.

The median hourly wage for producers and directors is $43.44 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $90,360 annual median works out to about $7,530 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of producers and directors earn less than $45,780 a year and the bottom quarter less than $62,670 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Some do. $100,000 sits between the median ($90,360) and the 75th percentile ($134,800), so roughly a quarter to a half of producers and directors earn more than that (BLS OEWS, May 2025). In 4 states the median itself is above $100,000: California ($129,790), New Jersey ($119,840), New York ($107,550), District of Columbia ($104,270).

The highest state medians for Producers and Directors are California ($129,790), New Jersey ($119,840), New York ($107,550) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

BLS does not split producers and directors' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $198,540, against a median of $90,360 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are California ($129,790), New Jersey ($119,840), New York ($107,550). BLS also counts 4 specialty careers inside this occupation (first assistant director, line producer, location manager, showrunner), which share its federal pay figures.

Yes. BLS reports a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for Producers and Directors, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as considerable preparation. Employers typically expect less than 5 years of related work experience first. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 56.7% hold bachelor's degree.

BLS does not publish a fixed length; it depends on the route. What it does publish: the typical way in for producers and directors is a bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of work experience in a related occupation. O*NET classes the work as needing considerable preparation.

It is stable rather than fast-growing: employment is projected to change 4.0% over 2025–2035, about the same as the 3.5% projected across all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 12,100 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Producers and directors make business and creative decisions about, film, television, stage, and other productions. A core O*NET task: research production topics using the internet, video archives, and other informational sources. Employers most often ask for Cloud-based data access and sharing software, Content workflow software, Data base user interface and query software.

Most work more than 40. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 76% of producers and directors usually work more than 40 hours a week, 13% work exactly 40 and 11% work fewer. 65% say their schedule is regular and 35% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Producers and Directors highest on the Artistic, Enterprising and Conventional interest areas, so the work mixes creating, designing and working without a fixed set of rules with leading, persuading, selling and making decisions. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping the closest types are ENFP, ENFJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

Women make up 43.6% of producers and directors, close to their 47.1% share of all employed people. 19.4% are 55 or older, close to the 23.2% across all jobs. The median worker is 41.7 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.