Pay by state · 51 areas

Producer and Director Salary by State (2026)

Name: Producer and Director annual wages by US state, May 2025
Creator: NueCareer
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Producers and Directors earn the most in California at $129,790 a year and the least in Arkansas at $38,820 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The national median is $90,360. The table below covers 49 states, DC and Puerto Rico, with a cost-of-living adjusted column.

Highest median: $129,790California
National median: $90,360BLS OEWS, May 2025
Lowest median: $38,820Arkansas
Areas reporting: 51of 54 OEWS areas

Top and bottom

Highest- and lowest-paying states for producers and directors

Ranked on the state median among the 49 reporting states and DC. Territories are in the full table but not ranked here.

Highest median pay

1California$129,790
2New Jersey$119,840
3New York$107,550
4District of Columbia$104,270
5Connecticut$88,260

Lowest median pay

1Arkansas$38,820
2West Virginia$46,660
3Mississippi$48,100
4Nebraska$52,580
5Montana$52,580

All states

Producer and Director salary in every state

Sort by any column. Employment is the number of producers and directors OEWS estimates in that state; blank cells are estimates BLS suppressed because the sample was too small.

Annual wages by state, sortable by median, quartiles, employment and cost-of-living adjusted median
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1	CACalifornia	$129,790	$83,110	$172,410	34,110	$117,224
2	NJNew Jersey	$119,840	$78,120	$161,550	2,970	$110,142
3	NYNew York	$107,550	$79,700	$169,260	27,990	$99,656
4	DCDistrict of Columbia	$104,270	$82,580	$133,180	2,640	$94,876
5	CTConnecticut	$88,260	$63,030	$138,850	2,200	$85,185
6	OROregon	$87,460	$60,260	$123,320	1,640	$84,616
7	RIRhode Island	$84,250	$58,050	$98,910	560	$82,372
8	WAWashington	$81,550	$62,760	$128,030	2,270	$76,206
9	ILIllinois	$81,080	$58,790	$106,320	3,170	$81,114
10	MAMassachusetts	$80,970	$60,220	$105,940	3,440	$76,562
11	GAGeorgia	$79,950	$64,540	$125,780	5,010	$83,028
12	FLFlorida	$79,920	$62,360	$109,670	7,160	$77,282
13	MDMaryland	$79,350	$58,580	$111,990	1,610	$75,601
14	NVNevada	$78,480	$54,630	$119,620	1,630	$78,496
15	COColorado	$78,060	$58,500	$99,310	1,960	$75,748
16	MNMinnesota	$76,360	$53,510	$100,300	1,390	$77,428
17	UTUtah	$76,350	$50,000	$118,520	1,670	$77,227
18	PAPennsylvania	$75,460	$55,040	$100,290	4,200	$77,338
19	TNTennessee	$73,020	$49,650	$99,220	2,920	$79,482
20	DEDelaware	$72,650	$59,640	$158,510	150	$72,790
21	TXTexas	$71,710	$49,020	$99,100	6,610	$73,884
22	MEMaine	$71,320	$48,970	$126,820	400	$73,488
23	OHOhio	$69,350	$52,590	$93,090	1,610	$74,752
24	AZArizona	$67,320	$49,640	$105,330	1,720	$66,867
25	MOMissouri	$66,460	$48,710	$103,440	1,630	$73,180
26	WIWisconsin	$66,390	$49,080	$92,420	1,600	$70,556
27	HIHawaii	$66,190	$49,620	$82,750	510	$60,200
28	VAVirginia	$65,900	$47,550	$93,180	2,820	$65,180
29	MIMichigan	$65,720	$49,900	$94,590	2,310	$68,304
30	NCNorth Carolina	$63,700	$40,230	$88,430	3,500	$67,532
31	ALAlabama	$63,340	$45,780	$81,000	1,040	$71,310
32	LALouisiana	$62,920	$45,750	$108,800	880	$71,332
33	OKOklahoma	$61,600	$45,590	$89,010	770	$70,125
34	NHNew Hampshire	$61,560	$45,560	$80,810	300	$59,099
35	IDIdaho	$61,150	$47,520	$77,580	380	$64,035
36	KSKansas	$60,600	$40,210	$78,740	420	$67,282
37	WYWyoming	$60,420	$42,230	$73,930	130	$65,184
38	SDSouth Dakota	$60,260	$47,320	$72,610	170	$68,024
39	INIndiana	$59,870	$41,890	$80,490	1,480	$64,149
40	IAIowa	$58,550	$42,980	$75,650	720	$66,715
41	NDNorth Dakota	$57,870	$42,910	$75,600	170	$65,052
42	SCSouth Carolina	$56,030	$45,540	$84,990	1,190	$59,766
43	VTVermont	$55,660	$47,030	$82,460	290	$56,820
44	KYKentucky	$54,550	$45,680	$74,830	950	$60,504
45	AKAlaska	$54,060	$45,030	$70,310	160	$52,814
46	MTMontana	$52,580	$40,070	$76,990	390	$55,555
47	NENebraska	$52,580	$44,280	$76,690	470	$58,355
48	PRPuerto Rico	$48,820	$35,830	$70,630	260	N/A
49	MSMississippi	$48,100	$41,370	$63,090	390	$55,317
50	WVWest Virginia	$46,660	$39,650	$75,520	230	$52,136
51	ARArkansas	$38,820	$27,000	$54,180	700	$44,653

Method

How the cost-of-living adjustment works

The adjusted column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity (RPP) and multiplies by 100. RPPs measure how much a fixed basket of goods, services and rents costs in one state relative to the national average, so the result restates local pay in national-average dollars.

For producers and directors, the adjustment does not change the leader: California is first on raw pay and still first once prices are taken into account, at $117,224.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024 (public domain). The adjustment is NueCareer's calculation, not a BLS or BEA published statistic.

Questions

Producer and Director pay by state: FAQ

Which state pays producers and directors the most?

California reports the highest median wage for producers and directors at $129,790 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), followed by New Jersey ($119,840) and New York ($107,550).

Which state pays producers and directors the least?

Among the 49 reporting states and DC, Arkansas reports the lowest median for producers and directors at $38,820 a year, $90,970 below the highest-paying state (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Among the territories, Puerto Rico reports $48,820.

In which states do producers and directors earn over $100,000?

4 of the 49 reporting states and DC have a median of $100,000 or more: California ($129,790), New Jersey ($119,840), New York ($107,550) and District of Columbia ($104,270) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

Is the highest-paying state the best for producers and directors after cost of living?

Yes. California stays first after dividing each state median by its BEA Regional Price Parity, at $117,224 in national-average dollars from a raw $129,790. BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024; the adjustment is NueCareer's calculation.

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