Talent Director Salary by State (2026)

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

Talent 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. All 51 states and territories with reported data are ranked below, with a cost-of-living adjusted column.

Highest median: $129,790
National median: $90,360
Lowest median: $38,820
States reporting: 51

Top 5 states for Talent Directors

1. California$129,790 median · $117,224 adjusted · 34,110 employed
2. New Jersey$119,840 median · $110,142 adjusted · 2,970 employed
3. New York$107,550 median · $99,656 adjusted · 27,990 employed
4. District of Columbia$104,270 median · $94,876 adjusted · 2,640 employed
5. Connecticut$88,260 median · $85,185 adjusted · 2,200 employed

Lowest-paying states for Talent Directors

51. Arkansas$38,820 median · $44,653 adjusted · 700 employed
50. West Virginia$46,660 median · $52,136 adjusted · 230 employed
49. Mississippi$48,100 median · $55,317 adjusted · 390 employed
48. Puerto Rico$48,820 median · no price parity · 260 employed
47. Nebraska$52,580 median · $58,355 adjusted · 470 employed

Talent Director salary in every state

Sort by any column. Employment is the number of talent 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	California	$129,790	$83,110	$172,410	34,110	$117,224
2	New Jersey	$119,840	$78,120	$161,550	2,970	$110,142
3	New York	$107,550	$79,700	$169,260	27,990	$99,656
4	District of Columbia	$104,270	$82,580	$133,180	2,640	$94,876
5	Connecticut	$88,260	$63,030	$138,850	2,200	$85,185
6	Oregon	$87,460	$60,260	$123,320	1,640	$84,616
7	Rhode Island	$84,250	$58,050	$98,910	560	$82,372
8	Washington	$81,550	$62,760	$128,030	2,270	$76,206
9	Illinois	$81,080	$58,790	$106,320	3,170	$81,114
10	Massachusetts	$80,970	$60,220	$105,940	3,440	$76,562
11	Georgia	$79,950	$64,540	$125,780	5,010	$83,028
12	Florida	$79,920	$62,360	$109,670	7,160	$77,282
13	Maryland	$79,350	$58,580	$111,990	1,610	$75,601
14	Nevada	$78,480	$54,630	$119,620	1,630	$78,496
15	Colorado	$78,060	$58,500	$99,310	1,960	$75,748
16	Minnesota	$76,360	$53,510	$100,300	1,390	$77,428
17	Utah	$76,350	$50,000	$118,520	1,670	$77,227
18	Pennsylvania	$75,460	$55,040	$100,290	4,200	$77,338
19	Tennessee	$73,020	$49,650	$99,220	2,920	$79,482
20	Delaware	$72,650	$59,640	$158,510	150	$72,790
21	Texas	$71,710	$49,020	$99,100	6,610	$73,884
22	Maine	$71,320	$48,970	$126,820	400	$73,488
23	Ohio	$69,350	$52,590	$93,090	1,610	$74,752
24	Arizona	$67,320	$49,640	$105,330	1,720	$66,867
25	Missouri	$66,460	$48,710	$103,440	1,630	$73,180
26	Wisconsin	$66,390	$49,080	$92,420	1,600	$70,556
27	Hawaii	$66,190	$49,620	$82,750	510	$60,200
28	Virginia	$65,900	$47,550	$93,180	2,820	$65,180
29	Michigan	$65,720	$49,900	$94,590	2,310	$68,304
30	North Carolina	$63,700	$40,230	$88,430	3,500	$67,532
31	Alabama	$63,340	$45,780	$81,000	1,040	$71,310
32	Louisiana	$62,920	$45,750	$108,800	880	$71,332
33	Oklahoma	$61,600	$45,590	$89,010	770	$70,125
34	New Hampshire	$61,560	$45,560	$80,810	300	$59,099
35	Idaho	$61,150	$47,520	$77,580	380	$64,035
36	Kansas	$60,600	$40,210	$78,740	420	$67,282
37	Wyoming	$60,420	$42,230	$73,930	130	$65,184
38	South Dakota	$60,260	$47,320	$72,610	170	$68,024
39	Indiana	$59,870	$41,890	$80,490	1,480	$64,149
40	Iowa	$58,550	$42,980	$75,650	720	$66,715
41	North Dakota	$57,870	$42,910	$75,600	170	$65,052
42	South Carolina	$56,030	$45,540	$84,990	1,190	$59,766
43	Vermont	$55,660	$47,030	$82,460	290	$56,820
44	Kentucky	$54,550	$45,680	$74,830	950	$60,504
45	Alaska	$54,060	$45,030	$70,310	160	$52,814
46	Montana	$52,580	$40,070	$76,990	390	$55,555
47	Nebraska	$52,580	$44,280	$76,690	470	$58,355
48	Puerto Rico	$48,820	$35,830	$70,630	260	N/A
49	Mississippi	$48,100	$41,370	$63,090	390	$55,317
50	West Virginia	$46,660	$39,650	$75,520	230	$52,136
51	Arkansas	$38,820	$27,000	$54,180	700	$44,653

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 Talent Directors, that changes the ranking: California leads on raw pay at $129,790, while California leads 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.

Talent Director pay by state: FAQ

Which state pays Talent Directors the most?

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

Which state pays Talent Directors the least?

Arkansas reports the lowest median for Talent Directors at $38,820 a year, $90,970 below the highest-paying state (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

Where do Talent Directors earn the most after cost of living?

Dividing each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity puts California first at $117,224 in national-average dollars, from a raw median of $129,790. BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024.

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