Money · 1 of 5
What directors make
Median
$90,360
Bottom tenth
$45,780
Top tenth
$198,540
The national median is $90,360 a year, the bottom tenth earn $45,780 or less and the top tenth $198,540 or more, in the 2025 federal wage survey. The survey lumps producers and directors together across film, television, radio and stage, and it counts people who held the job that year. Directing is project work, so most of these figures are a year made of several jobs and some empty months.