Average Creative Director Salary in Dalian, China for 2026

In this article, we will look at the average Creative Director salary for 2026 in Dalian and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the Chinese yuan. To keep things simple, we are using the CNY currency code instead of the currency symbol ¥.

How Much Does a Creative Director Make in Dalian?

A Creative Director working in Dalian will typically earn around 325,900 CNY per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 151,800 CNY to the highest average salary of 518,900 CNY.

These are average salaries for a Creative Director in Dalian and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Creative Director to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Creative Director salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Creative Director Salaries in Dalian

So we've looked at the average salaries a Creative Director will earn in Dalian. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Creative Director can earn between 151,800 CNY and 518,900 CNY on average in Dalian. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Creative Director in Dalian is 351,200 CNY. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 351,200 CNY, and 50% of the population earn more than 351,200 CNY.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Creative Director salary in Dalian, 25% of the population are earning less than 228,500 CNY while 75% of the population earn more than 228,500 CNY.

75% of the population earn less than 471,700 CNY, and 25% of the population earn more than 471,700 CNY.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

Creative Director Salary by Experience Level in Dalian

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average Creative Director salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

• 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Creative Director in Dalian that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 172,200 CNY.
• 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Creative Director salary would increase to 227,600 CNY.
• 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Creative Director, the average salary would be 335,800 CNY.
• 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 411,400 CNY.
• 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Creative Director with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 448,500 CNY.
• 20+ Years Experience. For a Creative Director with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 483,800 CNY.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

Creative Director Salary by Education Level in Dalian

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Creative Director in Dalian based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

• High School. A Creative Director in Dalian with a high school education can earn an average salary of 208,600 CNY.
• Certificate or Diploma. A Creative Director in Dalian with a certificate or diploma education can earn an average salary of 246,200 CNY.
• Bachelor's Degree. A Creative Director in Dalian with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 357,300 CNY.
• Master's Degree. A Creative Director in Dalian with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 467,100 CNY.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Creative Director Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In Dalian, a male creative director will earn an average of 357,700 CNY, while a female creative director will earn around 340,400 CNY.

This means that a male creative director earns approximately 5% more than a female creative director for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Dalian

Creative Director Average Pay Raise in Dalian

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Creative Director in Dalian is around 12% every 16 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in China is around 9% every 15 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 12 ÷ 16 ) × 12  = 9%

What this means is that a Creative Director in Dalian can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 9% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in Dalian for 2026

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in China.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Creative Director Bonus and Incentive Rates in Dalian

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Creative Director is a moderate bonus based job, with 56% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

44% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 3% to 6%.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in China earn approximately 6% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Creative Director

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Creative Director in Dalian.

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in China, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

Salary Comparison by State

The table below includes links to the average salary for each state in China.