2012 Salary Guide Now Available

Theresa Stone

Whether you’re wondering how your current compensation stacks up to your peers, or you’re looking for a new job and unsure what salary range to expect, The Creative Group’s annual Salary Guide is a good place to start. (The Creative Group is a staffing agency that finds positions for people with creative, advertising, marketing, and Web experience.) You can download a PDF copy of the 13-page 2012 Salary Guide; you can also request a print copy. Both PDF and print versions are free.

The core of the 2012 Guide is the salary information for such positions as “Graphic designer with 5 or more years experience” (that range is $59,500 to $80,750) and “Web designer with 1 to 5 years experience” (that’s $50,250 to $74,750). Note that these are starting salaries and don’t include bonuses or benefits.
There are two sets of salary figures: one that’s an average for the entire United States, and one for Toronto. To help you get figures that are more accurate for certain cities, there’s a mathematical formula to localize the national results for regional markets. If math isn’t your strong suit, you can also use the TCG’s online salary calculator: