9 sites and spreadsheets for salary transparency in the creative industry
It’s one thing to find a dream job, but how do you know if the salary that comes with it is just as dreamy? With creative opportunities continuing to grow, it’s more important than ever to know what’s fair. Here, we’re sharing eight sites and spreadsheets – from Glassdoor to Journo Resources – that help keep pay transparency front and centre.
In 2025, salary transparency has shifted from a growing demand to an expected standard. With new rules being introduced across Europe and cultural pressure mounting in the UK, salary disclosure is fast becoming the norm rather than the exception. Despite this progress, openness around pay remains patchy, and it’s often hardest for emerging talent to access reliable data.
Whether driven by the need to close pay gaps or a collective frustration with vague “competitive salary” listings, creatives continue to share knowledge and band together to drive change. The resources below are part of that movement, giving you clearer insight into what different roles, companies and industries are really paying. If you’re facing a job ad without a listed salary, our guide on why every job ad should share the salary, and what to do if it doesn’t, offers practical steps on how to respond.
Major Players Salary Census
Each year, recruitment agency Major Players publishes its Salary Census – one of the most comprehensive benchmarks for pay and day rates across the creative industries. Relied upon by over 150,000 professionals, it goes beyond salaries to explore wider workplace trends, from AI-driven reskilling to shifts in DE&I and wellbeing. The 2025 edition is now live, offering fresh insight into market rates, hiring patterns and industry challenges.
AIGA Graphic Design Salary Transparency
Discipline: Design
The Graphic Design Salary Transparency spreadsheet is one of few created by a company instead of an individual in the industry. Set up by AIGA’s editorial platform, Eye on Design, it shows the salaries of those working in graphic design across continents including the US, Europe and Asia. Since its release in December 2019, over 2,000 designers have disclosed their salaries along with information about their job title, age, race and more.
Glassdoor
Disciplines: All
Originally created for employees to anonymously review their companies, Glassdoor has become one of the leading platforms for salary transparency. The team there has done research into everything from salary ranges across different industries to employee perceptions of talking about pay. They also provide a handy database of typical base salaries for different roles, as well as anonymous insights into an employer’s workplace culture.
Real Agency Salaries
Discipline: Advertising
With a focus on salaries at creative advertising agencies, Real Agency Salaries lists expected salaries across roles in adland. The contributions come predominantly from the United States, but it’s nonetheless a great way for UK creatives to learn about the pay discrepancies should they wish to work across the pond – especially since contributors share context such as gender identity, sexual orientation, race and years of experience to provide greater insight into the many contributing factors to pay.
Reed
Disciplines: All
UK-based employment agency Reed is known for its jobs board, upskilling courses and career advice – but it also has a salary checker that can compare your pay to average industry rates in the UK. Allowing you to browse by sector, job role and location, it provides some much-needed insights into the gap between jobs based in and outside of London, as well as within different industries. Since it averages out salaries, it also provides an easily decipherable look into the industry for those who would rather an average over a spreadsheet.
Book Publishing Salary Transparency
Discipline: Publishing
In June 2020, people working at all levels of the publishing industry started to contribute to the Book Publishing Salary Transparency sheet. From editorial assistants to marketing directors, salaries were shared “for the sake of transparency and change”. It now serves as a platform for junior creatives who wish to see what starting salaries they should be receiving, as well as for mid-level creatives looking to progress in the industry.
Design Interns Club
Discipline: Design
Set up in 2019 by design students and graduates, this spreadsheet created by Design Interns Club looks to “raise awareness of interns’ conditions and help those seeking an internship to chose the right place for them”. It collates information about internships across graphic design, product design, industrial design, art, fashion and architecture – listing salary information along with details about benefits, cost of living, working hours and conditions.
Journo Resources Salaries Guide
Discipline: Journalism
Committed to giving journalists the low-down on all things jobs, opps and rates, Journo Resources has its very own salaries guide that’s regularly updated by the team. Each role in the industry is assessed based on the latest listings in the market and assigned both an average salary as well as a recommended pay to ask for. You can also choose to filter for jobs in or outside of London, as well as across different categories.
UK & Ireland Game Industry Salaries
Discipline: Gaming
Led by Sally Blake, the CEO of Silent Games, and Chris Filip from CreativeUK, this spreadsheet was set up to encourage more pay transparency in the UK and Ireland games industry. It covers a wide array of roles, from animators and producers to character artists – while also accounting for different skill levels. The sheet also calculates salary averages and provides visual charts, making it easy to digest and understand the data. Do note that the results are collected and collated at regular intervals, so the averages may not always be the most updated.
This guide was originally published in April 2022 and was updated by the Creative Lives in Progress team in September 2025.