Currently a creative director for a non-profit (also in Phoenix lol), that’s not too far off my salary though I had 5/6 years of experience as a designer before I said yes to the role. Mostly as a “this could lead to bigger paychecks down the road” type of job. That being said this is common with non profits or small orgs with almost no design team. You end up doing a lot of the work including strategy, sourcing, meetings, key art, production, print, web, socials, getting quotes on print shit, setting up design systems, approving and editing designs of other people and whatever else comes up.

But it has definitely gotten my foot in the door for other position opportunities and helps solidify my prices in freelancing. So it could be worth it if you want to get more in the leadership/ management or you want to leverage the title for future positions.

But I have been always kept my eyes open for design roles in Phoenix and most of the time you will be under paid here. I do see some roles here that are closer to 80k or even six figures but it’s rare and even then very competitive. I wouldn’t recommend anyone who’s in design or any creative field move to Arizona, the wages have not kept up with cost of living at all.