SALARY BY CATEGORY:

Production Director or

Top Production Executive

Compensation for those at the top of the production department rose 15 percent to $96,100 in 2013, respondents said.

The gains weren’t evenly distributed though. There were stark dividing lines in several categories as, relatively, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.

Those at the helm of larger operations got bumps as high as 21 percent, but salaries actually decreased for many with company revenue under $10 million, publication revenue under $3 million and those working for a single magazine. The disparities between big and small were to 2 or 3 times the typical gaps.

Gender gaps in pay also ballooned, as men made more, and women less, than the prior year. Males in department-leading roles drew an average salary of $111,500, while their female counterparts earned $73,900. The difference of $37,700 is almost triple what it was last year, and almost 5-times the 2011 figure.

Education hadn’t been closely correlated to pay in the past with little historical difference between those who’d done post-grad work and those who hadn’t, but it emerged as a differentiator this year. Interestingly, those with no post-graduate study earned $11,000 more.

Like education, experience in a specific role was only loosely tied to pay in previous surveys, but that changed in 2013. Newer production execs out-earned veteran colleagues by $37,200.