(FORTUNE Magazine) – The job of a corporate board director might be more stressful than it once was, but the pay is sure getting better. In 2004 average pay for independent directors rose 13%, to $176,000, at the top 200 U.S. companies, according to compensation consultants Pearl Meyer & Partners. The Disney directors, for example, recently awarded themselves 44% pay increases in the wake of a much-publicized shareholder revolt. True, Pearl Meyer estimates that directors clocked in an average of 200 to 250 hours, compared with 150 hours in 2001. But that still works out to as much as $885 an hour. Here's how corporate director pay over the past five years compares with the S&P 500 (a.k.a. the place where shareholders are compensated). --Cora Daniels