Graphic Designers salary

SOC 27-1024 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$62,960

per year, nationally

Middle half

$49,040–$81,830

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

197,830

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.1%

20,000 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$39,520$104,910

10th: $39,520
25th: $49,040
Median: $62,960
75th: $81,830
90th: $104,910

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where graphic designers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$87,920	109.9	1,150	1.29×
2	Rhode Island	$78,220	102.3	750	1.17×
3	New York	$77,340	107.9	14,530	1.18×
4	Massachusetts	$76,710	105.8	4,450	0.96×
5	California	$75,130	110.7	27,390	1.18×
6	Maryland	$75,120	105.0	3,050	0.87×
7	New Jersey	$73,790	108.8	5,670	1.04×
8	Washington	$72,710	107.0	3,960	0.88×
9	Connecticut	$72,700	103.6	1,930	0.89×
10	Virginia	$72,310	101.1	4,740	0.91×
11	Colorado	$66,330	103.1	4,200	1.15×
12	Oregon	$66,040	103.4	4,140	1.66×
13	Vermont	$65,690	98.0	410	1.06×
14	Minnesota	$63,860	98.6	5,570	1.48×
15	Nevada	$62,890	100.0	1,570	0.80×
16	Alaska	$62,570	102.4	180	0.45×
17	Illinois	$62,560	100.0	8,960	1.15×
18	Utah	$62,310	98.9	2,720	1.23×
19	Florida	$61,660	103.4	12,660	1.00×
20	Pennsylvania	$60,730	97.6	8,150	1.06×
21	New Hampshire	$60,490	104.2	790	0.91×
22	Georgia	$60,250	96.3	5,920	0.95×
23	Texas	$60,150	97.1	13,670	0.76×
24	Delaware	$60,130	99.8	360	0.58×
25	Ohio	$60,080	92.8	7,280	1.03×
26	Maine	$60,030	97.0	560	0.69×
27	Wisconsin	$59,900	94.1	4,130	1.10×
28	Arizona	$58,510	100.7	3,560	0.86×
29	North Carolina	$58,450	94.3	5,660	0.90×
30	Hawaii	$58,070	110.0	520	0.65×
31	Michigan	$57,350	96.2	6,070	1.08×
32	Tennessee	$57,270	91.9	3,880	0.93×
33	South Carolina	$57,170	93.7	1,930	0.66×
34	Montana	$56,890	94.6	610	0.93×
35	Missouri	$56,750	90.8	4,500	1.20×
36	New Mexico	$56,730	92.2	850	0.77×
37	Nebraska	$56,700	90.1	1,670	1.28×
38	North Dakota	$56,470	89.0	460	0.85×
39	Indiana	$55,480	93.3	3,450	0.85×
40	Oklahoma	$53,630	87.8	2,040	0.94×
41	Kansas	$53,630	90.1	1,730	0.94×
42	Kentucky	$52,960	90.2	2,060	0.81×
43	Alabama	$51,070	88.8	1,760	0.65×
44	Idaho	$50,350	95.5	920	0.84×
45	Iowa	$50,310	87.8	2,100	1.06×
46	Louisiana	$49,910	88.2	1,750	0.71×
47	South Dakota	$48,390	88.6	470	0.81×
48	Arkansas	$46,220	86.9	1,390	0.84×
49	Mississippi	$45,640	87.0	830	0.56×
50	Wyoming	$45,150	92.7	240	0.67×
51	West Virginia	$40,350	89.5	520	0.58×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where graphic designers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for graphic designers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$97,360	110.4	1,280	0.88×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$92,050	115.6	3,870	1.28×
3	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$85,420	108.9	4,420	1.11×
4	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$81,800	106.9	650	1.27×
5	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$79,280	112.6	15,160	1.26×
6	Napa, CA	$79,090	112.6	60	0.56×
7	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$78,500	108.8	210	0.80×
8	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$78,270	108.3	3,560	1.03×
9	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$76,720	111.1	2,710	1.02×
10	Barnstable Town, MA	$76,140	98.4	60	0.49×
11	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$75,790	104.5	1,350	0.78×
12	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$75,750	107.8	210	0.80×
13	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$75,650	105.4	3,090	2.01×
14	Vallejo, CA	$74,800	108.5	90	0.46×
15	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$74,680	106.7	920	0.67×
16	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$74,520	100.1	90	0.57×
17	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$72,500	105.8	2,590	1.27×
18	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$72,400	113.6	13,810	1.73×
19	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$71,750	103.2	250	0.82×
20	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$70,870	102.7	500	0.65×
21	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$70,450	101.8	970	1.07×
22	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$70,420	105.6	80	0.71×
23	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$69,570	103.2	170	0.76×
24	Modesto, CA	$69,110	104.1	140	0.55×
25	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$68,350	99.8	270	1.34×
26	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$68,260	100.9	170	1.14×
27	New Haven, CT	$68,150	104.6	260	0.72×
28	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$67,710	103.7	110	0.67×
29	Boulder, CO	$67,680	105.2	400	1.62×
30	Portland-South Portland, ME	$67,650	101.9	270	0.74×
31	Lexington Park, MD	$67,570	100.8	60	0.62×
32	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$67,300	110.5	390	0.95×
33	Salinas, CA	$66,940	109.0	80	0.35×
34	Worcester, MA	$66,810	102.5	310	0.70×
35	Kenosha, WI	$66,810	101.1	70	0.71×
36	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$66,490	103.6	6,590	1.15×
37	Richmond, VA	$66,350	97.9	760	0.90×
38	Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN	$66,060	93.4	100	0.80×
39	Visalia, CA	$66,040	99.8	70	0.32×
40	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$65,900	106.4	1,370	0.63×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where graphic designers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers$39,390
Interior Designers$67,190
Art Directors$114,850
Floral Designers$37,360
Commercial and Industrial Designers$83,910
Fashion Designers$80,960
Special Effects Artists and Animators$102,030
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators$55,490