Graphic Designer salary

Quoted Expert
Abby Guido

Average graphic designer salary

$49,450

$23.77 hourly rate

Entry-level graphic designer salary
$34,000 yearly salary
Updated January 8, 2025

How much does a graphic designer make?

The average graphic designer salary in the United States is $49,450. Graphic designer salaries typically range between $34,000 and $69,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for graphic designers is $23.77 per hour.

Graphic designer salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Graphic designers earn the highest average salary in Massachusetts.

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Graphic designer salary by: 

Where can a Graphic Designer earn more?

Compare salary by location
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89k
69k
49k
29k
9k
Columbus, OH$63,052
Duluth, GA$38,805
Compare salary by company
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116k
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Meta$103,821
CIT Group$86,260

Graphic Designer

Experience Level
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
Entry-level graphic designer$30,900$14.85
Mid-level graphic designer$43,300$20.82
Senior-level graphic designer$67,500$32.47

Graphic Designer salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Glassdoor, SalaryExpert and CareerExplorer, the average salary for a graphic designer typically falls between $49,450 and $74,192.
zippia
$49,450yearly
glassdoor[1]
$60,112yearly
indeed[2]
$74,192yearly
Salary.com[3]
$69,488yearly
SalaryExpert[4]
$71,887yearly
CareerExplorer[5]
$50,710yearly

Average graphic designer salary by state

The average graphic designer salary in Massachusetts, Washington, and New York are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average graphic designer salary states are New Mexico, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

  • State View
  • County View
Average Salary:

Highest paying states for graphic designers

Rank
ascdesc
State
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1District of Columbia$62,988$30.28
2Massachusetts$58,553$28.15
3Washington$57,422$27.61
4New York$57,176$27.49
5Virginia$56,436$27.13
6Rhode Island$54,484$26.19
7Maine$56,874$27.34
8Michigan$50,070$24.07
9Maryland$54,398$26.15
10Oregon$49,537$23.82
11Pennsylvania$51,256$24.64
12California$52,089$25.04
13New Jersey$54,188$26.05
14North Carolina$48,310$23.23
15Illinois$47,696$22.93
16Connecticut$48,408$23.27
17West Virginia$51,299$24.66
18New Hampshire$45,469$21.86
19Colorado$47,544$22.86
20Ohio$45,369$21.81
21Delaware$47,750$22.96
22Alaska$51,987$24.99
23Minnesota$45,284$21.77
24Wisconsin$43,383$20.86
25Arizona$44,674$21.48
26Nevada$45,211$21.74
27Texas$42,171$20.27
28North Dakota$44,841$21.56
29Kentucky$43,186$20.76
30Utah$39,836$19.15
31Indiana$42,939$20.64
32Hawaii$47,448$22.81
33Wyoming$41,164$19.79
34South Carolina$41,779$20.09
35Kansas$40,358$19.40
36Missouri$41,835$20.11
37Vermont$40,874$19.65
38Georgia$38,707$18.61
39Tennessee$40,414$19.43
40Florida$40,800$19.62
41Idaho$40,829$19.63
42Nebraska$39,452$18.97
43Alabama$39,021$18.76
44Arkansas$38,567$18.54
45Iowa$36,695$17.64
46New Mexico$36,290$17.45
47South Dakota$34,887$16.77
48Oklahoma$33,740$16.22
49Louisiana$36,021$17.32
50Mississippi$35,488$17.06
51Montana$33,534$16.12

Highest paying cities for graphic designers

The highest-paying cities for graphic designers are Washington, DC, Boston, MA, and Seattle, WA.

Rank
ascdesc
City
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Washington, DC$63,052$30.31
2Boston, MA$58,402$28.08
3Seattle, WA$57,758$27.77
4New York, NY$57,449$27.62
5San Francisco, CA$55,717$26.79
6Fort Lee, NJ$54,141$26.03
7Philadelphia, PA$51,554$24.79
8Chicago, IL$48,012$23.08
9Denver, CO$47,544$22.86
10Urban Honolulu, HI$47,530$22.85
11Charlotte, NC$47,336$22.76
12Columbus, OH$45,147$21.71
13Duluth, MN$44,841$21.56
14Las Vegas, NV$44,824$21.55
15Austin, TX$42,702$20.53
16Saint Louis, MO$42,259$20.32
17Orlando, FL$40,715$19.57
18Duluth, GA$38,805$18.66

Graphic Designers are the most in-demand in these five cities:

  1. Washington, DC
  2. Boston, MA
  3. Seattle, WA
  4. New York, NY
  5. San Francisco, CA

Graphic Designer salary details

A graphic designer's salary ranges from $34,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $69,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average Graphic Designer Salary Graph
Average Graphic Designer Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a graphic designer's salary?

Percentile
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Annual Salary
ascdesc
Monthly Salary
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Hourly Rate
ascdesc
90th Percentile$69,000$5,750$33
75th Percentile$59,000$4,917$28
Average$49,450$4,121$24
25th Percentile$41,000$3,417$20
10th Percentile$34,000$2,833$16

Highest paying graphic designer jobs

The highest paying types of graphic designers are lead designer, interactive designer, and user experience designer.

Job Title
ascdesc
Annual Salary
ascdesc
Monthly Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
Job Openings
ascdesc
Graphic Artist$54,900$4,575$26.398,752
Web Designer$63,842$5,320$30.6950,899
Visual Designer$86,495$7,208$41.5846,815
User Experience Designer$91,159$7,597$43.8352,582
Designer$66,347$5,529$31.9052,433
Interactive Designer$97,929$8,161$47.0848,136

How would you rate the starting salaries for Graphic Designers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Abby Guido

Assistant Professor, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University

Designers can be well-compensated for their work. Some design areas are more lucrative than others, which tend to be the jobs in digital design. These jobs include user-experience design, experiential design, interactive design, motion design, and all AR and VR design positions.

Top companies hiring graphic designers now:

  1. Apple Jobs (105)
  2. UPS Jobs (150)
  3. AT&T Jobs (73)
  4. Fastsigns International Jobs (196)
  5. Creative Circle Jobs (98)

Which companies pay graphic designers the most?

Graphic designer salaries at Meta and NVIDIA are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average graphic designer salary at companies like ResMed and Apple are highly competitive.

Rank
ascdesc
Company
ascdesc
Average Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Meta$103,821$49.91
2NVIDIA$103,376$49.70
3ResMed$100,562$48.35
4Apple$99,520$47.85
5Visa$96,998$46.63
6Microsoft$96,718$46.50
7PayPal$94,799$45.58
8Google$94,014$45.20
9Houzz$93,168$44.79
10Xilinx$92,093$44.28
11Shopkick$91,435$43.96
12Cisco$91,336$43.91
13Western Digital$89,840$43.19
14Slalom$89,037$42.81
15eBay$88,920$42.75
16Edelman Financial Engines$88,383$42.49
17Jacob Realty Boston$88,203$42.41
18ChyronHego$87,208$41.93
19Yahoo$86,756$41.71
20CIT Group$86,260$41.47

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$50,000$49,400$48,800$48,200$47,600$47,000
MaleFemale

Graphic Designer salary by industry

The average graphic designer salary varies across industries:

  • The average graphic designer salary in the technology industry is $59,067, the highest of any industry.
  • The average graphic designer salary in the finance industry is $54,488.
  • Graphic designers in the retail industry earn an average salary of $50,927, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for graphic designers

Rank
ascdesc
Industry
ascdesc
Average Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Technology$59,067$28.40
2Manufacturing$54,488$26.20
3Finance$54,139$26.03
4Professional$52,691$25.33
5Media$52,206$25.10
6Education$51,763$24.89
7Retail$50,927$24.48

High Paying Graphic Designer Jobs

Graphic Designer salary trends

The average graphic designer salary has risen by $8,680 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average graphic designer earned $40,770 annually, but today, they earn $49,450 a year. That works out to a 12% change in pay for graphic designers over the last decade.

Compare graphic designer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average graphic designer salary over time

Compare graphic designer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

  • National Average
  • Columbus, OH

Graphic Designer salary by year

Year
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
% Change
ascdesc
2025$49,400$23.77+2.4%
2024$48,300$23.21+3.3%
2023$46,700$22.43+3.3%
2022$45,100$21.69+2.2%
2021$44,100$21.22+1.6%

Recently added graphic designer salaries

Company
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Job
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Location
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Date Added
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Salary
ascdesc
PaychexGraphic DesignerSaint Petersburg, FL12/17/2024$56,700
PaychexGraphic DesignerRochester, NY12/17/2024$56,700
Levi Strauss & CoDesigner, Men's Apparel GraphicsSan Francisco, CA12/17/2024$78,800
Us MainGraphic DesignerTustin, CA12/17/2024$43,888
CollaberaGraphic DesignerBoone, NC12/16/2024$77,219
Earthbound LLCGraphic Designer-Brand Identity (Freelance)New York, NY12/16/2024$80,000
Elwood StaffingElwood Staffing | Graphic Designer LABroussard, LA12/16/2024$31,305
CalaeroGraphic DesignerBakersfield, CA12/16/2024$52,175
Fastsigns International, Inc.Graphic Designer Wide Format Printing Location: Oh-Cleveland-44114 Post DateCleveland, OH12/16/2024$30,000
VirginiaGraphic DesignerCharlottesville, VA12/16/2024$65,000

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