Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries
Graphic Designers
Graphic Designers design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects.
Table of contents
- Average salary
- Starting salary
- Salary rank
- Salary range
- Highest paying states
- Highest paying industries
Average salary
Starting salary
Entry-level Graphic Designers with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $31,720 to $40,160 per year or $15 to $19 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.
Salary rank
We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Graphic Designers to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.
Salary range
Level | Hourly | Annual |
---|---|---|
Highest (Top 10%) | $45 | $93,440 |
Senior (Top 25%) | $34 | $71,310 |
Middle (Mid 50%) | $26 | $53,380 |
Junior (Bottom 25%) | $19 | $40,160 |
No experience (Bottom 10%) | $15 | $31,720 |
Highest paying states
State | Hourly | Annual |
---|---|---|
DC | $40 | $83,070 |
WA | $37 | $77,000 |
MA | $34 | $70,180 |
NY | $33 | $68,260 |
VA | $32 | $66,850 |
CA | $32 | $66,600 |
NJ | $32 | $65,680 |
RI | $31 | $64,570 |
AK | $30 | $63,430 |
MD | $30 | $61,660 |
Another simple way to increase your salary as a Graphic Designer is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like DC doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at DC might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.
According to BLS, the highest paid Graphic Designers are in the states of DC, WA, MA, NY and VA.
Highest paying industries
Salary by industry | Annual | Hourly |
---|---|---|
Federal Executive Branch | $88090 | $42.35 |
Software Publishers | $81610 | $39.23 |
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing | $80000 | $38.46 |
Legal Services | $77790 | $37.40 |
Cable and Other Subscription Programming | $77090 | $37.06 |
Nondepository Credit Intermediation | $74980 | $36.05 |
Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories | $74830 | $35.97 |
Scientific Research and Development Services | $73640 | $35.41 |
Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing | $73060 | $35.13 |
Individual and Family Services | $72990 | $35.09 |
Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing | $70770 | $34.03 |
Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services | $70640 | $33.96 |
Motion Picture and Video Industries | $70020 | $33.66 |
Other Information Services | $69650 | $33.49 |
Facilities Support Services | $69290 | $33.31 |
Employment Services | $68730 | $33.04 |
Other Electrical Equipment and Component Manufacturing | $68110 | $32.75 |
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services | $68030 | $32.71 |
Building Material and Supplies Dealers | $67860 | $32.62 |
Investigation and Security Services | $67590 | $32.49 |
Nonresidential Building Construction | $67210 | $32.31 |
Sound Recording Industries | $66470 | $31.96 |
Specialty Hospitals | $66260 | $31.86 |
Management of Companies and Enterprises | $66240 | $31.85 |
Rental and Leasing Services | $66050 | $31.76 |
Insurance Carriers | $65960 | $31.71 |
Other Ambulatory Health Care Services | $65890 | $31.68 |
Computer Systems Design and Related Services | $65890 | $31.68 |
Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing | $65600 | $31.54 |
Other Food Manufacturing | $64630 | $31.07 |