Best cities for design jobs
Key facts
- #1 New York, NY: 717 openings
- #2 San Francisco, CA: 344 openings
- #3 Los Angeles, CA: 158 openings
- 10 cities ranked in the United States
- Data as of November 2026
- 1New York NY717 openings
- 2San Francisco CA344 openings
- 3Los Angeles CA158 openings
- 4Seattle WA148 openings
- 5Chicago IL119 openings
- 6Austin TX109 openings
- 7Dallas TX79 openings
- 8Atlanta GA76 openings
- 9Boston MA74 openings
- 10Houston TX58 openings
What stands out
- The lead is wide: New York (717 openings) is well clear of Houston at #10 (58 openings).
- Houston reaches #10 on a sample of 58 openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.
- New York is the largest market in the top ten, with 717 openings behind its figure.
- Cities with fewer than 50 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.
The top 25
- 1
New York NY
717 openings
- Share of the city's openings
- 4%
- Median posted pay
- $180k
- All openings in the city
- 20,409
Hiring most here: Amazon, Publicis Groupe, Morgan Stanley
Based on 717 openings.
- 2
San Francisco CA
344 openings
- Share of the city's openings
- 3%
- Median posted pay
- $210k
- All openings in the city
- 11,776
Hiring most here: OpenAI, Anthropic, University Of California San Francisco Foundation
Based on 344 openings.
- 3
Los Angeles CA
158 openings
- Share of the city's openings
- 3%
- Median posted pay
- $163k
- All openings in the city
- 5,100
Hiring most here: K2 Space, Cedars-sinai Medical Center, Apex Space
Based on 158 openings.
- 4
Seattle WA
148 openings
- Share of the city's openings
- 3%
- Median posted pay
- $162k
- All openings in the city
- 5,346
Hiring most here: Amazon, Blue Origin, Shield AI
Based on 148 openings.
- 5
Chicago IL
119 openings
- Share of the city's openings
- 2%
- Median posted pay
- $128k
- All openings in the city
- 7,616
Hiring most here: Publicis Groupe, Northern Trust, Confidential
Based on 119 openings.
- 6
Austin TX
109 openings
- Share of the city's openings
- 2%
- Median posted pay
- $198k
- All openings in the city
- 5,890
Hiring most here: Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices, Cloudflare
Based on 109 openings.
- 7
Dallas TX
79 openings
- Share of the city's openings
- 2%
- Median posted pay
- $136k
- All openings in the city
- 4,379
Hiring most here: Amazon, Shield AI, Texas Instruments
Based on 79 openings.
- 8
Atlanta GA
76 openings
- Share of the city's openings
- 1%
- Median posted pay
- $137k
- All openings in the city
- 5,501
Hiring most here: Emory University, Oxford College of Emory University, Capgemini Invent
Based on 76 openings.
- 9
Boston MA
74 openings
- Share of the city's openings
- 1%
- Median posted pay
- $176k
- All openings in the city
- 5,086
Hiring most here: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, State Street, Confidential
Based on 74 openings.
- 10
Houston TX
58 openings
- Share of the city's openings
- 1%
- Median posted pay
- Not enough pay data
- All openings in the city
- 4,295
Hiring most here: Axiom Space, Trinzic, Fervo Energy
Based on 58 openings.
Full ranking
All 10 cities that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.
| Rank | City | Score | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York NY | 717 openings | 717 |
| 2 | San Francisco CA | 344 openings | 344 |
| 3 | Los Angeles CA | 158 openings | 158 |
| 4 | Seattle WA | 148 openings | 148 |
| 5 | Chicago IL | 119 openings | 119 |
| 6 | Austin TX | 109 openings | 109 |
| 7 | Dallas TX | 79 openings | 79 |
| 8 | Atlanta GA | 76 openings | 76 |
| 9 | Boston MA | 74 openings | 74 |
| 10 | Houston TX | 58 openings | 58 |
How this ranking works
A city is ranked on the number of its open professional roles in this job family, as classed from the posting title and text. Median pay uses only listings that post a salary, shown where at least 8 do.
Only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted.
A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.
Sample bar: cities with fewer than 50 openings are not ranked.
Sources: NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week. Data as of November 2026.
Our job data covers professional roles on the career sites of employers we track, so figures describe that market, not every job. Spot an error? Tell us.
Questions
- Which city ranks first: best cities for design jobs?
- New York has the most openings in this job family in the United States: 717 openings.
- How many cities are ranked?
- 10 cities have at least 50 openings, so the list has 10 entries.
- How is the ranking calculated?
- A city is ranked on the number of its open professional roles in this job family, as classed from the posting title and text. Median pay uses only listings that post a salary, shown where at least 8 do. Only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted. A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.
- How often is it updated?
- Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.
More rankings
Cite this ranking
NextChapter, “Best cities for design jobs,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-design-jobs
Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-design-jobs">Best cities for design jobs (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>
Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.
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