{"h1":"Best cities for design jobs","faq":[{"a":"New York has the most openings in this job family in the United States: 717 openings.","q":"Which city ranks first: best cities for design jobs?"},{"a":"10 cities have at least 50 openings, so the list has 10 entries.","q":"How many cities are ranked?"},{"a":"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.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"New York has the most openings in this job family in the United States: 717 openings.","minN":50,"rows":[{"n":717,"key":"NY|new york","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/new-york","name":"New York","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"4%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$180k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"20,409"}],"value":717,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Publicis Groupe","Morgan Stanley"],"valueLabel":"717 openings"},{"n":344,"key":"CA|san francisco","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-francisco","name":"San Francisco","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"3%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$210k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"11,776"}],"value":344,"change":null,"employers":["OpenAI","Anthropic","University Of California San Francisco Foundation"],"valueLabel":"344 openings"},{"n":158,"key":"CA|los angeles","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/los-angeles","name":"Los Angeles","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"3%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$163k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"5,100"}],"value":158,"change":null,"employers":["K2 Space","Cedars-sinai Medical Center","Apex Space"],"valueLabel":"158 openings"},{"n":148,"key":"WA|seattle","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/seattle","name":"Seattle","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"3%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$162k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"5,346"}],"value":148,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Blue Origin","Shield AI"],"valueLabel":"148 openings"},{"n":119,"key":"IL|chicago","sub":"IL","href":"/places/illinois/city/chicago","name":"Chicago","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"2%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$128k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"7,616"}],"value":119,"change":null,"employers":["Publicis Groupe","Northern Trust","Confidential"],"valueLabel":"119 openings"},{"n":109,"key":"TX|austin","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/austin","name":"Austin","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"2%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$198k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"5,890"}],"value":109,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Advanced Micro Devices","Cloudflare"],"valueLabel":"109 openings"},{"n":79,"key":"TX|dallas","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/dallas","name":"Dallas","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"2%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$136k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"4,379"}],"value":79,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Shield AI","Texas Instruments"],"valueLabel":"79 openings"},{"n":76,"key":"GA|atlanta","sub":"GA","href":"/places/georgia/city/atlanta","name":"Atlanta","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"1%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$137k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"5,501"}],"value":76,"change":null,"employers":["Emory University","Oxford College of Emory University","Capgemini Invent"],"valueLabel":"76 openings"},{"n":74,"key":"MA|boston","sub":"MA","href":"/places/massachusetts/city/boston","name":"Boston","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"1%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$176k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"5,086"}],"value":74,"change":null,"employers":["Vertex Pharmaceuticals","State Street","Confidential"],"valueLabel":"74 openings"},{"n":58,"key":"TX|houston","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/houston","name":"Houston","rank":10,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"1%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"Not enough pay data"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"4,295"}],"value":58,"change":null,"employers":["Axiom Space","Trinzic","Fervo Energy"],"valueLabel":"58 openings"}],"slug":"best-cities-for-design-jobs","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"us","kind":"national","name":"United States"},"title":"Best cities for design jobs","family":"Job families","method":["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."],"builtAt":"2026-11-02T22:06:17.622Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"fnopen","sources":["NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week"],"baseline":null,"keyFacts":["#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"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["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."],"license":"Free to use and share with a link to https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-design-jobs"}