How much do Design jobs pay?

$117,000 to $210,000 for the middle half, median $165,000, from 1,194 paid postings from 658 employers that state pay. That is above the $140,000 median for all professional postings. It is advertised pay, not what people are paid.

Is Design pay higher or lower once the job mix is matched?

With function, level and industry matched, advertised pay is +6.1% (about $11.5k a year) against other functions.

How does Design pay change with level?

Early career: $109,000; Mid-level: $161,500; Senior individual contributor: $180,000; Manager: $190,500; Director: $217,000.

Design salaries: what design jobs advertise

Name: Advertised pay in Design (function) on U.S. professional job postings
Creator: NextChapter

Design postings that state pay run $117,000 to $210,000 for the middle half, median $165,000, from 1,194 paid postings from 658 employers. With function, level and industry matched, pay is +6.1% (about $11.5k a year) against other functions.

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By Justin KullaLast updated November 3, 2026

Design pay range

From 1,194 paid postings from 658 employers. Annual, in US dollars.

Lower quarter: $117,000
Median: $165,000
Upper quarter: $210,000

The median for all professional postings is $140,000, so Design is above it. With function, level and industry matched, Design pay is +6.1% (about $11.5k a year) against other functions.

Design pay by level

Levels with at least 30 paid postings from 8 employers.

Design advertised pay by level
Group	Median	Middle half	Gap	Postings	Employers
Early career	$109,000	$78,500 to $145,000	n/a	249	170
Mid-level	$161,500	$123,500 to $194,000	n/a	251	174
Senior individual contributor	$180,000	$141,000 to $214,500	n/a	363	268
Manager	$190,500	$148,000 to $234,500	n/a	126	91
Director	$217,000	$175,000 to $262,500	n/a	159	113

Skills that go with higher Design pay

Skills listed on 50 or more paid postings from 10 employers in this function, by median pay.

Skills in Design postings by median pay
Skill	Median pay listing it	Raw gap	Gap, job mix matched	Postings	Employers
Onboarding	$161,500	−4.2%	−2.8%	6,126	1,726
Figma	$183,000	+9.4%	+0.5%	727	356
HTML	$141,000	−15.9%	−0.4%	855	311
CSS	$168,000	+0.2%	n/a	363	238
Project Management	$145,000	−14.7%	−7.8%	3,979	1,331

Compare with other functions

The groups ranked just above and below by median.

All 21 functions · 1,194 postings in this one

Questions about this data

How much do Design jobs pay?: $117,000 to $210,000 for the middle half, median $165,000, from 1,194 paid postings from 658 employers that state pay. That is above the $140,000 median for all professional postings. It is advertised pay, not what people are paid.
Is Design pay higher or lower once the job mix is matched?: With function, level and industry matched, advertised pay is +6.1% (about $11.5k a year) against other functions.
How does Design pay change with level?: Early career: $109,000; Mid-level: $161,500; Senior individual contributor: $180,000; Manager: $190,500; Director: $217,000.

Method, download and how to cite

Data as of November 3, 2026. Rebuilt daily.

Pay is the midpoint of the range an employer posted (or stated in the posting text), converted to a year, on live U.S. professional jobs. It is advertised pay, not what anyone is paid.

A “gap, job mix matched” compares postings inside cells of the same function, level and industry, so a group is not credited for simply holding more senior or better-paid roles. It needs 150 or more postings across at least 5 cells with 15 postings on each side, and is shown as n/a otherwise. A gap is a difference in advertised pay between postings. It does not show that a skill, an industry or an employer size causes higher pay.

Download the CSV (aggregates only; no posting, employer or person is in it). Cite as: NextChapter, “Advertised pay in Design (function) on U.S. professional job postings”, data as of November 3, 2026, https://launchyournextchapter.com/resources/pay-data/function/design

See also the AI skills salary premium, which uses the same method for AI skills only, and the salary by job title pages.

More pay data

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