These Are The 10 Best Cities For Graphic Designers

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Whether you’re just starting out your career, or looking to make a move, it can be important to know what part of the country offers the best chance for your long term career prospects. And for a very common profession like Graphic Designers, the regional differences can have a big impact on your salary and career options.

To help you make the best decision possible, we at Zippia wanted to look at the cities that offer graphic designers the most for their career. These are the cities across the US where graphic designers get paid well, relative to the cost of living, and jobs are plentiful.

So we did what we do best and dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which cities have the best opportunities for graphic designers.The result is this list of the best cities graphic designers:

So there you have it — San Francisco is the best city when it comes to being a graphic designer.

And where should you consider avoiding if you’re a graphic designer? That would be Laredo.

Read on to see how we completed our research on the best cities for graphic designers and for more on the top ten cities.

How we determined the best cities to be a graphic designers?

Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:

Availability of jobs
Pay

So in order to find out the best cities for graphic designers in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well graphic designers get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:

Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given city.
Average annual salary.
Average annual salary for entry level work.

To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across cities, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.

This left us with enough data for 359 metro areas across the country. We then took the primary area of the metro and labeled that the ‘city’ for this analysis. So, for example, “Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division” became simply Boston.

In order to develop an overall ranking, we ranked each city for each criteria from 1 to 359 where 1 was the best.

We then averaged all the rankings for a city into a Job Score with the city having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best city for graphic designers in America.

So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each city so great for graphic designers.

1. San Francisco, CA

Total Jobs: 3,270
Average Annual Salary: $76,980
Average Entry Level Salary: $45,990
Location Quotient: 2.16

2. Boulder, CO

Total Jobs: 660
Average Annual Salary: $58,940
Average Entry Level Salary: $35,470
Location Quotient: 2.61

3. Seattle, WA

Total Jobs: 3,140
Average Annual Salary: $60,580
Average Entry Level Salary: $33,590
Location Quotient: 1.38

4. Kansas City, MO

Total Jobs: 1,950
Average Annual Salary: $51,910
Average Entry Level Salary: $31,770
Location Quotient: 1.28

5. San Jose, CA

Total Jobs: 1,850
Average Annual Salary: $75,780
Average Entry Level Salary: $39,670
Location Quotient: 1.23

6. Framingham, MA

Total Jobs: 410
Average Annual Salary: $62,760
Average Entry Level Salary: $38,380
Location Quotient: 1.58

7. Minneapolis, MN

Total Jobs: 4,360
Average Annual Salary: $56,010
Average Entry Level Salary: $32,820
Location Quotient: 1.56

8. Columbus, OH

Total Jobs: 1,710
Average Annual Salary: $53,220
Average Entry Level Salary: $32,470
Location Quotient: 1.15

9. Santa Rosa, CA

Total Jobs: 340
Average Annual Salary: $60,680
Average Entry Level Salary: $39,870
Location Quotient: 1.23

10. Silver Spring, MD

Total Jobs: 970
Average Annual Salary: $67,530
Average Entry Level Salary: $40,970
Location Quotient: 1.13

And that’s our list of the best cities for graphic designers

If you’re looking to start out your career as a graphic designer these are the cities that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.

If you’re curious, here are the worst cities to be a graphic designer in America:

Detailed List Of The Best Cities For Graphic Designers

Rank	State	Average Salary	Entry Level Salary	# Of People
1	San Francisco, CA	$76,980	$45,990	3,270
2	Boulder, CO	$58,940	$35,470	660
3	Seattle, WA	$60,580	$33,590	3,140
4	Kansas City, MO	$51,910	$31,770	1,950
5	San Jose, CA	$75,780	$39,670	1,850
6	Framingham, MA	$62,760	$38,380	410
7	Minneapolis, MN	$56,010	$32,820	4,360
8	Columbus, OH	$53,220	$32,470	1,710
9	Santa Rosa, CA	$60,680	$39,870	340
10	Silver Spring, MD	$67,530	$40,970	970
11	New York, NY	$66,480	$34,760	17,880
12	Philadelphia, PA	$62,380	$35,730	1,420
13	Atlanta, GA	$53,500	$28,910	4,970
14	Bridgeport, CT	$63,310	$38,190	740
15	St. Louis, MO	$52,630	$30,210	2,210
16	Warren, MI	$53,330	$30,830	2,030
17	Dayton, OH	$48,270	$31,330	600
18	Lancaster, PA	$50,710	$30,870	450
19	Salt Lake City, UT	$50,840	$27,770	1,420
20	Trenton, NJ	$62,240	$34,850	360
21	Montgomery County, PA	$52,950	$29,790	1,850
22	Cincinnati, OH	$49,400	$29,260	1,640
23	Madison, WI	$47,970	$32,170	880
24	Portland, OR	$52,320	$30,810	2,240
25	West Palm Beach, FL	$52,970	$34,080	930
26	Akron, OH	$46,740	$26,970	620
27	Chicago, IL	$53,820	$30,790	6,560
28	Lowell, MA	$73,870	$35,170	230
29	Oxnard, CA	$60,370	$33,170	510
30	Dalton, GA	$52,250	$32,840	80
31	Lake County, IL	$52,680	$31,650	670
32	Reno, NV	$53,020	$31,070	350
33	Charlottesville, VA	$49,120	$33,680	200
34	Omaha, NE	$46,140	$27,950	950
35	Peabody, MA	$53,910	$38,030	170
36	Nashville, TN	$47,880	$28,520	1,350
37	Providence, RI	$55,040	$32,790	780
38	Oakland, CA	$64,870	$31,690	1,790
39	Milwaukee, WI	$50,730	$28,550	1,810
40	Greensboro, NC	$49,850	$27,560	700
41	Denver, CO	$53,350	$31,810	2,280
42	Raleigh, NC	$50,900	$29,190	870
43	Portland, ME	$55,810	$28,700	320
44	Dallas, TX	$54,840	$30,820	2,720
45	Pocatello, ID	$43,430	$26,290	60
46	Los Angeles, CA	$58,670	$30,260	10,010
47	Des Moines, IA	$45,860	$28,280	650
48	Lansing, MI	$44,570	$29,040	370
49	Tulsa, OK	$53,810	$29,660	500
50	Portsmouth, NH	$56,700	$30,230	160
51	Winston, NC	$51,690	$27,960	410
52	Boston, MA	$58,100	$35,950	2,640
53	Provo, UT	$49,040	$24,580	520
54	Lincoln, NE	$43,890	$26,890	350
55	Detroit, MI	$51,530	$30,880	810
56	Missoula, MT	$41,980	$27,150	110
57	Elkhart, IN	$45,560	$30,210	150
58	Waterloo, IA	$43,440	$31,360	140
59	Huntsville, AL	$52,360	$33,130	200
60	Anaheim, CA	$55,100	$30,460	3,300
61	Kennewick, WA	$52,100	$29,660	140
62	Durham, NC	$48,500	$26,050	610
63	Charlotte, NC	$49,520	$26,990	1,920
64	Fort Lauderdale, FL	$45,920	$31,070	1,320
65	South Bend, IN	$42,940	$27,840	190
66	Morgantown, WV	$44,900	$28,540	70
67	Appleton, WI	$47,880	$32,550	150
68	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY	$43,530	$27,290	720
69	Fayetteville, AR	$46,180	$25,670	280
70	Springfield, MA	$54,570	$35,610	440
71	Newark, NJ	$59,150	$32,660	1,350
72	Lebanon, PA	$55,260	$32,260	40
73	Sioux Falls, SD	$37,710	$28,170	270
74	Racine, WI	$46,470	$26,960	170
75	Anchorage, AK	$52,430	$33,590	210
76	Kalamazoo, MI	$44,720	$26,230	260
77	Fargo, ND	$39,390	$26,620	370
78	Houston, TX	$46,480	$31,840	3,070
79	Cleveland, OH	$43,900	$25,890	1,450
80	Richmond, VA	$52,640	$30,960	830
81	Peoria, IL	$54,780	$31,220	180
82	Austin, TX	$49,030	$24,330	1,600
83	Tacoma, WA	$51,920	$31,270	290
84	Reading, PA	$42,790	$31,660	260
85	Knoxville, TN	$46,770	$28,250	420
86	Elgin, IL	$51,620	$27,480	420
87	Lawton, OK	$43,250	$25,760	70
88	Springfield, IL	$50,410	$29,860	140
89	Ogden, UT	$45,520	$27,220	310
90	Atlantic City, NJ	$58,700	$35,030	110
91	Auburn, AL	$46,060	$27,670	60
92	Indianapolis, IN	$42,340	$25,640	1,690
93	Columbus, GA	$47,800	$29,690	110
94	Muncie, IN	$48,240	$24,380	60
95	Greenville, NC	$45,860	$29,750	90
96	Rochester, MN	$53,020	$31,720	110
97	Napa, CA	$49,460	$31,540	140
98	Grand Junction, CO	$46,270	$32,480	80
99	San Rafael, CA	$60,700	$21,170	410
100	Santa Fe, NM	$39,480	$26,870	140

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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