Graphic Designer Salary

Average Yearly Salary

Updated May 18, 2020

$45,000

$32,000

$45,000

$64,000

Graphic Designers in the United States make an average salary of $45,582 per year or $21.91 per hour. People on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $32,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $64,000. As most things go, location can be critical. Washington, Montana, Massachusetts, Oregon, and New York provide the highest Graphic Designer salaries.

Best Paying Cities

Seattle, WA

$58,360

San Francisco, CA

$56,594

Washington, DC

$56,584

Map of Graphic Designer Salaries

The darker areas on the map show where Graphic Designers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary:

Average Graphic Designer Salary By Location

If both location and money are important to you, then you might want to check out moving to Washington, Montana and Massachusetts, as these three states offer the highest salaries throughout the U.S. for Graphic Designers. Quite opposite of that list is the lowest paying states, which are Alabama, Nebraska, and South Carolina.

City

Average Salary

Seattle, WA

$58,360

$58k

San Francisco, CA

$56,594

$57k

Washington, DC

$56,584

$57k

Boston, MA

$54,652

$55k

New York, NY

$53,839

$54k

Fort Lee, NJ

$48,764

$49k

Chicago, IL

$46,551

$47k

Philadelphia, PA

$46,518

$47k

Denver, CO

$44,438

$44k

Urban Honolulu, HI

$43,798

$44k

Average Graphic Designer Salary By Company

If you want to get paid the most as a Graphic Designer, being employed by a company such as Weil, Gotshal & Manges or DLA Piper would be a smart choice, as they are the highest paying companies in this field. Additionally, companies like Microsoft and Adobe also report highly competitive salaries for Graphic Designers.

Company

Average Salary

Weil, Gotshal & Manges

$105,213

$105k

DLA Piper

$105,179

$105k

Microsoft

$98,595

$99k

Adobe

$96,185

$96k

Apple

$93,264

$93k

Google

$89,029

$89k

Activision Blizzard

$88,261

$88k

Nvidia

$87,614

$88k

Yahoo!

$86,718

$87k

Western Digital

$84,887

$85k

The largest raises come from changing jobs.

See what's out there.

Average Graphic Designer Pay By Industry

The salary for a Graphic Designer can vary depending on what industry the job is in. The highest salaries for Graphic Designers tend to be found in Retail, Media, and Manufacturing companies. In fact, Graphic Designers can make a yearly salary of $46,196 while working for Retail companies.

Industry

Average Salary

Retail

$46,196

$46k

Media

$46,044

$46k

Manufacturing

$45,935

$46k

Technology

$45,324

$45k

Hospitality

$44,621

$45k

Professional

$43,569

$44k