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Job outlook for lead designers in the United States
Lead designer job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected lead designer job growth rate is 3% from 2018-2028.
About 6,800 new jobs for lead designers are projected over the next decade.
Lead designer salaries have increased 12% for lead designers in the last 5 years.
There are over 41,144 lead designers currently employed in the United States.
There are 45,423 active lead designer job openings in the US.
The average lead designer salary is $110,001.
Are lead designer jobs in demand?
Lead designer job and salary trends over time
Lead designer jobs over time
Lead designer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41,144 | 0.01% |
| 2020 | 40,620 | 0.01% |
| 2019 | 43,542 | 0.01% |
| 2018 | 43,921 | 0.01% |
| 2017 | 43,792 | 0.01% |
Average lead designer salary over time
Lead designer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $110,001 | $52.89 | +2.4% |
| 2025 | $107,384 | $51.63 | +3.5% |
| 2024 | $103,798 | $49.90 | +3.4% |
| 2023 | $100,357 | $48.25 | +2.2% |
| 2022 | $98,172 | $47.20 | +1.6% |
Lead designer jobs by state
Most common states for lead designers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 215 | 31% |
| 2 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 189 | 18% |
| 3 | Alaska | 739,795 | 127 | 17% |
| 4 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 274 | 16% |
| 5 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 289 | 15% |
| 6 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 128 | 15% |
| 7 | Michigan | 9,962,311 | 1,420 | 14% |
| 8 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 406 | 14% |
| 9 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 268 | 13% |
| 10 | Nevada | 2,998,039 | 359 | 12% |
| 11 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 441 | 11% |
| 12 | Arkansas | 3,004,279 | 342 | 11% |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 3,930,864 | 410 | 10% |
| 14 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 639 | 9% |
| 15 | California | 39,536,653 | 2,986 | 8% |
| 16 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 664 | 8% |
| 17 | New York | 19,849,399 | 1,344 | 7% |
| 18 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 701 | 7% |
| 19 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 372 | 7% |
| 20 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 91 | 7% |
Most common cities for lead designers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frankfort | 3 | 11% | $73,512 |
| 2 | Juneau | 3 | 9% | $108,755 |
| 3 | Annapolis | 3 | 8% | $114,702 |
| 4 | Dover | 3 | 8% | $92,443 |
| 5 | Cupertino | 4 | 7% | $153,557 |
| 6 | Fountain Valley | 3 | 5% | $141,838 |
| 7 | Hartford | 3 | 2% | $98,582 |
| 8 | Atlanta | 7 | 1% | $86,270 |
| 9 | San Francisco | 6 | 1% | $153,913 |
| 10 | Denver | 4 | 1% | $107,290 |
| 11 | Saint Paul | 4 | 1% | $95,023 |
| 12 | Washington | 4 | 1% | $110,273 |
| 13 | Baton Rouge | 3 | 1% | $93,861 |
| 14 | Des Moines | 3 | 1% | $84,868 |
| 15 | Los Angeles | 5 | 0% | $143,949 |
| 16 | Boston | 3 | 0% | $106,040 |
| 17 | Dallas | 3 | 0% | $100,747 |
| 18 | Houston | 3 | 0% | $99,903 |
| 19 | Indianapolis | 3 | 0% | $81,653 |
Lead Designer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of lead designer experts
Arcadia University
Boise State University
University of Akron
Louisiana State University at Shreveport
The Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg
Columbia University in the City of New York
Louisiana Tech University
New York Institute of Technology
Foothill College
Ferris State University
University Of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Northern Iowa
Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology
Highline College
Marywood University
Texas State University
Bowling Green State University
Belmont University
Eastern Illinois University
What general advice would you give to a Lead Designer?
Tiffany Prater: As we emerge from the pandemic, it's crucial to hone your communication skills, particularly in areas such as presenting your design ideas, collaborating with team members, and effectively communicating with clients. This will not only build your confidence but also help you communicate your thought processes and informed design solutions, be open to correction and criticism, and gather experience while working with senior graphic designers, creative directors, and clients.
What Lead Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Tiffany Prater: Never stop learning because life never stops teaching. This quote by Kirill Korshikov rings true for new designers, who must know the latest trends and tools to be uniquely creative, improve their skills, and land a better design job. Knowledge and inspiration can come from anywhere and everywhere in our daily lives.
What general advice would you give to a Lead Designer?
Christian Patchell: There is a ton of opportunity and burgeoning markets opening up every day. We discuss this in my classes. The landscape of the arts changes at a faster pace than ever, but change doesn’t happen in a vacuum. With each new evolution there comes new opportunities. For example, many of my students find themselves interested in UX/UI. This is an area with a lot of opportunity for a new Designer but only if there is a passion for the Market. Even though this is a field first identified in the early 90s, I’d say that in the last decade or so it really has hit the Design World hard. This doesn’t mean that designing for print has to take a back seat. Print is more popular than ever in terms of designing and creating objects (books, packaging, etc.) that many of us refer to as art objects, interactive objects, or objects of influence. Telling a good story through the design of an object is pushing Graphic Design into wonderful areas and is really starting to connect with audiences on entirely new levels. Don’t let the articles listing the “Top 10 Majors at Universities” or the “25 Most Popular Jobs” fool you, Art and Design are more relevant and more important than ever before.
What will help Lead Designers increase their earning potential?
Christian Patchell: Oddly, what most people like and dislike are the same thing. Designers many times stand at a starting point, the line where technology and art merge into something beautiful and engaging. We are early adopters, curious where the digital and traditional merge into something new or different. Making something “new” and “different” over and over again can be a difficult climb. But if you are someone with a wealth of ideas and likes to solve problems creatively, the challenge of Graphic Design may be right for you. The other side of that coin is technology. A Graphic Designer needs to stay current on emerging technologies while maintaining an eye on trends and changes in the culture. While in school it is quite easy to stay up to date on programs that are the industry standards (Adobe Publishing Suite, Figma, etc.) it can be more difficult to do this once you have graduated. As a teaching professional I try to keep my skill set current on an annual basis (sometimes shorter) so I can be of service to my students and relevant in my field. As a Graphic Designer if you do your job right, no one may really see it. However, if you do it wrong in even the slightest way, everyone might see it. At the end of the day though there is nothing quite like seeing your design out in the wild. Whether part of a team or as an individual, a Graphic Designer is given an opportunity to share their work, their art, with an extremely large audience and instigate change while creating something personal and telling a good story. That feeling of accomplishment, for me at least, outweighs any cons there might be in this creative field.
What general advice would you give to a Lead Designer?
Kristin Snopkowski: Within a degree in Anthropology, there are a wide variety of career opportunities. This can be both a benefit and a challenge - it allows you to pursue many different careers and if you find you don't like one particular job, there are a lot of other areas of employment that you would be qualified for, but at the same time, it makes it harder to decide which employment opportunities to pursue. Further, the onus is on you to explain how your anthropology degree prepares you for a particular job, given that many people do not know or understand the skills gained with a degree in anthropology.
What will help Lead Designers increase their earning potential?
Kristin Snopkowski: There are some areas of anthropology that have better monetary compensation than others. The field of User Experience is a particularly high paying area for anthropology majors, which utilizes qualitative methods to help companies develop products and services that better respond to human needs. Within archaeology, many students opt to pursue a master's degree to maximize their compensation and gain advancement opportunities.
What general advice would you give to a Lead Designer?
David Flynn: Everything that you see has been touched by a designer. The field is expanding with technology, but basic communication design principals remain paramount. It doesn’t matter if it’s a newspaper ad or a social post, you must have a professional that knows how to communicate a message, move the viewer's eye, and make the point. Designers work in every company and in every industry, worldwide.
What will help Lead Designers increase their earning potential?
Allen Garcie MFA: On the technical side, software is always evolving so skills related to this are always important. However, I think keeping up with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) is going to be most important for designers over the next 3 to 5 years. This is an area that's already changing the design field as companies like Adobe and others continue to integrate AI into their software. On the other hand, being a designer isn't all about developing technology-related skills though. I also think developing non-technical skills like creativity, collaboration, and adaptability are extremely important for any designer.
Eric Benson
Associate Professor and Chair of Graphic Design and Design for Responsible InnovationThe Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg
Graphic Communications
What will help Lead Designers increase their earning potential?
Eric Benson: As I'm answering this now, I'd have to acknowledge that AI tools will become more prevalent in graphic design. We should explore them in order to take ownership of them, so we don't lose our relevancy. In addition, sustainability within the field will continue to grow and be increasingly more important to have a knowledgebase in.
Pilar Newton
Program Director of Electronic Design and Multimedia programColumbia University in the City of New York
Fine And Studio Arts
What will help Lead Designers increase their earning potential?
Pilar Newton: In the constantly evolving design field, one must have faith in their skills and stay true to themselves. It is crucial to be unique and original because the world needs originality. With AI's growing presence in the design, animation, video, and other fields, it is essential to keep up with technological advancements. However, creative abilities will take you further and make you stand out more than just mastering software.
What Lead Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Jake Dugard: Code. Designers will need to know how to code... just kidding. I would be remiss if I did not mention Artificial Intelligence. I think there is a lot of value in becoming highly specialized, but I think AI will empower anyone to become an "expert" in everything. So where I won't advocate for specific tools, I think it'll be crucial for designers to be able to collaborate with AI and people.
What will help Lead Designers increase their earning potential?
Michael Hosenfeld: The ability to actually execute an idea to become a successful product including various digital media formats is highly valued. Design is as much inspired by technology, as it depends on it.
Carolyn Brown
ProfessorFoothill College
Graphic Communications
What will help Lead Designers increase their earning potential?
Carolyn Brown: AI will continue to grow in importance in the next 3-5 years. AI is useful in many ways. Right now, AI is mostly used for writing which is great for brainstorming and writing the messaging that graphic designers create the visuals for. AI is becoming an important tool for generating images, videos, animations, 3D, and AR/VR content. The most important skill is the ability to learn new skills and/or adapt your current skills to new technologies.
What are the best companies to work for a Lead Designer?
Patrick Klarecki: The Printing and Packaging Industry has had a strong history of employing college graduates each year. In my 28 years as faculty/administrator for the Graphic Communication and Graphic Media Management degrees, we have always had 3-6 jobs available for each of our graduates. Even through the 2008 economy, we were able to celebrate full employment for our graduates.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Lead Designers to find work opportunities?
Patrick Klarecki: Graduates in May 2020 and December 2020 did not see the opportunities their previous alumni did. We were able to place only about 25% of our graduates. There are a couple that have offers of employment "When things get better."
What type of skills will young Lead Designers need?
Patrick Klarecki: Recent projections from the Printing United Alliance show business owners are optimistic about 2021 and see their needs returning to "Pre-COVID" levels by the end of 2021 or early 2022. The workforce in our industry continues to age, technology continues to evolve, and young minds' needs will prevail.
Dak Kopec Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Coordinator, BA Interior Architecture and Design and Master of Design ProgramUniversity Of Nevada, Las Vegas
School of Architecture
What will help Lead Designers increase their earning potential?
Dak Kopec Ph.D.: The ability to use AI technologies to develop more realistic designs and to develop stories around those designs. Technology is advancing rapidly, and more and more people are looking to have designs that are more personalized to them and their end-user population, and this will involve storytelling.
Elizabeth Sutton
Department Head, Professor of Art HistoryUniversity of Northern Iowa
Department of Art
What skills stand out on Lead Designer resumes?
Elizabeth Sutton: What really stands out is the quality of the student's portfolios and that they have client-based real-world experience.
What soft skills should all Lead Designers possess?
Elizabeth Sutton: There are many--the ability to collaborate and communicate effectively is absolutely necessary. The ability to ask for feedback and be able to take that feedback and incorporate it into a process is very important. Of course, meeting deadlines is also very important.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Lead Designers?
Elizabeth Sutton: We train our students in Adobe Creative Suite: InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator.
What skills will help Lead Designers earn the most?
Elizabeth Sutton: It's not about money. It's about liking what you do and making enough to meet you and your family's needs.... in any case, some of our Graphic Designers do very well when they add a Marketing minor from the College of Business.
Mary Miller
InstructorOklahoma State University Institute of Technology
Graphic Design Faculty
What skills stand out on Lead Designer resumes?
Mary Miller: Employers generally want to hire graphic designers who show conceptual, problem-solving ability and have solid skills in the basics: design, typography, use of color...but candidates who have motion graphics and video editing, photography/videography, and illustration skill will rise to the top of the list. It's expected that a designer will know multiple Adobe Creative Cloud programs like InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator, but they must also know After Effects, Premiere, XD, and Acrobat Pro, among others. Designers who can design for 3D objects like packaging and environmental graphics bring extra skill to the table as well.
What soft skills should all Lead Designers possess?
Mary Miller: Graphic designers are crucial to a business' success because they identify the brand's core values and personality and create the visual language that expresses those values and personality. So graphic designers must have strong research skills and be able to analyze and interpret them to know how to design ads and designs that will resonate with the target audience. Designers must be empathetic to understand what the target audience values and wants. Graphic designers must collaborate with their creative team and clients to develop strategies, so they must have excellent communication and teamwork skills. Excellent writing skills are a huge part of the necessary communication skills. Salesmanship and the ability to articulate the design rationale are requirements also. If a designer cannot articulate their concept to their art director or creative director first, they won't get the chance to present it to the client. Speaking and presentation skills are a part of a designer's career as well. When presenting to a client, they have to create the atmosphere for the client and reveal the solution in a way that explains, educates, and convinces the client that the solution will work. Campaigns are monitored, and the data is analyzed for effectiveness, tested, and tweaked. Graphic design is not about decorating pages but is much more cerebral...it is strategic art.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Lead Designers?
Diana Boyd: -Adobe Illustrator - Vector drawing skills
-Adobe Photoshop - Working with raster images
-Adobe InDesign - Layout skills
-Adobe Animate - Animation
-Adobe XD - UX/UI prototyping
-Wordpress/Adobe Portfolio/Adobe Dreamweaver - web design/development
-Microsoft Word /PowerPoint
What skills will help Lead Designers earn the most?
Diana Boyd: -Originality/Creativity
-UX/UI design
-Branding
-Marketing and Advertising
-Illustration
What skills stand out on Lead Designer resumes?
Diana Boyd: -Originality/Creativity
-Illustration (digital and hand-drawn)
-Branding
-UX/UI design
-Marketing/Advertising
What soft skills should all Lead Designers possess?
Diana Boyd: -Collaboration/Teamwork
-Interpersonal
-Reliability
-Ethical behavior
-Self-starter
Sue Jenkins
Associate ProfessorMarywood University
Art Department
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Lead Designers?
Sue Jenkins: It might be too soon to tell. At Marywood U., 97% of 2019 grads are employed or going to grad school, but we don't have figures yet for the class of 2020. What we have seen since March 2020 is an increase in remote internships and employment opportunities. This COVID-adaptive type of flexibility will likely influence how employers hire and retain designers in the post-COVID world.
What type of skills will young Lead Designers need?
Sue Jenkins: A strong understanding of the Principles and Elements of Art and Design, killer typography skills, an understanding of color theory, some training in sociology and psychology to gain a better understanding of user experience, creative and critical thinking skills, attention to details, a strong conceptual framework that supports the project goals, the ability to speak up, take critical feedback and be a team player, and above all the courage to be authentic and bring something fresh to the table.
What experience really stands out on Lead Designer resumes?
Sue Jenkins: Before saying what stands out most, there's one thing to avoid; those skill self-assessment bar graphs that take up too much real estate and don't provide the reader with valid, useful data. A better solution is to list skills and proficiency in years, such as Adobe Photoshop, three years.
Now, what stands out most on a resume is evidence of creative engagement beyond the classroom. Has the student been a member of any clubs? Won any awards? Have you participated in any solo or group exhibitions and completed any internships, pro bono, or freelance work? Have you worked on any side projects? Run an Etsy, Society6, or RedBubble account? Sold any commissioned work? Definitely include all these types of activities along with any tangible outcomes and achievements, like "Designed a series of digital documents that downsized paper waste and reduced the client's carbon footprint by 13%." Results-oriented statements provide a better sense of the designer's understanding of their role and their value to an organization.
Holly Sterling
Associate Professor of Communication Design, Internship CoordinatorTexas State University
School of Art and Design
What soft skills should all Lead Designers possess?
Holly Sterling: - Strong communication and problem-solving skills - not only in your design work but in your day-to-day job.
- Being able to work collaboratively and be a responsible team member (i.e., productive, organized, respond positively to feedback, adaptable).
What skills will help Lead Designers earn the most?
Holly Sterling: - If you're talking about hard skills, there's a run on "all things UX," and there are more positions to fill than designers to fill them. Also, strong visual designers who can do also do some illustration and motion graphics are in high demand.
- If you're talking soft skills, hiring managers frequently tell me that "who" the designer is every bit as important as what they can do, so be a good human that people will want to work with. This will serve you well throughout your entire career.
Jenn Stucker
Associate Professor, Chair of The Graphic Design DivisionBowling Green State University
School of Art
What skills stand out on Lead Designer resumes?
Jenn Stucker: A BFA degree, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design or communication design are distinctive. It is a professional degree in the field. A BFA represents a concentration in growing creative skills through creative coursework. While technical skills earned in a technology or certificate program are valuable for producing design work, strong skills in visual design and creative thinking define how and WHAT work is worthy and necessary for people to experience.
What soft skills should all Lead Designers possess?
Jenn Stucker: A good designer's soft skills include empathy, critical thinking, context, collaboration, leadership, networking, and the ability to present and articulate ideas.
What skills will help Lead Designers earn the most?
Jenn Stucker: Along with good visual design skills, creative thinking, problem-solving, and strategy will set a designer apart from others. These kinds of designers can understand the big picture of design in relation to context, culture, and meaning.
Doug Regen
Professor of PracticeBelmont University
Graphic Design Department
What skills stand out on Lead Designer resumes?
Doug Regen: Ability to problem-solve with strong creative solutions. Innovative. Detail-oriented. Ability to design creative solutions based on research...understanding the target audience, trends, etc.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Lead Designers?
Doug Regen: Must know all the Adobe Creative software. Any level of video experience is a big plus.
What skills will help Lead Designers earn the most?
Doug Regen: Brilliant Ideas are executed flawlessly. Team player. Ability to motivate and lead others. Strong communicator and presentation skills.
Samantha Osborne
Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, Owner, Samantha Osborne DesignEastern Illinois University
Art + Design
What skills will help Lead Designers earn the most?
Samantha Osborne: An ability to effectively communicate, navigate creative resources, network, empathize with others, and come up with innovative creative solutions. That said, your work still needs to be stellar and consistently great if you're going to be a big earner.
What skills stand out on Lead Designer resumes?
Samantha Osborne: Soft skills are equally important to hard skills. Graphic designers are visual communicators. Visual communication is a universal learned skill, vs. a linguistic capability. This means that graphic designers must learn to recognize and effectively utilize mood and tone in their own visual compositions in regard to color theory and psychology, gestalt principles, and font or lettering design. Essentially a well-skilled graphic designer becomes part psychologist in working through design problems and deciphering client direction, part problem-solver in developing an effective solution to the design problem, and part artist in bringing astonishing and original visual communication and graphics to reach a solution.
What soft skills should all Lead Designers possess?
Samantha Osborne: Three soft skills stand out most: an ability to see the big picture, an ability to "read" people, and an ability to make a convincing argument for your design solution(s).
i. An ability to see big picture: there are an infinite number of details in graphic design, whether you work in website design on the front or back end, or in print media with physical outputs. It's easy to get caught up on the details, especially when clients are making specific demands about things such as paper type. A skilled designer must be able to see beyond the details and look at the big picture for an effective design solution. For example, a client may be asking for an invitation design for an up-coming event. A skilled designer will ask questions and dig in, eventually uncovering that perhaps for a successful event, the client also needs a splash page and social media, either in place of or in addition to an invitation. A skilled designer addresses design problems holistically, rather than minutely.
ii. An ability to "read" people: designers are trained in art-specific vocabulary. Hue, saturation, pixels, gestalt...most non-art folks don't use or speak that language. When clients are describing their goals, they aren't using art-vocabulary. It's a designer's job to translate what the client is saying into an advanced and effective creative solution. They must be able to speak and understand the language of non-creative folks, as well as the language of the broader creative industry.
iii. An ability to make a convincing argument for your design solution(s): many young and inexperienced designer tend to get their hearts broken when a client smashes one of their [very well thought-out] ideas. Rather than rolling over, a designer must learn to navigate how best to build support for their idea(s). That might mean in some instances you work more fluidly with the client throughout the design process, so that they feel they have ownership in the development of the solution. In other instances it might mean that the designer is presenting options, rather than a single solution, so that the client feels empowered to make choices throughout the design process. And in some instances, it might be a matter of better explaining and presenting your idea to a client; perhaps the designer needs to push back more, perhaps they need to provide more research as to why their solution is best, or maybe they simply need to present it with more excitement and enthusiasm.