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Job outlook for senior designers in the United States
Senior designer job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected senior designer job growth rate is 3% from 2018-2028.
About 6,800 new jobs for senior designers are projected over the next decade.
Senior designer salaries have increased 12% for senior designers in the last 5 years.
There are over 55,350 senior designers currently employed in the United States.
There are 47,503 active senior designer job openings in the US.
The average senior designer salary is $102,058.
Are senior designer jobs in demand?
Senior designer job and salary trends over time
Senior designer jobs over time
Senior designer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55,350 | 0.02% |
| 2020 | 55,870 | 0.02% |
| 2019 | 59,916 | 0.02% |
| 2018 | 60,374 | 0.02% |
| 2017 | 59,348 | 0.02% |
Average senior designer salary over time
Senior designer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $102,058 | $49.07 | +2.4% |
| 2025 | $99,630 | $47.90 | +3.5% |
| 2024 | $96,304 | $46.30 | +3.4% |
| 2023 | $93,111 | $44.76 | +2.2% |
| 2022 | $91,084 | $43.79 | +1.6% |
Senior designer jobs by state
Most common states for senior designers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 239 | 34% |
| 2 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 893 | 12% |
| 3 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 498 | 12% |
| 4 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 710 | 10% |
| 5 | California | 39,536,653 | 3,311 | 8% |
| 6 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 683 | 8% |
| 7 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 429 | 8% |
| 8 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 102 | 8% |
| 9 | New York | 19,849,399 | 1,470 | 7% |
| 10 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 772 | 7% |
| 11 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 226 | 7% |
| 12 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 77 | 7% |
| 13 | Vermont | 623,657 | 43 | 7% |
| 14 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 777 | 6% |
| 15 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 575 | 6% |
| 16 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 375 | 6% |
| 17 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 361 | 6% |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 325 | 6% |
| 19 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 75 | 6% |
| 20 | Delaware | 961,939 | 59 | 6% |
Most common cities for senior designers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mountain View | 5 | 6% | $130,689 |
| 2 | Atlanta | 13 | 3% | $76,335 |
| 3 | Springfield | 3 | 3% | $85,333 |
| 4 | Huntsville | 4 | 2% | $76,130 |
| 5 | Hartford | 3 | 2% | $82,143 |
| 6 | San Francisco | 12 | 1% | $131,348 |
| 7 | Boston | 5 | 1% | $104,985 |
| 8 | Denver | 5 | 1% | $93,312 |
| 9 | Washington | 4 | 1% | $104,317 |
| 10 | Des Moines | 3 | 1% | $76,042 |
| 11 | Minneapolis | 3 | 1% | $80,859 |
| 12 | Sacramento | 3 | 1% | $129,902 |
| 13 | Chicago | 12 | 0% | $87,601 |
| 14 | Los Angeles | 6 | 0% | $118,521 |
| 15 | New York | 6 | 0% | $98,880 |
| 16 | Phoenix | 4 | 0% | $98,780 |
| 17 | San Diego | 3 | 0% | $114,238 |
Senior Designer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of senior designer experts
Arcadia University
Boise State University
University of Akron
Kean University
The Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg
Merrimack College
San Francisco State University
Columbia University in the City of New York
Louisiana Tech University
New York Institute of Technology
Texas Christian University
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
Santa Monica College
What Senior 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 will help Senior Designers increase their earning potential?
Tiffany Prater: There are several ways to maximize your salary potential. If you have the time to pick up a few night classes on top of your job, take courses in either Art Direction, Copywriting, Photography, UX/UI design, Social, or Strategic planning. If you'd like to take a break from the private sector, getting a Master of Fine Arts degree is even better as it can lead to higher design jobs and teaching positions.
What general advice would you give to a Senior 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 Senior Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Christian Patchell: A Graphic Designer will do a number of things every day. Often, there may be a beginning of the week meeting, this could be a team meeting or a one-on-one with the Art Director, Art Manager, or Senior Designer. So many of my students are finding remote employment, that makes these meetings (via Zoom or Skype) even more important. Also, there is now an added importance to Designers being good communicators, not just to other creative individuals but to additional areas outside of Design, such as Marketing, Sales, etc. Designers need to be able to speak to and/or hear input from various areas as they move through designing for a brief. Usually these meetings will sum up the week behind and the week ahead. A good Director will also be able to see where a team member might need assistance to finish something or is awaiting approval. When I worked in the Greeting Card industry these meetings not only mapped out the weeks’ worth of card design but also determined the larger picture such as planning a line of cards or an ad campaign. As a Designer, it was useful to see the smaller picture and the bigger picture as we moved forward as a team. A day to day an entry level Designer may be asked to assist in many areas with different skill sets for each. They could be proofing copy, laying out text, correcting bad links on a site or app. as well as designing an entire project from the ground up. It all depends on their area of expertise or the market in which they find themselves. My advice to those starting in Graphic Design is to “have many legs under the table of their career,” meaning: it’s a good idea to know a lot about multiple aspects of the Design Market. This is especially helpful for someone starting out, as it keeps many avenues open on the journey ahead as well as allowing for changes in the market or technology that may redirect one’s trajectory.
What will help Senior 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 will help Senior 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 Senior 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 Senior Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Denise Anderson: The skills graphic designers will need is learn artificial intelligence software AND how to masterfully use it. The masses will tinker with the new technology but designers need to harness the power of it and use their learned skills of ideation, art direction, and image manipulation skills (Photoshop). What they also need to develop is their storytelling skills which will help them with art directing and creating AI images.
What will help Senior Designers increase their earning potential?
Dr. Denise Anderson: Similar to question 1, leverage what you have done prior to entering the field. It takes my students 6-8 weeks to complete their resumes and personal because the image and content needs to be authentic. Perception is a lot in our field and I train students to feel confident about themselves. Portfolios get students an interview but they need to communicate their value to get hired.
Eric Benson
Associate Professor and Chair of Graphic Design and Design for Responsible InnovationThe Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg
Graphic Communications
What Senior Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Eric Benson: Take advantage of your network you created and already exists at your University/college. Your friends and faculty know people, so ask them for help connecting with others in your area of graphic design interest. In addition, be humble, but confident in yourself. Be nice to everyone and open to new conversations and opportunities you weren't planning on.
What will help Senior 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.
What will help Senior Designers increase their earning potential?
Nancy Wynn: There are many different ways to intersect the creative field of graphic design or Design. You can enter utilizing production skills centered on working with an Art Director-you produce their designs with various handwork and software platforms. If you enter as a junior graphic designer-you collaborate with an Art Director and brainstorm concepts / designs for projects. You may intersect working in the service industry where you help customers produce their designs. Day-to-day tasks can be specific if you work at a very large company, or more comprehensive if you work at a smaller agency. They can range from meetings with Art Directors or marketing people; collaboration with fellow designers or other team members based on the project components; brainstorming, research, and ideation for projects; learning new technology by producing designs and client presentations; meetings with focus groups or testing of projects; and finally debrief sessions on projects results.
What will help Senior Designers increase their earning potential?
Saskia Van Kampen: This question is impossible for me to answer as what one likes or dislikes about graphic design will be very individual.
Pilar Newton
Program Director of Electronic Design and Multimedia programColumbia University in the City of New York
Fine And Studio Arts
What will help Senior 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 Senior 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 Senior Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Michael Hosenfeld: Technical skills and life-long learning are critical to job safety and advancement. Visual design and functionality of the product are equally important. But salaries in technology-driven environments are higher in the average. 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.
What will help Senior 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.
Jan Ballard
Senior InstructorTexas Christian University
Design And Applied Arts
What Senior Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Jan Ballard: In our BFA program, graduates must fulfill an internship requirement and participate in professional development events and conferences, such as Dialexa EDU, National Student Show, and Circles. Students should also thoughtfully follow industry influencers on social channels to stay informed of current market trends.
What are the best companies to work for a Senior 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 Senior 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 Senior 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 Senior 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 soft skills should all Senior 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.
Mary Miller
InstructorOklahoma State University Institute of Technology
Graphic Design Faculty
What skills will help Senior Designers earn the most?
Mary Miller: The skills that will help you earn the most money throughout your career as a graphic designer are people skills and business skills. It's expected that you must have the design skills to be a long-time creative employee, but to rise to the top of the field, you have to be savvy with people and business decisions. If a designer works in the industry for several years and starts their own studio, they obviously need business knowledge to run and grow their business. Many designers who follow this career path move out of the creative work and concentrate on client relations and acquisition, managing their employees, and running their business. The owners of agencies and studios can earn large, six or seven-figure incomes. The designer who doesn't want to own their own business but would rather be a creative director and/or VP in a large agency will need great people skills. They will be responsible for developing their creative teams and managing people. As VPs and creative directors, they will have more administrative responsibility for the agency, but they don't have the full responsibility an owner does. These positions earn six-figure incomes.
In these creative positions, the portfolio is the most important thing to get the job. It's not as important to have advanced degrees as it might be for accountants, engineers, or other fields. Even job postings that say they require bachelor's degrees will enthusiastically hire someone with a portfolio that showcases the right skill set, regardless of their education. The creative department ultimately decides who they want to hire, not the HR folks who typically can't assess a creative portfolio, so degree requirements are generally not as important. HR people will screen resumes for certain words, which is not necessarily the most effective way to hire creative people. The portfolio is the best way to determine the candidate's ability. The post-pandemic economy has forced companies to change some of their hiring practices. There are so many open jobs that companies realize that they can't use some of the tired strategies they used before the pandemic. They are less concerned about degree requirements now as more Americans are questioning the expense of 4-year degrees and fewer people are willing to go into deep debt to buy one.
More Americans realize the value of industry-focused, technical degrees in higher education and seek less expensive ways to ensure career success. (ABC News did a recent series on this subject. It was broadcast on KRMG radio a couple of weeks ago. The series was all pandemic recovery, "how have we changed" type of reporting.) Associate of Applied Science degrees can fill the void for many. People are doing their homework and looking for programs with great track records and successful alumni that prove it. OSUIT's graphic design program has been around since 1946 when the school was started and has lots of examples of graduates who hold associate's of applied science graphic design degrees, and nothing more, who are successful agency and studio owners, VPs of Creative, Marketing Directors, Design Directors, Executive Creative Directors, Creative Directors, Associate Creative Directors, Sr. Art Directors, etc.
What skills will help Senior Designers earn the most?
Diana Boyd: -Originality/Creativity
-UX/UI design
-Branding
-Marketing and Advertising
-Illustration
What soft skills should all Senior 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 Senior 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 Senior 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 Senior 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 Senior 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 Senior 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.
Lorrie Ivas
Full-time FacultySanta Monica College
Photo, Fashion Department
What skills stand out on Senior Designer resumes?
Lorrie Ivas: Knowledge of the "entire" design process - from hand sketch to drape, draft, construction, digital skills in pattern drafting and design (i.e., Tukatech, Clo or similar), Adobe Creative Suite - Photoshop/Illustrator for presentation (look books, colorways, etc.) - is a standout, even though the actual position applying for may not require seasoned skills in every single step. The employer likes to know that the designer "gets" the process.
Companies like to see versatility... so even if a designer shows amazing swimwear in their portfolio, it is always important to show versatility in other design categories (and obviously whatever category the hiring company sells). Companies like to see what you can do for them and what they didn't realize you can do for them - i.e., new ideas in product collaborations, your genuine sustainability commitment, social media skills, etc.
What soft skills should all Senior Designers possess?
Lorrie Ivas: Love the actual definition of "soft skills": personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.
What is often overlooked is communicating professionally via email, text, phone, and/or personal interactions. Basic business etiquette is very important. Fashion is a creative field, yet it is also a business ... and professionalism always stands out... Attention to detail will set one apart from the others. So many resumes come in with spelling errors! It is often just one page! Not proofing once - and then proofing again, and then having someone else's fresh eyes proof it one more time - shows a lack of attention to detail.
Design is a collaborative proposition, so the ability to share ideas with a team is vital.
And again, knowledge of social media platforms, where professional and creative communication/writing skills are as important as the photographs, represents someone who will be a valuable addition to a design firm.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Senior Designers?
Lorrie Ivas: The ability to communicate your design concepts to the team (or future boss/interviewer) is vital. Hand and digital fashion sketching and illustration skills are necessary at every step. Scholarships, competitions, or internships often request a sample portfolio, so it doesn't go any further if the illustrations don't "wow" the judging viewer. One can sew/tailor beautifully, but knowing how to "show" that skillset to the judge or employer is vital - i.e., photographing the step-by-step process with close-up details of tailoring skills and presenting it digitally... will win. One may not show actual garments... so knowing how to "sell" your skills is crucial.
What skills will help Senior Designers earn the most?
Lorrie Ivas: Digital skills are the "unique" differential in being the most valuable to a company today, as international communication resampling and production are all done online. And as mentioned in the above questions, the traditional "hands-on" skills coupled with digital skills are the best mix.
I co-authored a Fairchild/Bloomsbury fashion textbook years ago (2006) entitled "From Pencil to Pen Tool: Understanding and Creating the Digital Fashion Image" since there wasn't a formalized curriculum including Photoshop and Illustrator training for fashion students. All the job opportunities required software skills, but graphic designers were applying because they had those software skills... but didn't have the fashion skills. Now, thankfully, college programs across the country provide appropriate training.