Video Game Designer Salary

Updated April 6, 2023

Video Game Designer Salary Estimate

$95,185

$45.76 hourly

Entry level Salary

$56,000 yearly

$56,00010%

$95,185Median

$160,00090%

How much does a Video Game Designer make?

The average salary for a video game designer in the United States is $95,185. Video game designer salaries typically range between $56,000 and $160,000 a year. The average hourly rate for video game designers is $45.76 per hour.

Location, education, and experience impacts how much a video game designer can expect to make. Video game designers make the most in Nevada, Delaware, Rhode Island, Washington, and California.

Research Summary.

The average salary for a video game designer is $95,185 in the US.
The average video game designer salary ranges between $56,000 and $160,000 in the US.
Hourly rates for video game designers in the US typically range between $26 and $76 an hour.
The average video game designer salary is $119,434 in Nevada, $112,119 in Delaware, and $109,261 in Rhode Island. These are the three highest-paying states for video game designers in the US.
Heavy Iron Studios has the highest average salary for video game designers.

Highest Paying States For Video Game Designers

While a video game designer can average a salary of $95,185 per year, or $45.76 per hour, there are many opportunities for video game designers to make more. For example, in Loomis, CA you might make $111,531 per year. Other high-paying locations include Novato, CA, San Francisco, CA and Kirkland, WA. If you're in an entry-level position, your best bet is to move to Loomis, CA where the average starting salary is $73,000. The highest paying states for video game designers include Nevada, Delaware and Rhode Island. Meanwhile, Alabama, Iowa, and Georgia offer the lowest salaries.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Video Game Designer average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Washington	$106,982	$51.43	711
2	Rhode Island	$109,261	$52.53	57
3	District of Columbia	$111,386	$53.55	192
4	Nevada	$119,434	$57.42	77
5	Wisconsin	$101,229	$48.67	298
6	Delaware	$112,119	$53.90	46
7	California	$106,458	$51.18	2,689
8	Massachusetts	$97,622	$46.93	630
9	Ohio	$97,974	$47.10	404
10	Connecticut	$99,993	$48.07	163
11	Maine	$98,920	$47.56	59
12	Utah	$93,451	$44.93	207
13	Idaho	$100,082	$48.12	61
14	Maryland	$100,825	$48.47	344
15	New Hampshire	$95,737	$46.03	90
16	Indiana	$100,948	$48.53	222
17	West Virginia	$98,514	$47.36	39
18	Texas	$91,038	$43.77	1,013
19	Michigan	$88,630	$42.61	436
20	Louisiana	$97,924	$47.08	98
21	New York	$93,700	$45.05	1,151
22	Alaska	$102,507	$49.28	24
23	New Mexico	$93,409	$44.91	70
24	Oregon	$87,218	$41.93	371
25	Vermont	$91,977	$44.22	30
26	Mississippi	$91,469	$43.98	60
27	Colorado	$86,587	$41.63	345
28	Kentucky	$89,732	$43.14	126
29	Pennsylvania	$85,248	$40.98	530
30	Arizona	$86,666	$41.67	262
31	Virginia	$84,145	$40.45	615
32	South Carolina	$88,220	$42.41	124
33	North Dakota	$84,908	$40.82	32
34	Missouri	$83,511	$40.15	231
35	North Carolina	$79,886	$38.41	513
36	New Jersey	$85,381	$41.05	330
37	Montana	$83,374	$40.08	40
38	Nebraska	$81,839	$39.35	77
39	South Dakota	$81,450	$39.16	32
40	Illinois	$77,600	$37.31	656
41	Minnesota	$74,295	$35.72	369
42	Arkansas	$78,019	$37.51	92
43	Georgia	$71,688	$34.47	696
44	Florida	$76,332	$36.70	639
45	Tennessee	$77,716	$37.36	201
46	Kansas	$69,981	$33.64	136
47	Alabama	$73,309	$35.24	161
48	Oklahoma	$74,961	$36.04	106
49	Iowa	$71,700	$34.47	134
50	Wyoming	$70,150	$33.73	17
51	Hawaii	$71,496	$34.37	22

Recent Job Searches

Highest Paying Cities For Video Game Designers

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Loomis, CA	$111,531	$53.62
2	Novato, CA	$111,189	$53.46
3	San Francisco, CA	$110,854	$53.30
4	Kirkland, WA	$107,991	$51.92
5	Redmond, WA	$107,809	$51.83
6	Los Angeles, CA	$104,978	$50.47
7	Culver City, CA	$104,953	$50.46
8	Corona, CA	$104,559	$50.27
9	New York, NY	$94,156	$45.27
10	Scottsdale, AZ	$86,942	$41.80
11	West Orange, NJ	$85,217	$40.97
12	Reston, VA	$84,693	$40.72
13	Oklahoma City, OK	$76,251	$36.66

Video Game Designers Salary Details

Average Video Game Designer Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a Video Game Designer's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$160,000	$13,333	$77
75th Percentile	$125,000	$10,417	$60
Average	$95,185	$7,932	$46
25th Percentile	$72,000	$6,000	$35
10th Percentile	$56,000	$4,667	$27

Highest Paying Types of Video Game Designers

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Designer	$66,347	$5,529	$31.90	52,433
Game Designer	$87,645	$7,304	$42.14	45,227

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Video Game Designers The Most?

The highest paying companies for video game designers are Heavy Iron Studios and Take-Two Interactive Software according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like Riot Games and N3twork report highly competitive wages for video game designers.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Heavy Iron Studios	$109,477	$52.63	4
2	Take-Two Interactive Software	$102,883	$49.46	7
3	Riot Games	$99,306	$47.74	14
4	N3twork	$98,067	$47.15	1
5	Prescient Edge	$97,350	$46.80	3
6	Sony Pictures	$96,900	$46.59	1
7	Amazon	$88,610	$42.60	21
8	Hobby Lobby	$47,925	$23.04
9	Smith & Noble	$43,838	$21.08	1

Video Game Designer Pay Trends

Average Video Game Designer Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Video Game Designer Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$95,200	$45.76	+3.3%
2022	$92,000	$44.25	+2.3%
2021	$90,000	$43.25	+1.9%
2020	$88,200	$42.41	+2.3%
2019	$86,200	$41.45	+1.5%

Recently Added Video Game Designer Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Mistold Games, Inc.	Video Game Designer	Los Angeles, CA	10/13/2021	$70,311
Mistold Games, Inc.	Video Game Designer	Los Angeles, CA	10/13/2021	$70,311
Game Circus, LLC	Video Game Designer	Addison, TX	06/07/2021	$74,027

Video Game Designer Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Video Game Designers The Most?

Nevada pays Video Game Designers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $119,434 per year, or $57.42 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As A Video Game Designer?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Video Game Designer if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Delaware you should be paid close to $112,119 per year.

Have more questions? See all answers to common computer and mathematical questions.

Search For Video Game Designer Jobs

Updated April 6, 2023