Occupation salary profile

Graphic Designers

SOC 27-1024 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects. Excludes “Web and Digital Interface Designers” (15-1255).

National median · BLS
$62,960
▲ +2.71% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$105,000
▼ -10.87% YoY · 1,217 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$70,560
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
197,830
Jobs (BLS)
Highest-paying state (cost-adjusted) Loading…
Most jobs Loading…
Highest-paying metro (cost-adjusted) Loading…

Check your salary

Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Graphic Designers

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 1,217 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$39,520$54,967
25th$49,040$68,765
Median (50th)$62,960$105,000
75th$81,830$152,171
90th — top pay$104,910$193,273
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $105,000 for Graphic Designers — 66.8% above the BLS national median of $62,960.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

Type in either box; the other updates instantly.

Monthly—
Every 2 weeks—
Weekly—
Daily—
Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Graphic Designers

BLS projects employment of graphic designers to decline 1.7% from 2025 to 2035, while employment across all occupations grows 3.5%. About 16,000 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
253,100 → 248,800
-4,200 jobs
Projected change
-1.7%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
16,000
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
20.5% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Fastest-declining jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $105,000
Change vs prior year -10.87%
After inflation (CPI-U) -13.58%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 188 15.4% $48,098 $54,960 $64,610
Level II 391 32.1% $68,000 $82,500 $120,435
Level III 275 22.6% $88,421 $121,505 $157,850
Level IV 354 29.1% $115,000 $153,500 $198,550
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Graphic Designers

The 11 most-filed job titles inside SOC 27-1024, from 1,217 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Graphic Designer 212 17.42% $51,542 $60,320 $73,080 +0.53%
UX Designer 188 15.45% $117,950 $140,855 $165,975 -3.23%
Product Designer 171 14.05% $121,941 $154,000 $191,775 +2.67%
Designer generic 79 6.49% $71,000 $91,042 $124,335 +9.69%
Visual Designer 27 2.22% $72,825 $110,000 $150,250 -2.44%
Manager generic 21 1.73% $66,747 $78,187 $88,421 -5.05%
Brand Designer 21 1.73% $85,000 $104,541 $135,200 +28.18%
User Experience Designer 16 1.31% $72,093 $122,318 $182,312 -5.75%
Staff Product Designer 12 0.99% $180,292 $184,000 $186,008 +0.6%
Art Director 12 0.99% $69,750 $95,000 $135,925 -5%
UI/UX Designer 11 0.9% $82,710 $89,004 $106,250 -6.58%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Graphic Designers

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Active Listening3.8
  • Speaking3.4
  • Active Learning3.3
  • Critical Thinking3.3
  • Writing3.3
  • Complex Problem Solving3.1
  • Coordination3.1
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.1
  • Reading Comprehension3.1
  • Social Perceptiveness3.1
Top knowledge areas
  • Design4.7
  • Computers and Electronics4.4
  • Fine Arts4.4
  • Communications and Media4.3
  • English Language3.8
  • Sales and Marketing3.6
  • Customer and Personal Service3.5
  • Production and Processing3.3
Software and technology used
Adobe After EffectsAdobe Creative Cloud softwareAdobe IllustratorAdobe InDesignAdobe PhotoshopCanvaCascading style sheets CSSFigmaHypertext markup language HTMLMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft PowerPointAdobe Premiere ProAdobe AcrobatAJAXApple macOSAutodesk AutoCADAutodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What graphic designers do

  • Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor.
  • Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed.
  • Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type.
  • Develop graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos, and Web sites.
  • Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts, based on knowledge of layout principles and esthetic design concepts.
  • Use computer software to generate new images.
  • Prepare digital files for printing.
  • Confer with clients to discuss and determine layout design.
Also called
ArtistDesignerGraphic ArtistGraphic DesignerBrand DesignerGraphic Design CoordinatorOnline ProducerProduction ArtistPublications DesignerTechnical Illustrator
More job titles for this occupation (27)
Ad Designer (Advertising Designer)Ad Layout Worker (Advertising Layout Worker)Apparel Graphic DesignerCatalogue IllustratorCommercial ArtistConcept ArtistCreative DesignerDesign ConsultantDigital ArtistForms DesignerGraphic Art DesignerGraphics CoordinatorGraphics SpecialistInterface DesignerLabel MakerLayout ArtistMarketing Graphic DesignerMultimedia DesignerMultimedia DeveloperMultimedia SpecialistPresentation DesignerPresentation SpecialistProduction DesignerProduction Graphic DesignerStudio DesignerVisual DesignerVisual Graphic Designer

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.