• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023

27-1024 Graphic Designers

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).

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National estimates for Graphic Designers
Industry profile for Graphic Designers
Geographic profile for Graphic Designers

National estimates for Graphic Designers:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Graphic Designers:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
212,720	0.7 %	$ 31.11	$ 64,700	0.9 %

Percentile wage estimates for Graphic Designers:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 17.51	$ 21.90	$ 28.32	$ 37.30	$ 48.29
Annual Wage (2)	$ 36,420	$ 45,560	$ 58,910	$ 77,570	$ 100,450

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Industry profile for Graphic Designers:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Graphic Designers are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Graphic Designers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Graphic Designers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Specialized Design Services	24,500	15.81	$ 32.75	$ 68,110
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services	23,530	4.70	$ 30.42	$ 63,270
Printing and Related Support Activities	16,420	4.34	$ 22.25	$ 46,290
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	11,100	3.80	$ 25.82	$ 53,700
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services	11,050	0.60	$ 33.13	$ 68,920

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Graphic Designers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Specialized Design Services	24,500	15.81	$ 32.75	$ 68,110
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services	23,530	4.70	$ 30.42	$ 63,270
Printing and Related Support Activities	16,420	4.34	$ 22.25	$ 46,290
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	11,100	3.80	$ 25.82	$ 53,700
Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing	9,200	3.14	$ 24.08	$ 50,080

Top paying industries for Graphic Designers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Motion Picture and Video Industries	3,350	0.83	$ 49.17	$ 102,260
Child Care Services	40	(7)	$ 48.05	$ 99,940
Federal, State, and Local Government, excluding State and Local Government Schools and Hospitals and the U.S. Postal Service (OEWS Designation)	1,520	0.07	$ 46.17	$ 96,030
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	180	0.04	$ 45.09	$ 93,800
Facilities Support Services	80	0.04	$ 44.11	$ 91,750

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Geographic profile for Graphic Designers:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Graphic Designers are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Graphic Designers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Graphic Designers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	29,460	1.64	1.17	$ 38.39	$ 79,850
New York	18,320	1.95	1.39	$ 38.65	$ 80,390
Texas	13,760	1.01	0.72	$ 27.80	$ 57,830
Florida	13,260	1.39	0.99	$ 28.32	$ 58,910
Illinois	9,550	1.59	1.13	$ 28.99	$ 60,300

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Graphic Designers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	1,600	2.28	1.63	$ 44.74	$ 93,050
Oregon	4,300	2.21	1.58	$ 31.20	$ 64,900
Vermont	650	2.16	1.54	$ 31.79	$ 66,110
Nebraska	2,010	2.00	1.43	$ 25.43	$ 52,890
New York	18,320	1.95	1.39	$ 38.65	$ 80,390

Top paying states for Graphic Designers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	1,600	2.28	1.63	$ 44.74	$ 93,050
New York	18,320	1.95	1.39	$ 38.65	$ 80,390
California	29,460	1.64	1.17	$ 38.39	$ 79,850
Washington	5,130	1.47	1.05	$ 36.39	$ 75,680
Massachusetts	4,930	1.35	0.97	$ 35.81	$ 74,490

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Graphic Designers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	19,050	2.01	1.43	$ 39.28	$ 81,710
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	14,140	2.29	1.63	$ 37.67	$ 78,360
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	7,350	1.63	1.16	$ 30.27	$ 62,970
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	5,470	1.77	1.26	$ 40.49	$ 84,210
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	5,020	1.27	0.90	$ 29.19	$ 60,700
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	4,840	2.00	1.43	$ 45.87	$ 95,410
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	4,180	1.54	1.10	$ 29.91	$ 62,210
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	3,900	1.41	1.01	$ 36.62	$ 76,180
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	3,760	1.34	0.95	$ 31.52	$ 65,560
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	3,730	1.79	1.28	$ 38.88	$ 80,870

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Graphic Designers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Boulder, CO	630	3.23	2.30	$ 31.95	$ 66,450
Lawrence, KS	160	3.13	2.23	$ 24.08	$ 50,080
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	280	2.97	2.12	$ 25.60	$ 53,250
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	3,530	2.93	2.09	$ 32.38	$ 67,360
Provo-Orem, UT	710	2.41	1.72	$ 26.82	$ 55,790
Dubuque, IA	140	2.37	1.69	$ 24.76	$ 51,490
Fort Collins, CO	400	2.34	1.67	$ 30.06	$ 62,520
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	14,140	2.29	1.63	$ 37.67	$ 78,360
Burlington-South Burlington, VT	270	2.26	1.61	$ 33.34	$ 69,350
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	860	2.24	1.60	$ 24.31	$ 50,560