Designer salaries, state by state

CA pays the most ($190k median) — 75% more than IA ($109k). Based on 2,261 disclosed-salary listings across 41 states with ≥3 disclosures.

Each hexagon is a US state. Color = median salary midpoint of disclosed designer listings (Viridis: dark = lower, bright = higher). Grey = fewer than 3 disclosures.

Designer median salary by US stateAK: 2 disclosures (need ≥3)AKME: $136k median (n=4)ME$136kVT: 1 disclosure (need ≥3)VTNH: $141k median (n=7)NH$141kWA: $162k median (n=172)WA$162kID: $140k median (n=3)ID$140kMT: $140k median (n=3)MT$140kND: 1 disclosure (need ≥3)NDMN: $128k median (n=33)MN$128kWI: $120k median (n=12)WI$120kMI: $126k median (n=19)MI$126kNY: $180k median (n=419)NY$180kMA: $154k median (n=64)MA$154kOR: $134k median (n=35)OR$134kNV: $150k median (n=3)NV$150kWY: 1 disclosure (need ≥3)WYSD: 2 disclosures (need ≥3)SDIA: $109k median (n=4)IA$109kIL: $130k median (n=68)IL$130kIN: $124k median (n=26)IN$124kOH: $118k median (n=17)OH$118kPA: $128k median (n=22)PA$128kNJ: $133k median (n=25)NJ$133kCT: $135k median (n=9)CT$135kRI: 1 disclosure (need ≥3)RICA: $190k median (n=840)CA$190kUT: $140k median (n=26)UT$140kCO: $140k median (n=62)CO$140kNE: $140k median (n=7)NE$140kMO: $122k median (n=12)MO$122kKY: $140k median (n=8)KY$140kWV: 1 disclosure (need ≥3)WVVA: $140k median (n=63)VA$140kMD: $115k median (n=22)MD$115kDE: $140k median (n=3)DE$140kAZ: $128k median (n=17)AZ$128kNM: $140k median (n=4)NM$140kKS: $113k median (n=3)KS$113kAR: $135k median (n=14)AR$135kTN: $128k median (n=10)TN$128kNC: $127k median (n=24)NC$127kSC: $119k median (n=8)SC$119kDC: $145k median (n=16)DC$145kHI: 1 disclosure (need ≥3)HIOK: $155k median (n=8)OK$155kLA: 1 disclosure (need ≥3)LAMS: 1 disclosure (need ≥3)MSAL: $150k median (n=5)AL$150kGA: $137k median (n=36)GA$137kTX: $150k median (n=92)TX$150kFL: $150k median (n=24)FL$150k
Hexgrid US-state map. Each hex represents one state at uniform size — defies geographic scale, ranks by data signal. Pay-transparency-disclosed listings only.

Top 5 paying states

CA$190kn=840
NY$180kn=419
WA$162kn=172
OK$155kn=8
MA$154kn=64

Bottom 5 paying states

IA$109kn=4
KS$113kn=3
MD$115kn=22
OH$118kn=17
SC$119kn=8

Methodology

Active US designer listings with disclosed salary ranges, parsed from listing-level location strings. Salary is the midpoint of the disclosed range. States with fewer than 3 disclosures are shown grey to avoid noisy small-N estimates. Pay-transparency laws in NY, CA, CO, WA, IL, NJ, MA, and MN drive most of the disclosure volume — states without such laws will look sparse here regardless of their actual hiring activity.