Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020

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).

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)
201,440	1.1 %	$ 28.06	$ 58,370	0.5 %

Percentile wage estimates for Graphic Designers:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 15.25	$ 19.31	$ 25.66	$ 34.29	$ 44.92
Annual Wage (2)	$ 31,720	$ 40,160	$ 53,380	$ 71,310	$ 93,440

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	24,260	17.97	$ 28.69	$ 59,670
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services	20,430	4.50	$ 29.00	$ 60,330
Printing and Related Support Activities	17,400	4.44	$ 22.01	$ 45,770
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	11,820	4.32	$ 24.04	$ 50,010
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services	10,790	0.71	$ 29.90	$ 62,180

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	24,260	17.97	$ 28.69	$ 59,670
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services	20,430	4.50	$ 29.00	$ 60,330
Printing and Related Support Activities	17,400	4.44	$ 22.01	$ 45,770
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	11,820	4.32	$ 24.04	$ 50,010
Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing	8,440	3.15	$ 22.48	$ 46,770

Top paying industries for Graphic Designers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	1,470	0.07	$ 42.35	$ 88,090
Software Publishers	3,050	0.63	$ 39.23	$ 81,610
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	290	0.06	$ 38.46	$ 80,000
Legal Services	380	0.03	$ 37.40	$ 77,790
Cable and Other Subscription Programming	400	0.79	$ 37.06	$ 77,090

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	27,490	1.67	1.16	$ 32.02	$ 66,600
New York	18,910	2.18	1.50	$ 32.82	$ 68,260
Texas	14,320	1.18	0.82	$ 25.32	$ 52,670
Florida	12,540	1.49	1.03	$ 24.81	$ 51,610
Illinois	10,260	1.82	1.26	$ 28.66	$ 59,610

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)
New York	18,910	2.18	1.50	$ 32.82	$ 68,260
Minnesota	5,630	2.08	1.44	$ 26.13	$ 54,360
Rhode Island	920	2.08	1.44	$ 31.04	$ 64,570
District of Columbia	1,330	1.94	1.34	$ 39.94	$ 83,070
Illinois	10,260	1.82	1.26	$ 28.66	$ 59,610

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	1,330	1.94	1.34	$ 39.94	$ 83,070
Washington	5,820	1.82	1.26	$ 37.02	$ 77,000
Massachusetts	5,440	1.62	1.12	$ 33.74	$ 70,180
New York	18,910	2.18	1.50	$ 32.82	$ 68,260
Virginia	5,010	1.35	0.93	$ 32.14	$ 66,850

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	19,720	2.23	1.54	$ 33.84	$ 70,390
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	13,250	2.28	1.57	$ 31.41	$ 65,340
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	8,720	2.00	1.38	$ 29.79	$ 61,970
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	6,150	1.71	1.18	$ 27.42	$ 57,020
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	4,890	1.62	1.12	$ 37.21	$ 77,400
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	4,760	2.04	1.41	$ 38.86	$ 80,820
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	4,600	2.35	1.62	$ 40.40	$ 84,030
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	4,550	1.75	1.21	$ 34.86	$ 72,510
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	4,540	2.46	1.70	$ 27.42	$ 57,030
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	4,460	1.78	1.23	$ 26.29	$ 54,680

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)
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	360	3.96	2.73	$ 22.79	$ 47,410
Boulder, CO	570	3.13	2.16	$ 29.72	$ 61,810
Dalton, GA	160	2.65	1.83	$ 22.35	$ 46,480
Provo-Orem, UT	650	2.56	1.77	$ 23.47	$ 48,820
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	4,540	2.46	1.70	$ 27.42	$ 57,030
Portsmouth, NH-ME	220	2.43	1.68	$ 27.20	$ 56,570
Bend-Redmond, OR	190	2.38	1.64	$ 24.74	$ 51,460
Ames, IA	100	2.35	1.63	$ 26.00	$ 54,080
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	4,600	2.35	1.62	$ 40.40	$ 84,030
Madison, WI	890	2.32	1.60	$ 26.53	$ 55,190