Graphic Designers: salary, outlook & degrees
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.
Middle half $49,040–$81,830. 197,830 jobs.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
79% hold a bachelor's or higher. Those with one: $56,307.
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata, workers with at least a high school diploma; EducationGuide calculation
About 16,000 openings a year, including replacements.
BLS Employment Projections 2025-35
Considerable preparation (usually a bachelor's).
BLS; O*NET 31.0 job zone
Degrees that lead to this career
What workers ages 25-34 in this job studied, among those with a bachelor's or higher. This is what people actually did, not a requirement.
| Field of bachelor's degree | Share | Degree pages |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial Art And Graphic Design | 45% | Graphic / Interior / Fashion Design |
| Fine Arts | 8% | — |
| Communications | 4% | Communications · Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other |
| Communication Technologies | 3% | Graphic Communications |
| Mass Media | 3% | Broadcasting / Digital Media |
| Studio Arts | 3% | Studio Art |
| Marketing And Marketing Research | 2% | Marketing · Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations |
| Psychology | 2% | Psychology |
| Advertising And Public Relations | 2% | Public Relations and Advertising |
| Journalism | 1% | Journalism |
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata (ages 25-34, employed, bachelor's or higher; top 10 fields); EducationGuide calculation.
Education workers say the job requires
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers (“required level of education”); small samples, so treat shares as approximate.
Pay by state and metro
| State | Median wage |
|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $87,920 |
| Rhode Island | $78,220 |
| New York | $77,340 |
| Massachusetts | $76,710 |
| California | $75,130 |
| Maryland | $75,120 |
| New Jersey | $73,790 |
| Washington | $72,710 |
| Connecticut | $72,700 |
| Virginia | $72,310 |
| Colorado | $66,330 |
| Oregon | $66,040 |
| Vermont | $65,690 |
| Minnesota | $63,860 |
| Nevada | $62,890 |
| Alaska | $62,570 |
| Illinois | $62,560 |
| Utah | $62,310 |
| Florida | $61,660 |
| Pennsylvania | $60,730 |
| New Hampshire | $60,490 |
| Georgia | $60,250 |
| Texas | $60,150 |
| Delaware | $60,130 |
| Ohio | $60,080 |
| Maine | $60,030 |
| Wisconsin | $59,900 |
| Arizona | $58,510 |
| North Carolina | $58,450 |
| Hawaii | $58,070 |
| Michigan | $57,350 |
| Tennessee | $57,270 |
| South Carolina | $57,170 |
| Montana | $56,890 |
| Missouri | $56,750 |
| New Mexico | $56,730 |
| Nebraska | $56,700 |
| North Dakota | $56,470 |
| Indiana | $55,480 |
| Kansas | $53,630 |
| Oklahoma | $53,630 |
| Kentucky | $52,960 |
| Alabama | $51,070 |
| Idaho | $50,350 |
| Iowa | $50,310 |
| Louisiana | $49,910 |
| South Dakota | $48,390 |
| Arkansas | $46,220 |
| Mississippi | $45,640 |
| Wyoming | $45,150 |
| West Virginia | $40,350 |
| PR | $34,180 |
| GU | $33,800 |
Florida metro areas
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach$61,870
- Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford$62,360
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater$62,900
- Jacksonville$63,090
- North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota$54,530
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers$58,110
- Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville$63,680
- Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach$49,640
Virginia metro areas
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria$85,420
- Richmond$66,350
- Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk$60,150
- Charlottesville$61,700
- Roanoke$60,120
- Kingsport-Bristol$49,570
- Lynchburg$49,020
- Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford$53,310
California metro areas
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim$72,400
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont$92,050
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario$65,900
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara$97,360
- Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom$74,680
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura$67,300
- Fresno$58,280
- Santa Maria-Santa Barbara$78,500
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: median annual wage, all workers in the job. Metro areas: the largest by employment.
What the work takes
Top skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
Knowledge used
- Design
- Computers and Electronics
- Fine Arts
- Communications and Media
- English Language
Work styles
- Innovation
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Achievement Orientation
- Adaptability
People in this job tend to have Artistic (creative), Conventional (organizing) interests.
O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0): skills and knowledge by importance; work styles; interest high points.
Graphic Designers: questions
How much do graphic Designers make?
Graphic Designers earn a U.S. median $62,960 a year; the middle half earn $49,040 to $81,830 (BLS, May 2025). Workers ages 25-34 in this job earn a median $53,769 (Census ACS 2020-2024).
Is graphic Designers a growing field?
BLS projects a decline of 1.7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,000 openings a year, including replacements.
What degree do you need to be a graphic Designer?
BLS lists the typical entry education as bachelor's degree. In O*NET's survey, 75% of workers say a bachelor's or higher is required. Among workers ages 25-34 with a bachelor's, the most common field of degree is commercial Art And Graphic Design (45%).
How much do graphic Designers make in Florida?
The median in Florida is $61,660 a year (BLS, May 2025), compared with $62,960 nationally.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2025-35); O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); U.S. Census Bureau ACS microdata. SOC 27-1024. Method
Data: JSON · Markdown · all careers
Cite this: “Graphic Designers: salary, outlook and degrees,” EducationGuide.com, https://educationguide.com/careers/graphic-designers.