How much do interior designers make in 2026?
Interior designers earn a national median of $67,190 a year, or $32.31 an hour, according to BLS OEWS May 2025 for SOC 27-1025, with the bottom 10% near $41,420 and the top 10% at $114,140 across 71,500 designers. The code is an exact match, and the wide band reflects a genuine split rather than measurement noise. At one end is residential design, often project-based, frequently self-employed and priced against a homeowner's budget, where OEWS's employee-only coverage misses much of the market anyway. At the other is commercial interior design, which is closer to architecture: healthcare, corporate workplace, hospitality and institutional projects governed by building codes, accessibility standards and life safety requirements, executed in a firm alongside architects and engineers. Commercial designers sit in the upper half of this band, and the NCIDQ certification is the credential that separates the two worlds, since a number of states restrict the use of certain titles or the ability to submit drawings to designers who hold it. Sector, credential and whether the work is regulated therefore explain most of the spread. BLS projects 3.2% growth through 2034 with roughly 7,800 openings a year. → Full interior designer career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $67,190 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Interior Designers earn a national median $67,190/yr ($32.31/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 27-1025); the P10 to P90 range is $41,420 to $114,140.
- Commercial interior design, governed by building codes and life safety requirements, sits well above residential work in this band; the two are effectively different professions sharing one wage row.
- NCIDQ certification is the dividing credential, and several states restrict title use or drawing submission to designers who hold it, which makes it a practical gate rather than an optional badge.
- OEWS counts employees only, so the substantial self-employed residential segment of this profession is outside the published distribution.
US Interior Designer Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do interior designers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 27-1025; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 27-1025, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does an interior designer earn at each career stage?
Interior design pay tracks project regulation and sector. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 27-1025.
By State
Which states pay interior designers the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 27-1025 scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index. Interior design regulation genuinely differs by state, with some restricting title use or drawing submission to NCIDQ-certified practitioners, so check the requirements for the state you intend to practise in rather than reading the figures below as the whole story.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($77,270), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
interior designer pay by state — all 3 state guides
By Metro
Which cities pay interior designers the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, not BLS metropolitan observations. Commercial interior work concentrates where large-scale corporate, healthcare and hospitality construction is happening, which moves with the development cycle rather than with cost of living.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise an interior designer’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does interior designer pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Interior Designers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify interior designer wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does an interior designer actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Interior Designer Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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