How much do ux designers make in 2026?
UX designers are reported in SOC 15-1255, web and digital interface designers, which BLS OEWS May 2025 puts at a national median of $104,000 a year, or exactly $50.00 an hour, with a P10 to P90 range of $53,750 to $201,550 across 113,330 workers. That spread is among the widest in the professional data and it is not measurement error. The code pools web designers building marketing sites on established platforms with senior product designers at technology companies who own research, interaction design and a meaningful share of product decisions, and those are different labour markets with different buyers. Employer type is the dominant variable: technology product companies pay at the top of this band and add equity that the wage series does not capture, agencies and consultancies pay in the middle, and small businesses, nonprofits and internal web teams pay at the bottom. The second variable is scope. Designers who run their own research, can defend decisions with evidence and work directly with engineering on trade-offs command materially more than those who receive requirements and produce screens. BLS projects 7% growth through 2034 with roughly 9,100 openings a year. → Full ux designer career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $104,000 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- UX Designers earn a national median $104,000/yr ($50.00/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 15-1255); the P10 to P90 range is $53,750 to $201,550.
- The SOC row pools web designers with senior product designers, which is why the band spans $53,750 to $201,550; employer type explains more of that spread than experience does.
- Owning research and defending decisions with evidence, rather than producing screens to requirements, is the scope difference that moves designers into the upper half.
- Equity at technology product companies is a large part of senior total compensation and is entirely outside this wage-and-salary series.
US UX Designer Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do ux 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 15-1255; 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 15-1255, 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 ux designer earn at each career stage?
UX pay follows scope and employer type more than title. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 15-1255.
By State
Which states pay ux designers the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 15-1255 scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index. This occupation is among the most remote-hired in the dataset, and many employers pay a national band or a two-tier geographic band rather than a local market rate, which no location model can represent.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($119,600), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
ux designer pay by state — all 1 state guide
By Metro
Which cities pay ux designers the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, and are not BLS metropolitan observations. Technology employer concentration, not metro cost of living, is what actually drives the top of this band, and remote hiring has weakened the link further.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise an ux 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 ux designer pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. UX 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 ux designer wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does an ux 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
UX Designer Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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