2027 Salary Guide · UX Design
The middle half of web and digital interface designers, the BLS occupation that includes UX designers, earned between $73,290 and $158,820 in May 2025, around a median of $104,000. That median works out to roughly $110,500 for 2027. The $85,530 gap between the 25th and 75th percentiles is large, and for UX designers the position inside it tracks how much of the job is research and interaction design rather than screen production.
Pay distribution
BLS publishes one distribution for all web and digital interface designers. UX designers span most of it, so the shaded band covers the middle half, $73,290 to $158,820. Entry-level UX roles start near the 10th percentile of $53,750.
Typical for the UX Designer title: $73,290 to $158,820 (25th to 75th percentile of Web and Digital Interface Designers)
| Percentile | BLS, May 2025 | 2027 planning estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $53,750 | $57,000 |
| 25th percentile | $73,290 | $78,000 |
| Median | $104,000 | $110,500 |
| 75th percentile | $158,820 | $169,000 |
| 90th percentile | $201,550 | $214,000 |
Specialties
UX designer is a broad title. These are the parts of the work that most often separate a mid-range offer from an upper-range one. BLS does not price them separately, so treat them as direction, not dollar premiums.
Planning and running usability tests and interviews, then changing a design because of what you learned. O*NET lists conducting user research and analyzing user feedback among the occupation's tasks.
Designing to the W3C's WCAG guidelines and testing with screen readers. Employers with accessibility obligations look for it by name, and it is less common in portfolios than visual polish.
Enterprise software, healthcare and financial tools have dense workflows and compliance limits. Experience designing inside them is harder to find than consumer app experience.
Designers who build interactive prototypes, or work comfortably in code, test ideas faster and hand off with fewer surprises. O*NET lists creating web models or prototypes among the occupation's tasks.
Local pay
Eight metros post medians above $118,000, from Atlanta ($118,190) to the Bay Area ($163,810), with Seattle, San Diego, Boston, Portland, Austin and New York in between. New York is the largest market, with about 14,990 interface designers.
| Metro area | Median | 10th – 90th | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Bay Area | $163,810 +58% | $81,120 – $230,700 | 6,630 |
| Seattle | $133,760 +29% | $60,580 – $217,800 | 10,330 |
| San Diego | $123,850 +19% | $54,060 – $205,400 | 1,270 |
| Boston | $122,270 +18% | $72,860 – $178,250 | 2,330 |
| Portland | $120,640 +16% | $62,180 – $187,920 | 880 |
| Austin | $119,950 +15% | $63,160 – $180,440 | 1,080 |
| New York City | $119,190 +15% | $64,360 – $204,510 | 14,990 |
| Atlanta | $118,190 +14% | $64,360 – $182,310 | 1,890 |
| Los Angeles | $106,550 +2% | $58,100 – $201,320 | 9,220 |
| Phoenix | $104,940 +1% | $59,800 – $183,000 | 640 |
| Metro area | Median | 10th – 90th | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | $104,840 +1% | $55,760 – $164,990 | 1,420 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $104,150 +0% | $61,740 – $164,290 | 2,380 |
| Raleigh | $102,860 -1% | $58,860 – $170,680 | 770 |
| Buffalo | $99,990 -4% | $52,240 – $166,980 | 460 |
| Detroit | $99,450 -4% | $45,760 – $160,770 | 790 |
| Albany | $99,210 -5% | $51,990 – $164,290 | 310 |
| Denver | $98,330 -5% | $60,300 – $164,790 | 2,120 |
| Washington, DC | $97,000 -7% | $57,580 – $170,790 | 1,900 |
| Baltimore | $96,760 -7% | $60,810 – $158,760 | 500 |
| Houston | $96,750 -7% | $55,060 – $165,700 | 830 |
| Charlotte | $94,290 -9% | $43,800 – $162,420 | 1,070 |
| Providence | $93,020 -11% | $60,830 – $166,310 | 290 |
| Chicago | $87,920 -15% | $59,450 – $162,050 | 1,470 |
| Pittsburgh | $85,900 -17% | $46,750 – $132,100 | 600 |
| Hartford | $82,870 -20% | $51,990 – $127,070 | 310 |
| Tampa | $82,480 -21% | $48,640 – $128,680 | — |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | $81,730 -21% | $51,680 – $140,320 | 970 |
| Miami | $77,730 -25% | $50,180 – $143,730 | 1,250 |
| Nashville | $63,510 -39% | $57,890 – $74,470 | 2,500 |
BLS metro estimates, May 2025. Percent compares the metro median with the national median. "Jobs" is BLS estimated employment in the metro; blank where BLS does not publish it.
Title check
UX, UI and web designers are counted in Web and Digital Interface Designers (SOC 15-1255), and this guide also uses that occupation for product designers and UX researchers, which have no BLS line of their own. Every one of those titles therefore gets the same national median, $104,000. The difference shows up in where each title sits inside the distribution.
This guide places UX designers across the middle half, from the 25th to the 75th percentile. Product designer and UX researcher roles, as this guide maps them, sit higher, from the median up, because those titles usually carry broader product ownership or specialist research depth.
If you are comparing an offer, compare it with the title's band rather than the headline median, and check the metro table: the gap between cities is often larger than the gap between titles.
Outlook
BLS expects the occupation to grow faster than average, 5% to 6% between 2025 and 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. BLS openings figures count replacements for people who leave the occupation as well as newly created jobs.
BLS Employment Projections via O*NET OnLine. Projections cover Web and Digital Interface Designers as a whole.
For job seekers
Remote offers are often priced off one city. Find out whether the employer uses its headquarters metro or yours, and what each pays in the table above.
One case study where testing changed the design, and what happened after launch, supports an upper-half number better than a gallery of screens.
BLS wage figures exclude year-end bonuses, stock bonuses and benefits. Compare base salary with base salary, then weigh the rest separately.
Ask what level the role is and what the next level pays. A mid-level UX title can cover anything from about $73,000 to $159,000 nationally.
Compare
UX designers out-earn graphic designers by about $41,040 at the median ($104,000 vs. $62,960) and edge past motion graphics designers ($102,030). This guide benchmarks product designers and UX researchers to the same BLS occupation, so their national figures match.
| Role | BLS median | 2027 estimate | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| UX Designer | $104,000 | $110,500 | Faster than average |
| Product Designer | $104,000 | $110,500 | Faster than average |
| UX Researcher | $104,000 | $110,500 | Faster than average |
| Graphic Designer | $62,960 | $67,000 | Decline |
| Motion Graphics Designer | $102,030 | $108,500 | Little or no change |
FAQ
UX designers are counted by BLS as Web and Digital Interface Designers. The national median for that occupation was $104,000 in May 2025, and the middle half earned $73,290 to $158,820. Projecting two years of wage growth at 3.1% a year gives a 2027 planning median of about $110,500.
UX designer starting pay is not tracked as its own figure by BLS. The occupation's 10th percentile, $53,750, and 25th percentile, $73,290, bracket most entry offers nationally. Junior UX roles in the Bay Area, Seattle or New York usually start higher, since those metro medians run from $119,190 to $163,810.
O*NET's education survey for the occupation found 30% of respondents said a post-baccalaureate certificate was required for new hires, and 52% said a bachelor's degree. In UX hiring the portfolio and its case studies usually carry more weight than the credential. BLS publishes no pay difference by credential.
Growth for the occupation is projected at 5% to 6% from 2025 to 2035, faster than average, with about 8,300 openings a year, BLS says. The occupation is small, about 132,700 jobs, and New York, Seattle and Los Angeles alone account for more than 34,000 of them.
Not usually, but it helps. O*NET's task list for the occupation includes writing supporting code for web applications and working with front-end developers, and its sample job titles include UX developer and UX engineer. Designers who can prototype in code also qualify for those hybrid roles.
Careerscape recruiters who focus on creative and technology roles match UX designers with direct hire, contract and contract-to-hire openings. It is free for job seekers.
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