Official pay data
Updated October 8, 2026
Salary guide
Official annual estimates for the whole country, mapped to the closest published occupation.
United States · annual wage estimate
25th percentile
$49,040
Median
$62,960
75th percentile
$81,830
BLS covers wage and salary employees, including part-time workers, but excludes self-employed workers and owners or partners in unincorporated firms. Wages include commissions and production bonuses, but exclude overtime premiums, employer benefits, and non-production bonuses; this is not a base-pay-only or total-compensation measure. Annual wage estimates generally convert hourly rates using a full-time, year-round schedule of 2,080 hours. Actual annual earnings on a shorter schedule can be lower.
This is a country-level occupation benchmark, not a local offer estimate. Pay can differ by location, employer, duties, and working pattern.
Source: BLS, 2025-05-01. Mapped to Graphic designers; the occupation is broader than the page role. Figures are estimates, not advertised salaries.
This national Graphic Designer benchmark fits roles centered on arranging text and images, creating visual elements, and shaping layouts for print or web. It is useful for comparing an employee offer for that occupation, but it cannot tell you what a particular specialty, employer, or schedule should pay.
Benchmark fit
The benchmark covers the broad U.S. Graphic Designer occupation, so it is a sensible comparison for employee roles involving visual communication and layout. Use the job's actual scope alongside the benchmark: a packaging or book-jacket focus is a specialization, not the definition of every Graphic Designer role.
The occupation-wide figure is not a separate estimate for a packaging specialist, book-jacket designer, or any other specialty. It also does not settle how a particular employer divides work between designers, writers, or marketing functions.
Role scope
Graphic Designers create designs and visual elements that help deliver a message.
Select type, font, size, color, and line length, and decide how text and images share space in print or web layouts. · Use digital illustration, photo-editing, and layout software to create designs. · Create visual elements such as logos, original images, and illustrations to help deliver a message.
Designs created with digital illustration, photo-editing, and layout software. · Visual elements such as logos, original images, and illustrations.
The role concerns the visual treatment of text and images. Writers choose the words and decide whether they appear as paragraphs, lists, or tables.
Read the range
Compare an offer against the work it actually covers. A role focused on selecting type, arranging images and text, and producing layouts belongs comfortably in this occupation; a title alone is less useful than the stated design responsibilities.
One quarter of employees earn below this figure.
Half of employees earn below this figure and half above it; it is not the arithmetic midpoint of the displayed range.
One quarter of employees earn above this figure.
Beyond salary
Compare the offer's fixed cash pay with any conditional cash payments and benefits separately. The benchmark's wage measure includes commissions and production bonuses, while overtime premiums, employer benefits, and non-production bonuses sit outside it.
Ask for the stated salary or hourly rate and whether it is guaranteed for the role.
If these are offered, ask how eligibility, targets, calculation, timing, and payout conditions work before treating them as expected cash pay.
Keep these separate when comparing the offer with the benchmark because they are excluded from its wage measure.
Ask for the terms of any health coverage, retirement contribution, leave, or equity offer; employer benefits are not included in the benchmark measure.
Offer review
Questions
Source
Source: BLS, 2025-05-01. The figures cover Graphic designers (27-1024) and all employment. Updated October 8, 2026. This broad occupation benchmark may not match every Graphic Designer vacancy.
Put the benchmark to work
Use the salary range as context. Tailor your resume around the experience that supports your target level.
