How Much Can I Make as a UX Designer? (2024 Salary Guide)

Over the past decade or so, user experience (UX) design has become a popular career path in technology companies. UX designers leverage a wide range of technical and workplace skills to design products and services that delight consumers. Because this is an in-demand field, this role tends to be compensated with an above-average salary.

In this article, we’ll discuss how much UX designers and other UX professionals can earn in the US, as well as the factors that influence these salaries.

What is the average UX designer salary?

The average base salary for UX designers in the US is $94,544 per year as of December 2023, according to Glassdoor [1]. The role was also listed as sixth in Glassdoor’s list of 25 Highest Paying Entry Level Jobs [2]. Compare this to $61,900, the mean annual salary across all occupations in the United States [3].

Factors that impact UX salary

How much you make as a UX professional will vary depending on where you work, your experience, and your specific job title. Businesses in nearly every industry utilize websites and applications for daily operations, ranging from digital marketing efforts to inventory management. As a result, UX designer jobs are not limited to tech companies. The next few sections take a closer look at the factors that can influence your salary.

Job function

As technology becomes more user-centric, UX design teams expand to include more specialized roles. These different job titles often require different skill sets and come with different compensation amounts. 

Experience level

Generally, the longer you’ve been working as a UX designer, the more you can expect to earn. Moving into a management position can often lead to an even bigger salary increase. Here are some UX designer salaries by experience level, to give you a better idea:

• UX designer (2-4 years): $74k-$122k

• Senior UX Designer (3-5 years): $125k-$194k

• Principal or Staff UX Designer (5-8 years): $175k-$261k

• Director of UX Design (8+ years): $184k-$290k

Did you know that nearly every US industry has seen an increase in AI-related job postings?

Learn to apply AI in your field productively and responsibly by enrolling in Google’s UX Design Professional Certificate, recently updated to include practical AI training.

If you're a recent graduate or someone transitioning into UX design from a related role, you may not have much experience. Consider enhancing your portfolio to demonstrate your abilities to potential employers. For example, you can enroll in an online guided project to learn how to work with popular industry tools like GitHub and Miro. Here are a couple of options to get you started:

• Get Started with User Experience (UX) Design in Miro

• Create your UI/UX Portfolio with GitHub

Location

Another big factor that influences salaries across many jobs and industries is location. UX professionals living in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Los Angeles areas tend to see the highest salaries.

• San Francisco, CA: $101,453

• New York, NY: $101,279

• Los Angeles, CA: $99,489

• Denver, CO: $93,253

• Seattle, WA: $92,376

• Houston, TX: $83,117

• Columbus, OH: $83,289

Other benefits and compensation

Salary may be the primary form of compensation in the field of UX, but it’s not the only one. The most common benefits tend to include:

• Health, dental, and vision insurance

• Paid time off

• Stock options

• Retirement savings plan

• Cash bonus

• Technology or wi-fi stipend

Are UX designers in demand?

UX professionals typically earn significantly more than the national average. The good news is that skilled UX professionals are also in demand. LinkedIn listed UX design as one of 15 jobs on the rise in 2022 [4]. With user experience set to become a factor in what sites rank well on Google this year, the demand for UX designers could very well continue to grow.

Advance your career in UX design

Learn from an industry leader and earn UX credentials for your resume with the Microsoft UX Design Professional Certificate on Coursera. You don’t need any previous experience to enroll, and you can start learning today for free with a seven-day trial of Coursera Plus.