Web Designer Salary: Guide 2023

Introduction

Web Designer Salary – Web design is one of the most flexible and in-demand fields in the technology industry. Web designers remain well compensated for their work, with an average total salary of $64,193 per year in the United States. This figure includes a base salary of $59,302 and $4,892 in additional compensation. Other compensation may include commissions, bonuses, or profit sharing. Remember that your employer, experience, and location can also affect your salary.

Web Designer Salaries By Experience Level

The salary for an entry-level web designer ranges from $45,000 to $71,000 per year. Job seekers with 0 to 1 year of experience can expect a salary within this range. For entry-level web designers, the annual salary range is $48,000 to $75,000. This salary range is typical for those with 1 to 3 years of experience. Experienced web designers, who have been in the field for 4-6 years, earn an average annual salary of between $51,000 and $80,000. Senior web designers’ wages range from $55,000 to $86,000 per year.

Web Designer Salaries By Location – Web Designer Salary

Salaries in the web designer profession can vary based on national and international location. To grow an idea of the average salary for web designers in the United States, Glassdoor allows you to view job postings across the country. The list below shows some of the states with the highest average annual salaries for web designers in the United States. It’s important to note, however, that these averages reflect a wide range of experience in the web design field, from beginners to seasoned professionals.

Washington – 84,645
Massachusetts – 83,957
Virginia – 79,373
Oregon – 70,323
New York – 72,624

Salaries Of Freelance and Contract Web Designers

Instead of being employed directly by a company, you can work as a freelance web designer. Freelancing is a form of independent work. It allows you to set your pay scale per project. On average, freelance web designers in the United States earn an annual salary of $50,416.

Typically, contract web designers are employed by a staffing firm under the employer’s direction. Contract web designers remain hired to complete a specific project for a predetermined period. Contract web designers in the United States earn an average of $68,534 per year.

Job Title And Salary Variations – Web Designer Salary

Web designer salary and job titles can vary depending on experience level, industry and specialization. The list below shows 11 of the most common alternative job titles for web designers.

Note: All information on average annual base salary in the U.S. is from Glassdoor as of February 2023.

Lead Web Designer: $107,521
Senior Web Designer: $83,507
Senior Web Designer: $95,557
Front-end developer/engineer: $78,447
UX (user experience) designer: 81,092
UI (user interface) designer: 83,095
HTML CSS Developer: 69,984
Full web developer: 79,447

Salaries Of Freelance Web Designers

Junior and senior positions are exclusive to salaried positions within companies. Many aspiring designers choose to go freelance, find clients and take on projects on their own. So how widely can you expect to earn?

Glassdoor: $79,000 per year, with a minimum of $58,000 and a maximum of $110,000.
ZipRecruiter: $56,000 a year, with a minimum of $24,000 and a maximum of $112,000.

There’s not a lot of data, as many freelancers don’t report their salaries, and the range of income can vary widely. But successful freelancers earn more than junior designers, who make $68,000 a year.

If you excel at finding clients, your salary can be very high. It’s certainly not as reliable as a salaried job, but many people have made a decent living from freelancing.

Should I Be A Web Designer?

Knowing that developers make more money, you may wonder if web design is the career I want to pursue.

Although web developers generally earn more on average, that’s no reason to give up your dream career for a potentially incompatible profession. These two professions are very different in the process of creating a website.

Developers work with complex programming languages to create sensible implementations of a design, while designers take a more visual approach, focusing on creating functional beauty. Designers do the planning, and developers do the execution.

Several of the skills required to be a designer or developer overlap, but most of the day-to-day tasks are very different. If you are more comfortable with planning and visual learning, with big pictures rather than small details, web design would be a good fit for you.

If you’re not satisfied with your salary, consider specializing. A jack-of-all-trades web designer is familiar, which is not the case for a skilled UX designer or mobile designer. There is money to remain made in narrowing and refining your skill set.

Web development is a growing industry, and where there are developers, they will need designers. Now is a countless time to become a web designer! If this is the career you want, the pay is proper, and the industry is growing.

Conclusion

Web Designer Salary – Web design is certainly not the highest-paying profession in its field, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth pursuing. The extra experience you have, the more you will earn. You can make a great career out of it, especially if you go into niche areas like UI/UX design.

Web designers earn an average of $57,000 per year. This salary will remain influenced by factors such as your position in the company, if you specialize in something like UI design, or the platforms you choose to work with. When you first start, you’ll probably make less, but if you stay in the field, you can make more.