Graphic Designers

US occupation · SOC 27-1024

Job titles people report: Artist, Brand Designer, Designer, Graphic Artist, Graphic Design Coordinator, Graphic Designer, Online Producer, Production Artist, Publications Designer, Technical Illustrator

Median annual wage, May 2025: $62,960; Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn: $49,040 – $81,830; 25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025: 197,830; Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35: -1.7%; Shrinking (below 0%)
Openings a year (projected): 16,000; New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree; BLS

All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects.

Main tasks

Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor.
Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed.
Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type.
Develop graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos, and Web sites.
Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts, based on knowledge of layout principles and esthetic design concepts.
Use computer software to generate new images.
Prepare digital files for printing.
Confer with clients to discuss and determine layout design.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS): Bachelor's degree
O*NET Job Zone 4: Considerable preparation; Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

Artistic: creating, designing and self-expression
Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 7 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Computer Science

Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources Design
Computer Graphics

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Computer Science at the Major step.

Where many students take computer science

Western Governors UniversitySalt Lake City, UT · 23% of degrees · 155,088 undergraduates
Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 14% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi, MD · 25% of degrees · 49,664 undergraduates
University of Maryland-College ParkCollege Park, MD · 25% of degrees · 30,760 undergraduates
University of the PeoplePasadena, CA · 33% of degrees · 22,688 undergraduates
University of California-BerkeleyBerkeley, CA · 19% of degrees · 33,068 undergraduates

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Visual & Performing Arts

Digital Arts
Design and Visual Communications, General
Commercial and Advertising Art
Industrial and Product Design
Graphic Design

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Visual & Performing Arts at the Major step.

Where many students take visual & performing arts

Savannah College of Art and DesignSavannah, GA · 42% of degrees · 15,243 undergraduates
Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 4% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
University of Central FloridaOrlando, FL · 8% of degrees · 59,146 undergraduates
New York UniversityNew York, NY · 16% of degrees · 28,663 undergraduates
The New SchoolNew York, NY · 68% of degrees · 6,563 undergraduates
Berklee College of MusicBoston, MA · 57% of degrees · 7,468 undergraduates

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

Special Effects Artists and Animators
$102,030 median · -0.3% projected
Art Directors
$114,850 median · +4.2% projected
Web and Digital Interface Designers
$104,000 median · +6% projected
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
$55,490 median · -2.9% projected
Desktop Publishers
$55,290 median · -14.5% projected
Set and Exhibit Designers
$75,240 median · +1.4% projected

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk