DOL Median Salary
$59,861
From 19,029 DOL filingsBLS Median Salary
$61,300
BLS OEWS 2024 surveyTotal Employers
7,823
Companies with DOL filingsTotal Employment
214,260
Estimated US workers (BLS)DOL Filings vs BLS Survey
What Employers File with DOL
$59,861
This figure comes from 19,029 employer filings with the US Department of Labor under legal obligation. Employers file this salary when sponsoring workers for PERM green cards or H-1B visas.
What BLS Says the Market Pays
$61,300
This figure comes from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey of 214,260 establishments. This is an independent survey-based estimate of what all workers in this occupation earn.
DOL-filed salaries are 2.3% lower than BLS survey data, which may reflect that sponsored positions concentrate in high-cost locations or experience-intensive roles.
Salary Distribution
Top Paying Employers for Graphic Designers
Ranked by median salary from DOL filings| Rank | Employer | Median Salary | Filings | vs Market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meta Platforms, Inc | $176,000 | 7 | +187.1% |
| 2 | LYFT, Inc. | $170,000 | 14 | +177.3% |
| 3 | WhatsApp LLC | $167,763 | 10 | +173.7% |
| 4 | Chegg, Inc. | $159,000 | 5 | +159.4% |
| 5 | WIRELESS GENERATION, INC. | $155,000 | 7 | +152.9% |
| 6 | Coinbase | $151,000 | 9 | +146.3% |
| 7 | TEN-X, LLC | $150,000 | 5 | +144.7% |
| 8 | Airbnb, Inc. | $150,000 | 46 | +144.7% |
| 9 | Asana, Inc. | $149,924 | 9 | +144.6% |
| 10 | WALMART ASSOCIATES, INC. | $148,740 | 6 | +142.6% |
| 11 | Facebook Inc. | $145,495 | 181 | +137.4% |
| 12 | COOPER SOFTWARE INC. DOING BUSINESS AS DESIGNIT | $145,000 | 5 | +136.5% |
| 13 | Better Holdco, Inc. | $145,000 | 5 | +136.5% |
| 14 | Move, Inc | $145,000 | 6 | +136.5% |
| 15 | eBay Inc. | $145,000 | 23 | +136.5% |
| 16 | BAZMARK INQ LLC | $142,500 | 5 | +132.5% |
| 17 | Goldman Sachs Bank USA | $138,500 | 5 | +125.9% |
| 18 | MAPLEBEAR DBA INSTACART | $135,000 | 6 | +120.2% |
| 19 | WAL-MART ASSOCIATES INC. | $135,000 | 17 | +120.2% |
| 20 | Amazon Web Services Inc | $135,000 | 20 | +120.2% |
| 21 | PayPal, Inc. | $134,750 | 32 | +119.8% |
| 22 | Roku, Inc | $134,000 | 10 | +118.6% |
| 23 | Microsoft Corporation | $133,565 | 149 | +117.9% |
| 24 | Collins Partners, LLC | $132,500 | 16 | +116.2% |
| 25 | GitHub, Inc. | $132,500 | 7 | +116.2% |
| 26 | Rubrik, Inc | $132,000 | 10 | +115.3% |
| 27 | Stripe, Inc. | $131,925 | 10 | +115.2% |
| 28 | MOKRIYA, INC. | $130,500 | 6 | +112.9% |
| 29 | Verily Life Sciences LLC | $130,500 | 6 | +112.9% |
| 30 | Tesla, Inc. | $130,000 | 5 | +112.1% |
| 31 | LeanTaaS, Inc. | $128,467 | 7 | +109.6% |
| 32 | We Work Management LLC | $127,500 | 7 | +108% |
| 33 | 99DESIGNS, INC | $125,000 | 6 | +103.9% |
| 34 | Twitter Inc. | $124,750 | 30 | +103.5% |
| 35 | GOOGLE LLC | $124,000 | 335 | +102.3% |
| 36 | STRANGER & STRANGER INC. | $123,000 | 7 | +100.7% |
| 37 | Thoughtworks, Inc. | $122,700 | 10 | +100.2% |
| 38 | Samsung Research America, Inc. | $122,500 | 18 | +99.8% |
| 39 | Lab49, Inc. | $122,500 | 6 | +99.8% |
| 40 | AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC | $122,325 | 148 | +99.6% |
| 41 | A2Z DEVELOPMENT CENTER | $121,136 | 14 | +97.6% |
| 42 | Jet.com,Inc. | $120,000 | 10 | +95.8% |
| 43 | INFOPEOPLE CORPORATION | $120,000 | 5 | +95.8% |
| 44 | AppNexus Inc | $120,000 | 6 | +95.8% |
| 45 | Veritas Group, Inc. | $120,000 | 5 | +95.8% |
| 46 | Dropbox, Inc. | $120,000 | 24 | +95.8% |
| 47 | Symantec Corporation | $120,000 | 12 | +95.8% |
| 48 | Twitch Interactive, Inc. | $118,539 | 13 | +93.4% |
| 49 | Idean Enterprises, Inc | $118,000 | 6 | +92.5% |
| 50 | AUDIBLE INC | $118,000 | 16 | +92.5% |
Salary by Metro Area
| Metro Area | Median | vs National | Filings | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Palo Alto, CA | $147,300 | +146.1% | 10 | 2 |
| Menlo Park, CA | $145,000 | +142.2% | 136 | 12 |
| Redmond, WA | $127,761 | +113.4% | 107 | 11 |
| San Bruno, CA | $118,000 | +97.1% | 42 | 9 |
| Mountain View, CA | $115,000 | +92.1% | 334 | 80 |
| Cupertino, CA | $105,000 | +75.4% | 123 | 24 |
| Seattle, WA | $100,000 | +67.1% | 327 | 75 |
| San Mateo, CA | $95,000 | +58.7% | 78 | 48 |
| Sunnyvale, CA | $92,082 | +53.8% | 179 | 54 |
| Los Altos, CA | $90,000 | +50.3% | 11 | 9 |
| Palo Alto, CA | $90,000 | +50.3% | 222 | 76 |
| Newark, NJ | $88,000 | +47% | 19 | 8 |
| South San Francisco, CA | $87,633 | +46.4% | 22 | 13 |
| San Francisco, CA | $86,264 | +44.1% | 1,284 | 599 |
| San Jose, CA | $85,264 | +42.4% | 198 | 87 |
| Redwood City, CA | $85,000 | +42% | 105 | 50 |
| Kirkland, WA | $83,000 | +38.7% | 13 | 6 |
| Bellevue, WA | $80,000 | +33.6% | 73 | 25 |
| MANHATTAN BEACH, CA | $75,000 | +25.3% | 19 | 6 |
| Santa Clara, CA | $75,000 | +25.3% | 108 | 64 |
| Bridgewater, NJ | $73,000 | +22% | 11 | 5 |
| New York, NE | $72,000 | +20.3% | 460 | 336 |
| Foster City, CA | $70,000 | +16.9% | 31 | 16 |
| Emeryville, CA | $66,924 | +11.8% | 33 | 12 |
| Oakland, CA | $66,449 | +11% | 33 | 24 |
| Woodland Hills, CA | $66,206 | +10.6% | 10 | 3 |
| BROOKLYN, NE | $66,000 | +10.3% | 57 | 45 |
| Irvine, CA | $65,146 | +8.8% | 126 | 49 |
| Culver City, CA | $65,000 | +8.6% | 35 | 22 |
| New Albany, OH | $64,400 | +7.6% | 17 | 2 |
Salary by State
| State | Median | vs National | Filings |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | $102,000 | +112.9% | 1 |
| Washington | $101,200 | +33.1% | 575 |
| California | $70,000 | -8.4% | 5,319 |
| Kentucky | $67,105 | +33.3% | 12 |
| Nebraska | $65,000 | +24% | 692 |
| Oregon | $63,327 | -0.7% | 73 |
| New Mexico | $62,880 | +8.8% | 4 |
| Connecticut | $60,000 | -8.2% | 44 |
| Delaware | $60,000 | +6.8% | 12 |
| Vermont | $60,000 | -3.5% | 4 |
| Arkansas | $60,000 | +29.2% | 29 |
| Rhode Island | $59,750 | -6.9% | 12 |
| Ohio | $59,260 | +7.5% | 91 |
| New Hampshire | $57,500 | +0.3% | 6 |
| Tennessee | $57,176 | +10.5% | 24 |
| Massachusetts | $55,000 | -28% | 318 |
| Michigan | $55,000 | +4.6% | 99 |
| Maryland | $54,101 | -18.4% | 81 |
| District of Columbia | $54,000 | -40.5% | 106 |
| North Carolina | $53,571 | +5.9% | 65 |
| New York | $53,000 | -28.9% | 3,115 |
| Virginia | $51,834 | -26% | 132 |
| Pennsylvania | $50,000 | -5.6% | 120 |
| Nevada | $50,000 | -12.6% | 35 |
| Illinois | $50,000 | -16.7% | 385 |
| Indiana | $49,700 | -11.9% | 62 |
| South Carolina | $49,525 | -11.9% | 15 |
| Maine | $49,230 | -8% | 2 |
| Missouri | $48,698 | -4.3% | 32 |
| Kansas | $48,000 | -3.7% | 9 |
| Colorado | $48,000 | -27.7% | 39 |
| Wisconsin | $48,000 | -17.8% | 29 |
| Utah | $46,000 | -22.1% | 49 |
| Texas | $46,000 | -25.8% | 357 |
| Georgia | $43,930 | -24.1% | 242 |
| Minnesota | $42,500 | -27.5% | 45 |
| New Jersey | $41,071 | -38.3% | 562 |
| Arizona | $41,000 | -21.5% | 43 |
| Florida | $40,000 | -30.9% | 452 |
| Louisiana | $39,000 | -15.8% | 12 |
| Alabama | $37,614 | -21.9% | 7 |
| Idaho | $37,440 | -23% | 17 |
| Hawaii | $35,357 | -31.5% | 24 |
| Oklahoma | $34,612 | -31.2% | 34 |
| Mississippi | $33,000 | -27.1% | 1 |
| Iowa | $32,500 | -31.7% | 12 |
Salary Trend - DOL Data
Education Requirements
From PERM filingsFor Graphic Designers positions, 67% of PERM filings required a Bachelor's degree, 21% required a Master's degree, and 7% required no formal degree.
Education by Top Employer
Most common minimum education from PERM filings| Employer | Most Common Education | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| GOOGLE LLC | Bachelor's | $124,000 |
| COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS U.S. CORPORATION | Not specified | $60,000 |
| Facebook Inc. | Master's | $145,495 |
| Infosys Limited | Not specified | $66,811 |
| Microsoft Corporation | Bachelor's | $133,565 |
| AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC | Master's | $122,325 |
| LinkedIn Corporation | Master's | $94,500 |
| COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS US CORP | Not specified | $60,000 |
| AMAZON CORPORATE | Bachelor's | $102,895 |
| Apple Inc. | Bachelor's | $113,796 |
Salary by Industry
Same occupation, different industries (NAICS)The highest-paying industry for Graphic Designers is Retail Trade at $90,691. The lowest-paying industry with significant hiring is Accommodation and Food Services at $44,174.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Graphic Designers make?
Based on 19,029 DOL filings, the median salary for a Graphic Designers is $59,861, ranging from $41,600 to $84,864.
What is the highest salary for a Graphic Designers?
The 90th percentile salary is $103,030 according to BLS data.
Which city pays the most for Graphic Designers?
Based on DOL filings, East Palo Alto, CA offers the highest median at $147,300.
Does this data include all Graphic Designers salaries or only visa-sponsored workers?
DOL filing data covers positions where the employer filed for PERM green card sponsorship or an H-1B visa. These filings represent a subset of all Graphic Designers positions. We compare this data against BLS OEWS data which covers all workers in this occupation.
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Source: US Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) public disclosure files (PERM Form ETA-9089 and LCA Form ETA-9035), and US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Salary figures represent employer filings and government survey estimates, not individual worker pay.