States with the Highest Wages
As the graph indicates, the District of Columbia clearly pays a higher annual mean wage at $66,560, but that is only part of the story. The U.S. Department of Labor reports the District of Columbia had employment of 1,540 graphic designers as of May 2008 compared to 30,340 in California and 20,830 in New York. Though the District of Columbia pays $10,890 or 19.5% more in annual mean wages compared to California, the district has a small number of graphic designers.
On the other hand, California reports 30,340 employed graphic designers and New York reports 20,830. The annual mean wage difference between these two cities is only $750 or approximately 1%. The hourly wage rate difference is small with California paying $26.77 per hour and New York paying $26.40 per hour.
In fact, looking at Connecticut and Maryland, the annual mean wage is above $50,000 also. Except for the District of Columbia, 4 out of the top 5 paying states paid between $51,000 and $56,000 for graphic designer positions in 2008.
What does all this mean? When looking for employment as a graphic designer, it’s important to consider more than just the wage figures. Though the District of Columbia pays more, there are not many jobs available for graphic designers. Instead, you can seek employment in other states and maximize your wages in ways besides geographical location choice. For example, expanding your technology skills, getting more education, and learning new graphic related techniques can increase your value as an employee.
States with the Highest Employment Levels
The number of graphic designer jobs varies considerably from state to state as does the hourly mean wages. For example, New York had 20,830 graphic designers employed in 2008 and paid an average hourly mean wage of $26.40. The next highest employer is Minnesota at 5,380 graphic designers paying an average hourly mean wage of $22.06. So Minnesota had far fewer jobs and paid an average of $4.34 less per hour compared to New York. Utah employed 2,560 graphic artists at an average hourly rate of $19.67, while Vermont employed 730 graphic artists at a $20.63 average hourly rate. Though the District of Columbia paid an average rate of $32.00 an hour for graphic designers, there were only 1,540 positions in 2008.
When seeking employment, it is important to consider the average hourly rates in states with the highest employment levels, but you must also look at the actual number of jobs that are available to get a better picture of the job market. The graphic design job market offers much potential because the types of jobs are so varied and growing due to expanding technology. For example, graphic designers include web designers, print designers, computer graphics designers, animators, multi-media specialists, and many others. The other good news for job seekers is that graphic designers are employed in virtually all industries which also increases job opportunities.
