Design & Creative Salaries.
38 roles. 81 cities.
National salary data. Last updated April 2026.
Highest Paying
$205,000
AI Video Generation Specialist
Industry Median
$122,000
Product Designer
Entry Level
$38,000
UX Design Intern
Salary data sourced from Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, H-1B Labor Condition Applications (DOL), state pay-transparency job postings, and community submissions. Ranges reflect 25th to 75th percentile for full-time positions. Last updated June 2026.
The design & creative industry includes 38 tracked roles with national median salaries ranging from $38,000 to $205,000. The highest-paying role is AI Video Generation Specialist at $205,000 national median. Design and creative roles shape the experiences users have with products and brands.
About design & creative salaries
Design and creative roles shape the experiences users have with products and brands. From UX designers crafting interfaces to motion designers producing video content, this industry values both aesthetic skill and the ability to drive measurable engagement. AI is transforming creative workflows, creating new hybrid roles that command premium pay.
All design & creative roles by salary
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | AI Video Generation Specialist | $205,000 | $160,000 to $267,000 |
| 2 | AI Creative Director | $185,000 | $140,000 to $240,000 |
| 3 | Motion Planning AI Engineer | $180,000 | $135,000 to $235,000 |
| 4 | AI Video Understanding Engineer | $175,000 | $137,000 to $228,000 |
| 5 | Product Design Manager | $165,000 | $129,000 to $215,000 |
| 6 | AI Image Generation Engineer | $165,000 | $129,000 to $215,000 |
| 7 | Synthetic Media Engineer | $160,000 | $120,000 to $212,000 |
| 8 | UX Design Manager | $160,000 | $125,000 to $208,000 |
| 9 | AI Video Engineer | $155,000 | $120,000 to $195,000 |
| 10 | AI UX Designer | $150,000 | $115,000 to $195,000 |
| 11 | AI Avatar/Digital Human Designer | $148,000 | $110,000 to $198,000 |
| 12 | Human-AI Collaboration Designer | $145,000 | $108,000 to $192,000 |
| 13 | AI UX Researcher | $138,000 | $105,000 to $182,000 |
| 14 | Synthetic Media Specialist | $135,000 | $100,000 to $178,000 |
| 15 | AI Interaction Designer | $132,000 | $100,000 to $175,000 |
| 16 | Conversational UX Designer | $130,000 | $98,000 to $172,000 |
| 17 | AI Prompt Designer | $128,000 | $95,000 to $170,000 |
| 18 | AI Creative Technologist | $128,000 | $95,000 to $165,000 |
| 19 | AI Content Strategist | $125,000 | $90,000 to $170,000 |
| 20 | Product Designer | $122,000 | $92,000 to $158,000 |
| 21 | AI Video Production Specialist | $115,000 | $85,000 to $155,000 |
| 22 | UX Designer | $105,000 | $80,000 to $135,000 |
| 23 | AI Sound Design Specialist | $105,000 | $78,000 to $142,000 |
| 24 | UI/UX Designer | $105,000 | $82,000 to $137,000 |
| 25 | UX/UI Designer | $105,000 | $82,000 to $137,000 |
| 26 | AI Copywriting Specialist | $98,000 | $72,000 to $132,000 |
| 27 | Brand Strategist | $92,000 | $70,000 to $122,000 |
| 28 | Motion Designer | $88,000 | $68,000 to $115,000 |
| 29 | AI Image / Video Artist | $88,000 | $62,000 to $122,000 |
| 30 | Architect | $88,000 | $68,000 to $118,000 |
| 31 | Content Strategist | $86,000 | $66,000 to $112,000 |
| 32 | Game Designer | $82,000 | $62,000 to $112,000 |
| 33 | Video Producer | $74,000 | $56,000 to $98,000 |
| 34 | Copywriter | $70,000 | $52,000 to $92,000 |
| 35 | Podcast Producer | $66,000 | $50,000 to $88,000 |
| 36 | Graphic Designer | $62,000 | $48,000 to $82,000 |
| 37 | Interior Designer | $60,000 | $46,000 to $80,000 |
| 38 | UX Design Intern | $38,000 | $30,000 to $49,000 |
Top cities for design & creative
Cities ranked by average median salary across all 38 design & creative roles.
| # | City | Avg Median | COL Index |
|---|
| 1 | San Jose, CA | $165,711 | 1.38x |
| 2 | San Francisco, CA | $162,947 | 1.35x |
| 3 | Honolulu, HI | $156,395 | 1.30x |
| 4 | New York, NY | $153,079 | 1.28x |
| 5 | Seattle, WA | $149,263 | 1.24x |
| 6 | Washington DC, DC | $149,158 | 1.25x |
| 7 | Boston, MA | $146,921 | 1.22x |
| 8 | Arlington, VA | $146,868 | 1.22x |
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