Across the 29 states we track, District of Columbia gives Graphic Designers the strongest cost-of-living-adjusted pay: about $73,600 real pay on a median of $80,100. Massachusetts follows at about $71,500 real pay, then California at about $70,700. The table ranks every state by real pay, so a high nominal salary in an expensive state cannot masquerade as a raise.
Graphic Designer Salary by State (2026): Real Pay Ranked
District of Columbia ranks first for Graphic Designer real pay: about $73,600 after cost of living. Median and real pay for all 29 states, ranked.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS) & BEA Regional Price Parities · Updated October 2026
States ranked
29
Metros counted
45
National average
$64,700
Graphic Designer pay by state, ranked by real pay
| State | Median pay | Real pay (COL-adjusted) | Metro(s) counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. District of Columbia | $80,100 | $73,600 | Washington |
| 2. Massachusetts | $77,400 | $71,500 | Boston |
| 3. California | $77,800 | $70,700 | Los Angeles-Long Beach, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco-Oakland, Fresno, Sacramento |
| 4. New York | $75,900 | $67,400 | New York |
| 5. Washington | $74,400 | $67,000 | Seattle |
| 6. Ohio | $60,100 | $62,900 | Columbus |
| 7. Colorado | $64,300 | $62,300 | Denver, Colorado Springs |
| 8. Georgia | $61,500 | $61,400 | Atlanta |
| 9. Nebraska | $56,300 | $61,300 | Omaha |
| 10. Minnesota | $63,100 | $60,200 | Minneapolis |
| 11. North Carolina | $58,000 | $59,300 | Charlotte, Raleigh |
| 12. Missouri | $54,000 | $58,400 | Kansas City |
| 13. Pennsylvania | $59,600 | $58,100 | Philadelphia |
| 14. Maryland | $60,500 | $57,900 | Baltimore |
| 15. Wisconsin | $55,800 | $57,600 | Milwaukee |
| 16. Illinois | $59,200 | $57,100 | Chicago |
| 17. Michigan | $57,100 | $56,900 | Detroit |
| 18. Nevada | $56,800 | $56,700 | Las Vegas |
| 19. Oregon | $59,600 | $56,500 | Portland |
| 20. Oklahoma | $50,400 | $56,100 | Oklahoma City, Tulsa |
| 21. Texas | $54,100 | $55,300 | Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, El Paso |
| 22. Kentucky | $50,800 | $54,600 | Louisville |
| 23. Louisiana | $48,600 | $52,500 | New Orleans |
| 24. Kansas | $46,700 | $52,500 | Wichita |
| 25. Tennessee | $49,100 | $52,100 | Nashville, Memphis |
| 26. Florida | $55,400 | $51,900 | Jacksonville, Miami |
| 27. Indiana | $49,600 | $51,800 | Indianapolis |
| 28. New Mexico | $47,500 | $49,700 | Albuquerque |
| 29. Arizona | $47,600 | $47,600 | Phoenix-Mesa, Tucson |
Method: each state aggregates the BLS OEWS metro medians we track for Graphic Designer in that state - an employment-weighted mean where every counted metro publishes employment (27 of 29 states), otherwise a simple mean (2 states). Real pay = state median divided by (state RPP / 100), where the state RPP is the mean BEA Regional Price Parity of its counted metros; figures are rounded to the nearest $100. Twin cities sharing one metro estimate (for example Phoenix-Mesa) are counted once. Arlington, TX and Cleveland, OH metros lack a cost-of-living index in our dataset and are excluded from their state's figures. States without a tracked metro are omitted rather than estimated.
Keep reading
Frequently Asked Questions
On cost-of-living-adjusted pay, District of Columbia leads at about $73,600 real pay (median $80,100), ahead of Massachusetts at about $71,500.
We aggregate the BLS median wages of the metros we track in each state (an employment-weighted mean where employment data exists, otherwise a simple average), then divide by the mean Regional Price Parity of those metros to get real pay.
The full city-level table with 10th-90th percentiles and every metro's cost-of-living index is on the Graphic Designer salary hub at /salary/graphic-designer/.