Design manager salaries: Creative/Design Manager Salary | Salary.com
Design Manager Salary (February 2023)
Updated February 6, 2023
$102,637yearly
To create our salary estimates, Zippia starts with data published in publicly available sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Foreign Labor Certification Data Center (FLC) Show More
$49.34 hourly
Entry level Salary
$69,000
yearly
$69,000
10%
$102,637
Median
$150,000
90%
How much does a Design Manager make?
Design managers make $102,637 per year on average, or $49.34 per hour, in the United States. Design managers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $69,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $150,000.
Location impacts how much a design manager can expect to make. Design managers make the most in California, Arizona, Washington, New Hampshire, and Louisiana.
Highest Paying State
California
Highest Paying City
San Francisco, CA
Highest Paying Company
Meta
What Am I Worth?
Highest Paying State
California
Highest Paying City
San Francisco, CA
Highest Paying Company
Meta
What Am I Worth?
Highest Paying States For Design Managers
Throughout the U. S., the average salary for a design manager is roughly $102,637 per year, which boils down to $49.34 per hour. Interestingly enough, design managers have the highest salaries in San Francisco, CA at about $138,165 per year. For those who are just starting out, the average entry-level salary in San Francisco, CA is $85,000. Additionally, design managers make more than the average salary in Phoenix, AZ, Seattle, WA, Austin, TX, Portland, OR, and Washington, DC. On a more broad level, design manager salaries are highest in California, Arizona, Washington, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Nevada, and Oregon. On the contrary, Mississippi, Florida, and South Dakota offer the lowest design manager salaries.
- State View
- County View
Average Salary:
Design Manager average salary by State
Rank | State | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | California | $129,024 | $62. 03 | 4,618 |
2 | Washington | $116,596 | $56.06 | 1,038 |
3 | Arizona | $117,883 | $56.67 | 518 |
4 | New Hampshire | $114,038 | $54.83 | 135 |
5 | Oregon | $106,349 | $51.13 | 587 |
6 | Texas | $106,131 | $51.02 | 1,758 |
7 | Massachusetts | $104,715 | $50.34 | 944 |
8 | Michigan | $100,678 | $48.40 | 667 |
9 | Nevada | $106,536 | $51.22 | 123 |
10 | Pennsylvania | $101,186 | $48.65 | 752 |
11 | District of Columbia | $105,942 | $50.93 | 179 |
12 | Rhode Island | $99,029 | $47.61 | 92 |
13 | Idaho | $102,039 | $49.06 | 122 |
14 | Wisconsin | $96,569 | $46. 43 | 407 |
15 | Louisiana | $107,218 | $51.55 | 101 |
16 | New York | $98,521 | $47.37 | 1,244 |
17 | New Jersey | $104,273 | $50.13 | 483 |
18 | Connecticut | $95,326 | $45.83 | 301 |
19 | Montana | $95,871 | $46.09 | 81 |
20 | Ohio | $94,024 | $45.20 | 632 |
21 | Illinois | $95,065 | $45.70 | 830 |
22 | Delaware | $93,750 | $45.07 | 98 |
23 | North Carolina | $92,439 | $44.44 | 696 |
24 | Virginia | $93,447 | $44.93 | 846 |
25 | Maryland | $95,735 | $46.03 | 505 |
26 | Alaska | $94,677 | $45.52 | 56 |
27 | Maine | $91,268 | $43. 88 | 93 |
28 | Utah | $87,431 | $42.03 | 281 |
29 | Alabama | $91,877 | $44.17 | 253 |
30 | Minnesota | $89,766 | $43.16 | 551 |
31 | South Carolina | $91,552 | $44.02 | 246 |
32 | Georgia | $89,808 | $43.18 | 680 |
33 | West Virginia | $89,203 | $42.89 | 76 |
34 | Vermont | $85,527 | $41.12 | 70 |
35 | North Dakota | $86,027 | $41.36 | 58 |
36 | Kentucky | $88,361 | $42.48 | 189 |
37 | Indiana | $86,207 | $41.45 | 395 |
38 | Iowa | $85,094 | $40.91 | 225 |
39 | Tennessee | $85,509 | $41.11 | 289 |
40 | Colorado | $81,374 | $39. 12 | 510 |
41 | Nebraska | $84,830 | $40.78 | 114 |
42 | New Mexico | $83,277 | $40.04 | 105 |
43 | Wyoming | $76,676 | $36.86 | 45 |
44 | Kansas | $78,548 | $37.76 | 191 |
45 | Oklahoma | $82,444 | $39.64 | 117 |
46 | Missouri | $82,971 | $39.89 | 320 |
47 | Hawaii | $75,780 | $36.43 | 55 |
48 | South Dakota | $77,402 | $37.21 | 53 |
49 | Florida | $77,517 | $37.27 | 952 |
50 | Arkansas | $77,055 | $37.05 | 119 |
51 | Mississippi | $77,859 | $37.43 | 72 |
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Top Design Manager Jobs Near You
Highest Paying Cities For Design Managers
Rank | City | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate |
---|---|---|---|
1 | San Francisco, CA | $138,165 | $66.43 |
2 | Phoenix, AZ | $118,552 | $57.00 |
3 | Seattle, WA | $117,742 | $56.61 |
4 | Austin, TX | $107,420 | $51.64 |
5 | Portland, OR | $106,734 | $51.31 |
6 | Washington, DC | $105,986 | $50.95 |
7 | Boston, MA | $104,718 | $50.35 |
8 | Jersey City, NJ | $104,271 | $50.13 |
9 | Philadelphia, PA | $101,726 | $48.91 |
10 | New York, NY | $98,789 | $47.49 |
11 | Baltimore, MD | $95,903 | $46.11 |
12 | Madison, WI | $95,875 | $46.09 |
13 | Chicago, IL | $95,435 | $45.88 |
14 | McLean, VA | $94,463 | $45. 41 |
15 | Columbus, OH | $94,034 | $45.21 |
Design Manager Salary by Years of Experience
The salary for a design manager can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. An accountant with 0-2 years of experience earns an average salary of $57,294, a mid-career professional with 3-6 years of experience makes $102,637 a year on average, and a senior level accountant with 7-12 years of experience enjoys an average annual salary of $132,763. Data on how experience level affects total compensation is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of their National Compensation Survey, which is based on factors such as knowledge, complexity, contacts, and environment.
Entry Level
Senior Level
Design Managers Salary Details
Average Design Manager Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary
What is a Design Manager’s Salary?
Percentile | Annual Salary | Monthly Salary | Hourly Rate |
---|---|---|---|
90th Percentile | $150,000 | $12,500 | $72 |
75th Percentile | $125,000 | $10,417 | $60 |
Average | $102,637 | $8,553 | $49 |
25th Percentile | $83,000 | $6,917 | $40 |
10th Percentile | $69,000 | $5,750 | $33 |
Highest Paying Types of Design Managers
Job Title | Annual Salary | Monthly Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
Engineering Supervisor | $97,535 | $8,128 | $46. 89 | 57,046 |
Engineering Director | $162,252 | $13,521 | $78.01 | 63,868 |
Research And Development Director | $137,944 | $11,495 | $66.32 | 102,901 |
Vice President Of Engineering | $150,651 | $12,554 | $72.43 | 92,133 |
Manufacturing Engineering Manager | $112,535 | $9,378 | $54.10 | 83,671 |
Research And Development Manager | $117,507 | $9,792 | $56.49 | 125,447 |
Here are the five companies hiring the most now:
- Meta Jobs (43)
- Apple Jobs (62)
- Texas Instruments Jobs (81)
- Micron Technology Jobs (19)
- Starbucks Jobs (42)
Which Companies Pay Design Managers The Most?
The highest paying companies for design managers are Meta and Airbnb according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like Google and NVIDIA report highly competitive wages for design managers.
How Much Do Design Managers Make In Different Industries?
Design manager salaries can vary depending on the industry. In fact, our data shows that the technology, hospitality, and manufacturing industries tend to offer much higher salaries for design managers. For example, design managers make a whopping average salary of $121,279 while working in the technology industry. Meanwhile, other people in this field are making $118,458 in the hospitality industry and $116,545 in the manufacturing industry.
Design managers may want to avoid working in the health care industry as it offers the lowest average salary of $82,017.
Highest Paying Industries For Design Managers
Rank | Industry | Average Salary | Hourly Rate |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Technology | $121,279 | $58.31 |
2 | Hospitality | $118,458 | $56.95 |
3 | Manufacturing | $116,545 | $56. 03 |
4 | Retail | $107,303 | $51.59 |
5 | Professional | $99,047 | $47.62 |
6 | Health Care | $82,017 | $39.43 |
High Paying Design Manager Jobs
Design Manager Pay Trends
Average Design Manager Salary Over Time
Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Recently Added Design Manager Salaries
Design Manager Salaries FAQs
What State Pays Design Managers The Most?
California pays Design Managers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $129,024 per year, or $62.03 per hour.
How Do I Know If I’m Being Paid Fairly As A Design Manager?
You know if you are being paid fairly as a Design Manager if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Arizona you should be paid close to $117,883 per year.
Have more questions? See all answers to common executive management questions.
Search For Design Manager Jobs
Updated February 6, 2023
Design Manager Salary in Australia (February, 2023) – SEEK
Design Manager Salary in Australia (February, 2023) – SEEK
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12345 … 27 then
90,000 guide for a designer, who becomes a
Manager and the first mantras.
Ivan Rogovchenko, Chief Design Officer of TECHIIA holding, has been working in the field of design for 15 years and heads creative teams for three of them. Ivan told Telegraf.Design what problems a designer faces as a project manager and how he can get used to new tasks. This is the first article in a series on the transformation of a designer into a manager.
One morning designer Ivan suddenly woke up as a manager. And everything worked right for him. When he came to work, he never took up the sketches for the project, did not get into the fonts and layout of the forms. No, Ivan clearly distributed the creative tasks among the team. He himself collected ideas at a rally, resolved a couple of conflicts, and conducted three interviews. And after lunch, I calmly drew up a budget for a new project and criteria for future illustrators.
Sound familiar?
I don’t.
In my 15 years in design, I have never met such an Ivan who turned from an executive creative person into an effective manager overnight. It is always a process. In life, a designer goes through a long chain of doubts, challenges, and mindsets before becoming the head of a design team. In fact, and not just by position on the business card.
How to distribute tasks in a team? How to recruit people? How to organize creativity? What to look for in the results? What tools to use? How to communicate with other departments? Is becoming a manager really worth it? You will have to find your own answers to all these questions.
I’ll try to give you support in your search. This is not a summary of book methods, even if it looks similar in places. Only my experience and rake in managing design teams: from a couple of people three years ago to 60+ designers in almost all directions now. I hope you find it useful even if you are new to management and if you have experience, but from time to time you hit a wall.
Recommendations are divided into several blocks. Let’s start with the root – ideas to manage.
Three myths about leadership that need to be broken
First there was a question. And the question was “why”. Why are you moving to design managers?
Most often I hear in response that a person wants:
- increase income;
- engage in cooler and more challenging creative tasks;
- earn fame and status (nothing to be ashamed of).
Oddly enough, none of these arguments can be directly linked to the transition to management.
1. The income of design manager, art director and creative director within the same company can be very close. And on a market scale, an ordinary designer of a famous agency will outbid the manager of the creative team of a start-up company in terms of salary. Management is far from the first and not the only way to earn more. Money is everywhere. But if you choose the wrong way of development, very soon they will cease to inspire you.
Rarely, but I meet cases when a specialist is satisfied with the work and tasks, but the salary is not. This is definitely not a reason to become a leader. The simplest thing is to find out how it is possible to raise the rate at the current place. Also, through the analysis of vacancies and interviews, check whether the market is ready to pay more for your existing skills – and how much more.
2. Manager’s tasks do not get a higher degree of coolness and complexity. They change drastically. When you move into management, design disappears from your agenda. Gradually, but inevitably. The work is moved to PowerPoint, Excel, task managers. You leave the usual creative space and communicate more and more with HRs, founders, managers of other areas.
For example, from the design, I still have point tasks for the design of various tables, presentations for founders, investors, shareholders on new projects, products and holding companies.
The whole focus has shifted to soft skills and classic managerial tasks:
- determine the right goals;
- form a plan to achieve the goals;
- develop standards;
- generate a budget;
- assemble and train a team;
- receive and process feedback;
- manage conflicts;
- motivate the team.
In general, much more will depend on your human qualities than on your ability to draw. If you’re ready to grow, but want to keep doing cool creative stuff on your own, you’ll be more comfortable as an art director or creative director.
3. Slava , like creativity, goes by the wayside in design management. You work in the shadows like a special agent. Help others create the most effective things and not be distracted by what hinders them. The number of own cases drops to zero. Consider if this is right for you. Hello harsh reality.
What to expect? In my experience, the manager’s path is more likely to be of interest to those who:
- has enough hands-on experience and is willing/able to teach others;
- sees and sometimes “feels” the interrelationships in the team – and has suggestions on how to make it and its results stronger;
- wants to work with the design process as a mechanism and an organism.
Small exercise. Imagine these items as shoes and try them on for yourself. If the color is pleasant, it doesn’t press on the fingers, it doesn’t rub the heel, it doesn’t squeeze the leg, but it doesn’t fall off either, move on.
Transition options in a nutshell
So you’ve become a design team manager. First of all, how could this happen? Promotion always has some prerequisites, even if you silently drew logos in the corner. The main reason is that you have begun to bring more value and value to the company.
In design, as in other areas, there are two ways to increase the value of . Or the designer goes deep into : polishes professional skills, creates more and more stunning creatives and works faster than others. Or vice versa – expands context .
As a rule, it is the second person who comes to the managerial position. At some point, in addition to the usual closing of tasks, he starts to pick up more. He sees weaknesses in the organization and offers options for strengthening. Helps colleagues, especially new ones, to move into work. Picks up “burning” tasks when there is no one else. Takes more responsibility for projects. This is the classic way to get promoted .
Second option – change job to get a higher position . Changing the company, of course, does not solve anything in itself – you still need to justify your desire with relevant achievements. For example, based on how you brought additional value in the previous place.
Sometimes a new position is a forced measure. For example, the project has expanded, there is more work, and the designer can get new people to help . If he doesn’t have a strong stigma for controlling others, this could be a great career move. Did you recognize yourself?
Two mantras for a new manager
You are in a new professional skin. You have been renamed in HR documents. They made new business cards and a signature on the mail. Most importantly, you already have people behind you. So it’s time for two major changes.
Change #1 – now you have other tasks.
As an executive designer, you were involved in a linear design process: monitoring problems and opportunities —> task formation and prioritization —> design solution development —> testing —> result transfer and implementation.
Now the design process needs to be serviced outside of it. You do not create, but create the conditions for others to create. So on your shoulders fall:
- design strategy and development of internal standards;
- team recruitment, training and management;
- budget planning;
- work with contractors, freelancers, related agencies;
- scaling;
- sync.
It seems to be simple. But even if yesterday you said “I can’t see these sketches anymore, take tasks away from me”, today the brain turns on resistance like “I’ll do it better myself!”. Trite – a habit. There are two options left: either cherish the old automatisms, or develop new ones in a disciplined manner.
Get inspired to integrate your managerial role…
Change #2 – now the result can be much better.
Living example. A few years ago I wanted to learn how to make isometric illustrations for a long time. I watched the videos, bookmarked the courses and promised myself that next month I would definitely master them. So a year and a half passed, since the main tasks were with the head.
Once, as a manager, I hired a person who, among other things, draws cool isometrics. And then an insight hit me: I don’t need to dig myself into all sorts of technologies. It is enough to find those who will embody design ideas and tasks. Sounds obvious, but you should have seen me at that moment.
Then I realized that it is not necessary to take people on a full-time basis. Need a couple of specific illustrations? Find a smart freelancer for them. The project will have 3D images, but there is no 3D designer on staff? Let’s take a pro for this project.
Do not rush into the embrasure yourself – look for and organize those who will solve tactical problems. Now you are the nervous system of a large organism called the “team”. Your main task is communication. It needs to be pumped as hard as you once mastered fonts, 3D graphics or UX elements.