What a web designer costs in the US
The wage BLS measured across 113,330 jobs, what an employer pays on top of it, the pay in every state, and which of the job's core tasks already show up in AI use.
Medians for the whole US. Your own cost depends on where you hire, the benefits you offer and the hours worked.
- Median wage
- $104,000
- Hourly wage
- $50.00
- Loaded per hour
- $62.28
- Middle half earns
- $73,290 to $158,820
- Jobs in the US
- 113,330
Wage × 1.2455 for benefits and payroll taxes, from BLS.
A web designer in the US is paid a median $104,000 a year, $50.00 an hour, across 113,330 jobs. With benefits, a small employer pays about $129,530. Of its 10 core tasks, 9 showed up in Claude.ai conversations in May 2026, and in 6 of those Claude mostly did the task rather than assisting.
The work, task by task
The 10 core tasks O*NET lists for web and digital interface designers, most important first, and how each showed up in Claude.ai conversations in May 2026. The bar splits those conversations between Claude doing the task and Claude helping a person do it.
- 01Identify problems uncovered by testing or customer feedback, and correct problems or refer problems to appropriate personnel for correction.Claude.ai: 87% did the task, 13% helped · API: 95% did the task
- 02Design, build, or maintain Web sites, using authoring or scripting languages, content creation tools, management tools, and digital media.Claude.ai: 53% did the task, 47% helped · API: 81% did the task
- 03Write supporting code for Web applications or Web sites.Claude.ai: 57% did the task, 43% helped · API: 86% did the task
- 04Perform Web site tests according to planned schedules, or after any Web site or product revision.Claude.ai: 100% did the task, 0% helped · API: 98% did the task
- 05Collaborate with web development professionals, such as front-end or back-end developers, to complete the full scope of Web development projects.Claude.ai: 68% did the task, 32% helped
- 06Develop new visual design concepts and modify concepts based on stakeholder feedback.Claude.ai: 19% did the task, 81% helped · API: 75% did the task
- 07Maintain understanding of current Web technologies or programming practices through continuing education, reading, or participation in professional conferences, workshops, or groups.
- 08Respond to user email inquiries, or set up automated systems to send responses.Claude.ai: 49% did the task, 51% helped · API: 97% did the task
- 09Conduct user research to determine design requirements and analyze user feedback to improve design quality.Claude.ai: 48% did the task, 52% helped · API: 98% did the task
- 10Perform or direct Web site updates.Claude.ai: 77% did the task, 23% helped · API: 83% did the task
9 of 10 tasks appear in the Claude.ai sample of the Anthropic Economic Index for May 2026. A task without a row had too few conversations for Anthropic to publish, which is not the same as none. Shares are of all sampled Claude.ai conversations, so small figures are normal: 1.70% of every conversation that month was about this occupation.
Pay by state
The median annual wage in each state and DC, and the same wage fully loaded. California pays the most, $136,110; Mississippi the least, $48,550. BLS publishes no figure where its sample is too small, which leaves 5 gaps here.
| State | Median wage | Fully loaded | Middle half | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $51,860 | $64,590 | $48,730 to $96,450 | 130 |
| Alaska | $71,300 | $88,800 | $60,650 to $87,410 | 30 |
| Arizona | $98,070 | $122,150 | $76,540 to $145,620 | 810 |
| Arkansas | Not published | · | · | · |
| California | $136,110 | $169,530 | $91,600 to $191,960 | 27,090 |
| Colorado | $95,880 | $119,420 | $78,450 to $132,620 | 3,250 |
| Connecticut | $94,660 | $117,900 | $67,250 to $100,060 | 1,060 |
| Delaware | $93,880 | $116,930 | $66,520 to $106,190 | 130 |
| District of Columbia | $107,650 | $134,080 | $85,040 to $136,480 | 480 |
| Florida | $77,730 | $96,810 | $60,880 to $108,800 | 4,620 |
| Georgia | $103,810 | $129,300 | $81,950 to $142,110 | 2,800 |
| Hawaii | Not published | · | · | 50 |
| Idaho | $64,250 | $80,020 | $49,850 to $98,960 | 340 |
| Illinois | $85,710 | $106,750 | $67,580 to $129,810 | 2,050 |
| Indiana | $63,430 | $79,000 | $58,980 to $85,100 | 1,160 |
| Iowa | $69,060 | $86,010 | $48,330 to $84,220 | 670 |
| Kansas | $70,620 | $87,960 | $55,380 to $93,100 | 200 |
| Kentucky | $77,000 | $95,900 | $67,540 to $93,460 | 590 |
| Louisiana | $68,790 | $85,680 | $50,030 to $91,090 | 170 |
| Maine | Not published | · | · | 380 |
| Maryland | $96,760 | $120,510 | $68,890 to $130,470 | 1,310 |
| Massachusetts | $113,540 | $141,410 | $86,420 to $157,510 | 2,740 |
| Michigan | $81,010 | $100,900 | $58,000 to $113,120 | 1,750 |
| Minnesota | $82,650 | $102,940 | $63,100 to $100,360 | 1,520 |
| Mississippi | $48,550 | $60,470 | $48,260 to $69,780 | 230 |
| Missouri | $70,970 | $88,390 | $52,200 to $90,920 | 1,210 |
| Montana | $77,030 | $95,940 | $63,520 to $138,520 | 100 |
| Nebraska | $65,520 | $81,610 | $51,710 to $83,170 | 720 |
| Nevada | $80,120 | $99,790 | $63,990 to $120,050 | 1,180 |
| New Hampshire | $111,150 | $138,440 | $69,990 to $145,580 | 430 |
| New Jersey | $95,310 | $118,710 | $71,160 to $130,590 | 2,170 |
| New Mexico | $53,300 | $66,390 | $43,040 to $79,620 | 200 |
| New York | $120,990 | $150,690 | $94,620 to $167,590 | 16,560 |
| North Carolina | $97,990 | $122,050 | $63,920 to $133,860 | 3,400 |
| North Dakota | $64,260 | $80,040 | $59,050 to $80,500 | 40 |
| Ohio | $83,360 | $103,820 | $60,490 to $125,600 | 2,520 |
| Oklahoma | $76,440 | $95,210 | $51,140 to $90,040 | 340 |
| Oregon | $102,220 | $127,320 | $77,110 to $140,370 | 1,230 |
| Pennsylvania | $104,160 | $129,730 | $74,230 to $129,220 | 2,820 |
| Rhode Island | $105,990 | $132,010 | $76,350 to $137,110 | 240 |
| South Carolina | $80,930 | $100,800 | $57,870 to $101,740 | 800 |
| South Dakota | Not published | · | · | · |
| Tennessee | $63,510 | $79,100 | $57,890 to $63,510 | 3,610 |
| Texas | $102,650 | $127,850 | $78,480 to $138,430 | 5,910 |
| Utah | $99,990 | $124,540 | $79,130 to $131,430 | 1,060 |
| Vermont | Not published | · | · | · |
| Virginia | $77,140 | $96,080 | $54,790 to $102,370 | 1,990 |
| Washington | $130,480 | $162,510 | $75,570 to $170,400 | 11,580 |
| West Virginia | $71,880 | $89,530 | $52,580 to $133,360 | 200 |
| Wisconsin | $95,340 | $118,750 | $71,020 to $103,530 | 880 |
| Wyoming | $67,020 | $83,470 | $51,710 to $94,420 | 110 |
The same benefits ratio applies in every state, because BLS does not publish benefit costs by business size for each state. The middle half is the 25th to 75th percentile wage.
Where the numbers come from
Every figure is copied from a public file. The only arithmetic is the loaded cost: the wage times 1.2455.
- Wages
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 15-1255 (Web and Digital Interface Designers). Annual figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours, as BLS computes them, so they already include pay for paid leave.
- Fully loaded
- BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026 (2026 Q2), private businesses with 1 to 49 workers: $37.64 an hour in total compensation over $27.88 in wages plus $2.34 in paid leave gives 1.2455. Paid leave sits in the denominator because the annual wage already pays it.
- Tasks
- O*NET 31.0 core tasks for 15-1255.00, the ten most important by their importance rating. A few occupations list fewer core tasks.
- AI use
- Anthropic Economic Index, release of June 2026, conversations from May 2026. "Did the task" is Anthropic's automation share, where the user directs Claude to do the work; "helped" is augmentation, where the user works with Claude to learn, check or iterate.
- Not measured
- What a particular business pays, and whether an AI system can do a task well. The AI figures count conversations about a task, not jobs replaced.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. AI use data from the Anthropic Economic Index by Anthropic, under CC BY. Wage and benefit data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What would an AI system cost for this work?
Put $129,530 beside the running cost of a system doing the tasks above, with the build counted in year one.
BLS wages May 2025 · O*NET 31.0 · Anthropic Economic Index