Quick answer
Web designers in the US earn a median of $50.00 an hour ($104,000 a year), according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data for May 2025. The middle half earn $35.24 to $76.36. Self-employed web designers usually bill more, about $115 an hour at the median wage, to cover taxes, overhead, unbilled time, and profit.
Web designers pay in the US
Hourly wages for 113,330 employed web designers, May 2025.
| Lowest 10% | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile | Top 10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $25.84 | $35.24 | $50.00 | $76.36 | $96.90 |
Turn a wage into a billing rate
Wages above are what employers pay web designers. If you work for yourself, your rate also has to cover what an employer would pay for. Change any number to match your business.
Starts at the national median for web designers
Self-employment tax, liability insurance, benefits
Hours you can charge for after quotes, travel, and admin
Tools, vehicle, software, marketing
What the business keeps after paying you
$115 per hour
Pay x (1 + taxes) x (1 + overhead) x (1 + profit), divided by billable time. This is an estimate to start from, not a market price.
Pay by state
Median hourly pay in the 46 states with published data, highest first.
| State | Median | Middle half | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $65.44 | $44.04 to $92.29 | 27,090 |
| Washington | $62.73 | $36.33 to $81.92 | 11,580 |
| New York | $58.17 | $45.49 to $80.57 | 16,560 |
| Massachusetts | $54.59 | $41.55 to $75.73 | 2,740 |
| New Hampshire | $53.44 | $33.65 to $69.99 | 430 |
| District of Columbia | $51.76 | $40.88 to $65.61 | 480 |
| Rhode Island | $50.96 | $36.71 to $65.92 | 240 |
| Pennsylvania | $50.08 | $35.69 to $62.12 | 2,820 |
| Georgia | $49.91 | $39.40 to $68.32 | 2,800 |
| Texas | $49.35 | $37.73 to $66.55 | 5,910 |
| Oregon | $49.14 | $37.07 to $67.49 | 1,230 |
| Utah | $48.07 | $38.04 to $63.19 | 1,060 |
| Arizona | $47.15 | $36.80 to $70.01 | 810 |
| North Carolina | $47.11 | $30.73 to $64.36 | 3,400 |
| Maryland | $46.52 | $33.12 to $62.73 | 1,310 |
| Colorado | $46.10 | $37.72 to $63.76 | 3,250 |
| Wisconsin | $45.84 | $34.15 to $49.77 | 880 |
| New Jersey | $45.82 | $34.21 to $62.79 | 2,170 |
| Connecticut | $45.51 | $32.33 to $48.11 | 1,060 |
| Delaware | $45.14 | $31.98 to $51.05 | 130 |
| Illinois | $41.21 | $32.49 to $62.41 | 2,050 |
| Ohio | $40.08 | $29.08 to $60.39 | 2,520 |
| Minnesota | $39.74 | $30.34 to $48.25 | 1,520 |
| Michigan | $38.95 | $27.88 to $54.38 | 1,750 |
| South Carolina | $38.91 | $27.82 to $48.91 | 800 |
| Nevada | $38.52 | $30.76 to $57.72 | 1,180 |
| Florida | $37.37 | $29.27 to $52.31 | 4,620 |
| Virginia | $37.09 | $26.34 to $49.22 | 1,990 |
| Montana | $37.03 | $30.54 to $66.60 | 100 |
| Kentucky | $37.02 | $32.47 to $44.93 | 590 |
| Oklahoma | $36.75 | $24.59 to $43.29 | 340 |
| West Virginia | $34.56 | $25.28 to $64.12 | 200 |
| Alaska | $34.28 | $29.16 to $42.02 | 30 |
| Missouri | $34.12 | $25.09 to $43.71 | 1,210 |
| Kansas | $33.95 | $26.62 to $44.76 | 200 |
| Iowa | $33.20 | $23.24 to $40.49 | 670 |
| Louisiana | $33.07 | $24.05 to $43.79 | 170 |
| Wyoming | $32.22 | $24.86 to $45.39 | 110 |
| Nebraska | $31.50 | $24.86 to $39.99 | 720 |
| North Dakota | $30.90 | $28.39 to $38.70 | 40 |
| Idaho | $30.89 | $23.97 to $47.58 | 340 |
| Tennessee | $30.53 | $27.83 to $30.53 | 3,610 |
| Indiana | $30.49 | $28.35 to $40.92 | 1,160 |
| New Mexico | $25.63 | $20.69 to $38.28 | 200 |
| Alabama | $24.93 | $23.43 to $46.37 | 130 |
| Mississippi | $23.34 | $23.20 to $33.55 | 230 |
States are left out when BLS does not publish an estimate for them.
Web designers pay FAQ
How much do web designers make an hour?
The national median is $50.00 an hour. The lowest-paid 10% earn under $25.84 and the top 10% earn over $96.90. Pay depends on location, experience, and specialty.
Which state pays web designers the most?
California has the highest median at $65.44 an hour, and Mississippi the lowest at $23.34, among the 46 states with published data. Higher-paying states usually have higher living costs too.
How much should a self-employed web designer charge per hour?
Start from the pay you want, then add taxes and insurance, overhead, and profit, and divide by the share of hours you can bill. At the median wage and our default assumptions, that comes to about $115 an hour. Use the calculator on this page to plug in your own numbers.
Where does this pay data come from?
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), occupation "Web and Digital Interface Designers". It covers employees on payrolls, not self-employed workers or business owners.
Source
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 15-1255 "Web and Digital Interface Designers". Figures are wages for employees and do not include self-employed workers. The billing rate is our estimate using the assumptions in the calculator.