Career
Salary insights
What UX and design roles pay, from the ranges companies publish on their jobs.
Indicative only. These figures come from the pay ranges published in the job listings on UknowUX. They are not a survey of what people are paid, only some listings state their pay, and what an employer actually offers can differ. Use them as a guide, not as a promise. How we researched and analysed them.
Median yearly pay
$244K
Half of the listings with published pay are above this, half below.
Middle half
$161K – $279K
From the 25th to the 75th percentile
Based on
24 listings
16 companies in 1 country
How listed pay is spread
Each column counts listings whose yearly midpoint falls in that band. The line marks the median.
| Band | Listings |
|---|---|
| $125K to $177K | 9 |
| $177K to $230K | 2 |
| $230K to $282K | 7 |
| $282K to $334K | 3 |
| $334K to $387K | 2 |
| $387K to $439K | 1 |
Break it down
By specialization 2 groups · highest median $269K
Falls back to the job title when a company does not name a specialization.
| Specialization | Range chart | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product Design |
|
$269K | $252K – $302K |
| UX Design |
|
$158K | $149K – $163K |
Bars run from $134K to $317K. The shaded band is the middle half of listings (limited data shows the full listed range); the line is the median. 1 group with fewer than 3 listings is not shown.
By seniority 1 group · highest median $244K
Taken from the listing or from words in the title such as Senior, Lead or Principal.
| Level | Range chart | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal / director |
|
$244K | $161K – $279K |
Bars run from $145K to $293K. The shaded band is the middle half of listings (limited data shows the full listed range); the line is the median.
By country 1 group · highest median $244K
| Country | Range chart | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States |
|
$244K | $161K – $279K |
Bars run from $145K to $293K. The shaded band is the middle half of listings (limited data shows the full listed range); the line is the median.
By city 2 groups · highest median $333K
Remote roles are not counted in a city.
| City | Range chart | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Franciscolimited |
|
$333K | $218K – $452K |
| New York |
|
$250K | $163K – $275K |
Bars run from $146K to $474K. The shaded band is the middle half of listings (limited data shows the full listed range); the line is the median. 5 groups with fewer than 3 listings are not shown.
By company 16 groups · highest median $439K
Every company with at least one listing that states its pay.
| Company | Range chart | Median | Listed range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vantalimited |
|
$439K | $365K – $513K |
| Figmalimited |
|
$333K | $290K – $376K |
| Ramplimited |
|
$309K | $200K – $440K |
| Slacklimited |
|
$292K | $218K – $452K |
| PermitFlowlimited |
|
$275K | $250K – $300K |
| Cyberhavenlimited |
|
$263K | $250K – $275K |
| Confidolimited |
|
$250K | $230K – $270K |
| Sirolimited |
|
$250K | $250K – $250K |
| Ethoslimited |
|
$241K | $165K – $323K |
| Ancestrylimited |
|
$202K | $195K – $208K |
| Capital Onelimited |
|
$163K | $152K – $173K |
| California Academy of Scienceslimited |
|
$158K | $150K – $165K |
Show 4 moreShow fewer
| Company | Range chart | Median | Listed range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Awaylimited |
|
$155K | $150K – $160K |
| Rochester Institute of Technologylimited |
|
$143K | $131K – $155K |
| Leading Educatorslimited |
|
$125K | $107K – $144K |
| Zeta Globallimited |
|
$125K | $120K – $130K |
Bars run from $96K to $539K. The shaded band is the full range companies listed; the line is the median.
The listings behind these numbers Highest pay first · 24 of 24
Highest pay first. Pay is shown as the company published it.
| Company | Role | Where | Pay as published | Yearly midpoint (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanta | Head of Design | United States | $365K – $513K | $439K |
| Ramp | Director, Product Design | New York, United States | $320,000–$440,000 / year | $380K |
| Slack | Slack VP, Product Design (Individual Contributor; Principal Architect) | San Francisco, United States | $257,500 - $451,700 | $355K |
| Figma | Director, Product Design - AI & Context | San Francisco, United States | $290,000–$376,000 / year | $333K |
| Slack | Senior Director, Product Design - Ecosystem | New York, United States | $218,400 - $365,200 | $292K |
| Slack | Senior Director, Product Design - Ecosystem | San Francisco, United States | $218,400 - $365,200 | $292K |
| PermitFlow | Principal Product Designer | New York, United States | $250,000–$300,000 / year | $275K |
| Cyberhaven | Director, Product Design | San Francisco Bay Area, United States | $250K – $275K | $263K |
| Cyberhaven | Director, Product Design | United States | $250K – $275K | $263K |
| Ethos | Director of Product Design | United States | $183,000 - $323,000 | $253K |
| Confido | Creative Director | New York, United States | $230,000–$270,000 / year | $250K |
| Siro | Director, Product Design | New York, United States | $250,000 / year | $250K |
| Ramp | Principal Brand Designer | New York, United States | $200,000–$275,000 / year | $238K |
| Ethos | Principal Product Designer | United States | $165,000 - $292,000 | $229K |
| Ancestry | Director of Product Design, Engage | United States | $195,000 - $208,000, | $202K |
| Capital One | Manager, Creative Director | McLean, United States | $151,900 - $173,400 | $163K |
| Capital One | Manager, Creative Director | Richmond, United States | $151,900 - $173,400 | $163K |
| Capital One | Manager, Creative Director | New York, United States | $151,900 - $173,400 | $163K |
| California Academy of Sciences | Associate Director, Creative Technology | California Academy of Sciences, United States | $150,000 - $165,000 | $158K |
| California Academy of Sciences | Associate Director of Experience Design | California Academy of Sciences, United States | $150,000 - $165,000 | $158K |
| Away | Associate Design Director, Luggage | New York, United States | $150,000–$160,000 / year | $155K |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | Director Campus Planning, Design & University Architect | Rochester, United States | $130,800 - $155,000 | $143K |
| Leading Educators | Director of Implementation, Design, and Coaching - Aspire Bay Ed | United States | $106,551 - $144,157 | $125K |
| Zeta Global | Senior Art Director | New York, United States | $120,000 - $130,000, | $125K |
Methodology
Our research and analysis
A salary figure is only as good as the way it was gathered. This is how we turn the pay companies publish on their job listings into the numbers on this page, so you can judge them for yourself.
-
Step 1: Gather
We start from the open design, UX and research roles listed on UknowUX, taken from companies’ own careers pages and from employers who post here, and keep the ones that state a pay range. A role with no stated range is left out. We never estimate pay that a company has not published.
-
Step 2: Read and clean
Companies write pay in many ways: “$105K – $115K”, “£50K – £65K”, “HUF 1.5M per month”. We read each into a currency, a range and a period, and set aside any we cannot read with confidence. The city and country come from the location the company wrote, so a role in Bengaluru at a company headquartered elsewhere counts as India.
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Step 3: Standardise
So that roles can be compared, we keep full-time roles only: internships, part-time and contract pay are not comparable with a yearly salary. Each job becomes one yearly midpoint (monthly pay × 12, daily × 260, hourly × 2,080), converted into the currency you choose at approximate daily rates (open.er-api.com (daily mid-market rates), 22 Oct 2026).
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Step 4: Analyse
We report the median and the middle half (the 25th to the 75th percentile) rather than the average, because a few very high ranges would pull an average up. We compare by specialization, seniority, country, city and company. A group needs at least 3 listings to appear (a company shows its own published range from one listing), and fewer than 5 is marked “limited”.
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Step 5: Show our working
Every figure can be traced. The listings behind these numbers are shown above, each linking to the job and to its pay exactly as the company wrote it, so you can check any result.
In this view: 24 listings from 16 companies in 1 country, using the filters you have chosen.
What this analysis cannot tell you
- It is not a survey. The figures describe what companies say they expect to offer, not what people are paid. Your own offer depends on your experience and on negotiation.
- Only part of the market is visible. Pay appears only on listings that state it, and coverage is uneven: some countries and companies publish pay far less than others, so figures there are thinner or missing.
- Pay is more than salary. Bonuses, equity and benefits are not included, and amounts are not adjusted for the cost of living in each place.
- Exchange rates are indicative. They are daily mid-market rates, not what a bank would give you.
We refresh the figures as listings open and close. Use them as a guide for planning and negotiation, not as financial advice.