This is a question that has been on everyone's minds for quite some time, and for good reason:
There are so many people who want to be Web Designers, but there are not enough Web Designers. Due to this fact, the demand for designers has been increasing over the years while supply continues to slow down.
I'll go over the salary and other factors associated with the profession including how much you can expect to make in your career as a Web Designer.
Web Designers are paid on a variety of levels; the lowest range of a Designer's salary is $30,000 while the highest ranges are $80,000 and beyond. This can fluctuate depending on location and experience.
When considering all factors that influence income, the starting salary should be in the ballpark of $50,000 to $60,000 per year for a Web Designer. I say this with reservation because it varies from season to season.
A report done by Software Designers to educate young designers on the job market ranked designers who had a one-year career as architects at $52,000 with a salary of $77,355 by Year 2,
Which was calculated by averaging starting salaries with entry-level salaries and adding 1% for every six months of experience. You can imagine that this number reflects the economy of 2008 when the economic crisis hit.
If you're an entry-level designer, then I'd advise against taking any other job besides being a Web Designer. The pay is just too high to give up such a great job for something that pays less.
Famous designers who work for Yahoo's Design Team makeover $118,000 a year. That is a whole lot of money, especially considering how much college graduates can expect to make at the beginning of their careers.
A common mistake made by entry-level Web Designers is thinking that they'll have their foot in the door and will be able to leverage the experience into an even better position later on.
If you plan on doing this, don't quit your job while it's still paying well. If you do that, you'll be stuck at a job that pays less than you used to make and your career will suffer as a result.
If what I've said is true, then the highest range of salaries is worth the most. The average Web Designer's salary is $62,000. It's important to take note of the difference between salary and wages because that is where it gets tricky.
If you consider the average salary to be how much an employee makes in 1 year at work, then the average wage would be what they make per hour. This is a big difference and is often overlooked.
For example, if you're making $50,000 a year and you get a 5% annual raise, then your $60,000 salary next year would reflect that raise. That would be your yearly wage, which would also reflect in the corresponding salary range.
That's why it's important to consider the average salary and not just your annual salary by itself.
If you're making $50,000 a year at a job where $60,000 is your annual salary and you get an 8% raise, then they'll tell you that you have a yearly wage of $70,000 but in reality that's not what happens.
That's because your annual salary will only be $60,000 with the raise. Your 5% yearly raise would only be about $4,000.
The average wage is the amount you receive per year and it can be misleading because it isn't reflective of what your salary would be after receiving a raise. I've just explained why it's important to look at your salary in terms of annual wage and not just as a single number.
Web Designers who have been out of school for less than two years make about a minimum wage salary. This number is $12,276 or $24,475 per year on average.
If you're working full-time hours, then you won't want to spend that much time working for such a small amount of money.
Any Web Designer working for less than $24,475 a year should get a second job as quickly as possible.
It's important to consider the average wage of Web Designers when setting your salary expectations because it's reflective of what most designers make.
The average income in the United States is $40,000 per year, which makes it easier for you to compare your salary with how much other people make.
When comparing the two salaries, you'll see that Web Designers make much more than average Americans do.