Compared with the local labor market
Graphic Designer III pay vs. California
Across all employers in California, the median wage for Graphic Designers — about 27,390 people — is $75,130. Arts Council pays a median base salary of $91,645 for this role, 22% above that figure — about the 67th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Arts Council sits in the local pay range
$46,190
$55,500
$75,130
$99,240
$129,560
Arts Council median · $91,645
The bar is the range of annual wages for Graphic Designers across every employer in California, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Arts Council’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Graphic Designers — about 197,830 people — is $62,960. Arts Council’s median base salary is 46% above that national figure, about the 81st percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$39,520
$49,040
$62,960
$81,830
$104,910
Arts Council median · $91,645
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the California range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Arts Council is $92,443, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Graphic Designer beyond California
This role is reported in 6 jurisdictions. In California, the median of $87,609 ranks #1 of 6. See Graphic Designer across all of California →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Graphic Designer roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.