Video Game Designer Salary for 2027

Game Designer Salary in 60 Seconds

• The top 10% earn 3.7 times the bottom 10%. The median is $104,000 and the middle half earned $73,290 to $158,820. The bottom 10% earned under $53,750 and the top 10% over $201,550, so where you land inside the spread matters more than the median. Pay Range ›
• BLS has no game designer occupation. O*NET files video game designers as a specialty within web and digital interface designers. Most of its workers design websites, apps and software interfaces, so treat the figure as the market your skills are paid in, not a studio offer. What It Measures ›
• New designers should expect the bottom of the range. The 10th percentile was $53,750 and the 25th $73,290, the closest guide to a first job. In O*NET's survey, 55% said a new hire needs a bachelor's, so a degree can decide whether you get the interview. New Graduates ›
• Mississippi's median is $48,550. California pays most at $136,110, then Washington at $130,480. California, New York and Washington hold about 49% of the jobs, and California alone employs 27,090, so a school near that cluster makes internships easier to reach. State Pay ›
• Shipped games are the clearest pay signal. A credit on a released game tells the next employer most. A specialty such as systems, economy, combat or level design sharpens your pitch, and designers who script in an engine can prototype without waiting on a programmer. Raising Your Pay ›
• Four years of school runs about $65,000 to $122,000. Median net price is $16,282 a year at public schools and $30,450 at private ones in our ranking. Against the $104,000 median, that equals about 0.6 years of pay at public schools and 1.2 at private. Degree Cost ›

Heads up Most workers in this occupation design websites and apps, not games, so treat the figure as the market for your skills.

The range

How Much Game Designers Make

Half of the workers in the occupation earned more than $104,000 and half earned less. The middle half earned between $73,290 and $158,820. The top 10% earned 3.7 times what the bottom 10% did, which is a wide spread for one occupation, and it's the most useful thing on this page: where you land inside it matters more than the median.

Lowest 10%

$53,750

$25.84/hr

25th percentile

$73,290

$35.24/hr

Median

$104,000

$50.00/hr

75th percentile

$158,820

$76.36/hr

Top 10%

$201,550

$96.90/hr

In hourly terms the median works out to $50 an hour. About 113,330 people were employed in the occupation nationally.

Percentiles

Game Designer Pay by Percentile

People ask how much game designers make as if there were one answer. There are five useful ones, and each describes a different kind of designer. A percentile is the share of workers who earned less than that figure.

Why the Average Is Higher Than the Median

BLS also publishes a mean, or average, wage for the occupation, and it was $117,490. That's $13,490 above the median. The average is pulled up by a smaller group of very well paid workers at the top of the range, so the median is the fairer picture of a typical designer. When a site quotes a single game designer salary, check whether it's a median, an average, or a figure from a small private survey.

Reading the Steps

It takes $30,710 to get from the 25th percentile to the median, and $54,820 to get from the median to the 75th. The last climb, from the 75th to the 90th, is $42,730. The biggest steps are at the top, and the people up there are usually in senior, lead or specialist roles, or they work in a high-paying state. For an hourly comparison, the 10th percentile works out to about $25.84 an hour on the schedule implied by the median, which is 2080 paid hours a year.

What's counted

What This Game Designer Salary Figure Measures

The Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers about occupations, not industries, and it has no occupation called game designer. O*NET, the Labor Department's job database, files video game designers as a specialty within web and digital interface designers. The job titles O*NET lists for that specialty include Design Director, Designer, Environmental Artist, Game Design Consultant, Game Designer, Gamemaster.

So the figure on this page describes the whole occupation. Most of its workers design websites, apps and software interfaces, not games. Treat it as the market a game designer's skills are paid in, not as what a particular studio will offer. Studio pay depends on the studio's size, the game's budget and where the job is, and none of those are in the federal data.

What O*NET does say about the game specialty is useful for your expectations. The tasks it lists first include "Balance and adjust gameplay experiences to ensure the critical and commercial success of the product" and "Devise missions, challenges, or puzzles to be encountered in game play." That's the work the pay is for.

The Work in More Detail

Further down the O*NET task list are "Create core game features, including storylines, role-play mechanics, and character biographies for a new video game or game franchise," "Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines" and "Create and manage documentation, production schedules, prototyping goals, and communication plans in collaboration with production staff." Notice how much of it is writing, meetings and coordination. A designer spends a large share of the week communicating: documenting a mechanic so programmers can build it, explaining a decision to artists, and responding to feedback from testers. Pay follows the people who do that well, because a game with a clear design is cheaper to build.

It also means the skills that raise your pay are not only creative ones. Clear writing, comfort with spreadsheets for balancing numbers, and the ability to prototype in an engine all show up in real design work. The what is game design article explains the discipline, and game design vs. game development explains how it differs from programming.

Starting out

Game Designer Salary for New Graduates

BLS doesn't break pay down by experience. The bottom of the range is the closest guide to a first job: the 10th percentile was $53,750 and the 25th percentile $73,290. Some designers start in a related role, such as QA testing, before moving into design. Software QA analysts and testers had a median of $104,300, and the game tester career guide covers that route.

A degree doesn't set your starting salary, but it can decide whether you get the interview. In O*NET's survey of video game designers, 55% said a new hire needs a bachelor's degree. The best game design schools ranking compares the programs on cost and completion, which matters here: a degree that costs less leaves more of a modest first salary in your pocket.

By experience

How a Game Designer's Pay Changes Over a Career

BLS doesn't publish pay by years of experience, so any exact salary for a "junior" or "senior" designer on a federal page would be invented. What the percentiles do support is a rough map. It's a reading of the range, not a measurement.

• Starting out. Expect the bottom of the range: under $53,750 for the lowest tenth and under $73,290 for the lowest quarter.
• Established. Designers with several shipped credits and a clear specialty are likelier to be around the median of $104,000.
• Senior and lead. The 75th and 90th percentiles, $158,820 and $201,550, include the people who run design teams or hold specialist roles.

That map has limits. A designer at a small studio can have a lot of responsibility and still be paid near the bottom. A designer in a high-paying state can reach the upper range sooner than one elsewhere. And because the occupation includes many non-game workers, the upper range may be driven by software and web employers.

The career path in games is also less linear than the table suggests. Designers often change studios to move up, because a new employer will pay for the skills you've built when your current one may not. Layoffs and canceled projects are part of the industry, so a few years of steady pay can be followed by a gap. Keep your portfolio current even while you're employed, and read the game design portfolio article before you need it.

By state

Video Game Designer Salary by State

California pays the occupation the most, at a median of $136,110, followed by Washington at $130,480 and New York at $120,990. At the other end, Mississippi has the lowest published median, $48,550. These aren't adjusted for living costs, and the high-paying states are expensive ones.

The jobs are concentrated too. California, New York, Washington together hold about 49% of the occupation's jobs. California alone employs 27,090. If you're planning where to study, a school near a cluster of employers makes internships easier to reach.

What Drives Pay by State

BLS publishes a median for 46 states and districts, and 8 of them are above the national median of $104,000. The gap between the highest and lowest state is $87,560. California employs the most people in the occupation, about 27,090.

Several things push a state's median up: the number of large software and technology employers, the cost of living, and how many senior workers live there. Game studios cluster in a smaller set of metro areas than these state totals suggest, so a state's figure is only a loose guide to what a studio in one of its cities pays. If you're choosing where to study or move, look at the studios within reach and the game design schools by state page, then check what housing costs.

Level design

Level Designer Salary

O*NET lists level designer and world designer among the job titles inside video game designers, so a level designer's federal pay figures are the same as everything above: a median of $104,000, with the middle half between $73,290 and $158,820. Level design is one of the more common ways into a design team, because a level is a self-contained piece of work you can put in a portfolio. The level designer career guide covers the job.

The same caution applies to every design title. A level designer salary, a systems designer salary and a combat designer salary all map to the one BLS occupation, so none of them has its own federal number. Any site that quotes a separate figure for each is using a private survey or guessing. What does differ is the work, and the work decides how easy it is to move.

Design Specialties and What They Ask For

• Level design. Building spaces and pacing. Strong portfolios are playable levels with notes on your choices.
• Systems and economy design. Balancing numbers, progression and rewards. It leans on spreadsheets and comfort with math.
• Combat and gameplay design. Making actions feel right. It needs close work with programmers and animators.
• Narrative design. Story and dialogue built into play. The narrative designer career guide covers it, though BLS counts writers separately.
• Technical design. Scripting and tools that connect design to code. It's the specialty closest to the better-paid programming side.

Comparison

How Designer Pay Compares With Other Game Jobs

The programming occupation pays the most at the median. That's one reason designers who can script, prototype in code or work as technical designers have more options. It doesn't mean you should study programming if you don't want to do it every day, but it's worth knowing that the skills next to design are paid well.

In numbers, software developers earned $31,980 more at the median, a gap of 31%. Designers earned $300 less than software QA analysts and testers. Each mapping from a game job to a BLS occupation is ours, because BLS has no game codes, so compare the market for the skills and not any one studio's pay scale. The game tester salary page covers the testing route in more depth.

Raising your pay

What Moves a Game Designer's Salary Up

• Shipped games. A credit on a released game is the clearest signal to the next employer.
• Specialization. Systems, economy, combat and level design are distinct jobs at larger studios, and a specialty gives you a clearer pitch to employers.
• Technical skill. Designers who script in an engine can prototype without waiting on a programmer.
• Leadership. Lead and director roles come from shipping games and running a team, not from time served.
• Location. The state table shows how much location moves the median. Remote work changes this for some roles, but not for all.

Pay vs. cost

Game Designer Salary Against the Cost of a Degree

A degree is the biggest expense on the way to a design job, so it belongs next to the pay figures. Among the colleges in the best game design schools ranking, the median average net price is $16,282 a year at public schools and $30,450 at private ones. Over four years that's roughly $65,000 and $122,000.

Measured against the $104,000 median, four years at the median public net price equals about 0.6 years of median pay, and the private figure equals about 1.2. A first job near the bottom of the range takes longer to cover either one. Net price is an average for first-year students who got grant aid, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and borrowing adds interest.

None of this argues against a degree. It argues for choosing one with care: compare net price, look at completion rates, and consider whether an online game design degree or an in-state program lowers the cost. The is game design a good career article goes through the broader trade-offs.

Outlook

Job Outlook for Game Designers

BLS projects employment of web and digital interface designers to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, from 132,700 to 140,800 jobs, against 3.5% for all occupations. It expects about 8,300 openings a year, most of them from people leaving the occupation rather than new jobs. Those openings are across the whole occupation. The projections don't track game studios separately, so they say nothing about a given year's hiring in games. Plan for a first job search that takes a while.

The projected growth adds about 8,100 jobs over the period, which is small next to the openings from people leaving. In games, hiring follows release schedules and funding, and studios can shrink after a project ends. That's why a designer's real earnings depend on keeping working, not only on the rate. A savings cushion, a current portfolio and a list of contacts are part of the plan.

The video game designer career guide covers how people get hired, and game design salary data for every job is on the salaries hub.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Do Video Game Designers Make on Average?

BLS counts video game designers with web and digital interface designers, whose national median wage was $104,000 in BLS May 2025, with the mean at $117,490. The lowest-paid 10% earned under $53,750 and the top 10% over $201,550. The median is the better guide to a typical designer because a few high earners pull the mean up. The figure covers a whole occupation, mostly outside games. See the pay by percentile.

What Is the Starting Salary for a Game Designer?

BLS doesn't publish pay by experience. The bottom of the range is the closest guide to a first job: the 10th percentile was $53,750 and the 25th was $73,290 in BLS May 2025. The median of $104,000 reflects people with years of experience, and the figures cover web and interface designers in every industry, not only games. Expect a first job to start lower in the range. See pay for new graduates.

Which State Pays Video Game Designers the Most?

California, with a median of $136,110, followed by Washington at $130,480 and New York at $120,990, in BLS May 2025. Those figures are for the whole web and digital interface designer occupation and aren't adjusted for living costs. A studio in a lower-paying state may still hire designers, so use the table as a guide to the occupation, not the games industry. See the state table.

How Much Does a Level Designer Make?

O*NET lists level designer as one of the job titles within video game designers, so the same BLS figures apply: a national median of $104,000 and a middle range of $73,290 to $158,820 in BLS May 2025. There is no federal figure for level designers alone, and the occupation spans every industry, so an entry-level game job is likely to start lower in the range. See level designer salary.

Do Game Designers Make More Than Game Developers?

Not by the federal figures. Software developers, the occupation game programmers are counted in, had a median of $135,980, against $104,000 for the occupation game designers are counted in, a gap of $31,980 in BLS May 2025. Both cover whole occupations, mostly outside games, so a studio's own pay scale may differ. Designer pay moves up with scope, such as owning a bigger part of the game or leading others. See how designer pay compares with other game jobs.

What Is the Hourly Pay for a Game Designer?

The national median hourly wage for the occupation was $50 in BLS May 2025. On the same schedule, the 10th percentile works out to about $25.84 an hour, which is the closer guide to a first job. Studios that hire designers on contract may quote different rates, and the survey covers web and interface designers in every industry. See how much game designers make.

Is the Game Designer Job Market Growing?

BLS projects web and digital interface designer jobs to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all jobs, with about 8,300 openings a year across the occupation. The projection covers designers in every industry, not only games, and studio hiring rises and falls with projects. Treat the percentage as a signal about the occupation and not a count of game design jobs. BLS does not project game design on its own. See the full job outlook.

Keep exploring

Related Pages

• Salary Level designer salary $104,000 median (web and digital interface designers) See the pay data ›
• Salary Narrative designer salary $76,910 median (writers and authors) See the pay data ›
• Ranking Most Affordable Game Design Schools 81 ranked · Lowest cost See the ranking ›
• Ranking Best Public Game Design Schools 27 ranked · Public See the ranking ›
• Guide Game Design Classes The courses a game design bachelor's requires, from real program catalogs. Read the guide ›
• Career Game developer career $135,980 median · +10.2% jobs to 2035 (software developers) Read the career guide ›

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Sources

1. 1 BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: 15-1255 Web and Digital Interface Designers National and state wages and employment. National figures checked against api.bls.gov. Accessed October 13, 2026.
2. 2 BLS, Employment Projections 2025-35 Projected employment change and annual openings. Accessed October 13, 2026.
3. 3 O*NET OnLine, 15-1255.01 Video Game Designers The occupation video game designers are counted in, sample job titles, tasks and education. Accessed October 13, 2026.