Technology
UX Designer
UX designers research user needs and craft intuitive flows, wireframes, and prototypes so products are usable and pleasant. It mixes empathy, creativity, and a bit of psychology.
Median salary (BLS)
$96,000
10th–90th percentile (BLS)
$60k – $150k
Job outlook
+13% (faster than average)
AI exposure
Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $109,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.
Plan a path to UX Designer
Education
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree
Plan my path to this →How to qualify
EstimateCost to qualify
$40,300–$152,000
Time to qualify
4.3 yr
Renewal
—
- 1
Bachelor's degree
DegreeFour years at public in-state rates — average published tuition & fees ≈ $11,610/yr, plus books. Private and out-of-state run higher; grant aid lowers most students' actual net price.
$40,000–$150,000 · 4 years source
- 2
Industry certification (optional)
CertificationVendor certifications (AWS, CompTIA, Google, Microsoft…) are a common entry booster, rarely a hard requirement.
$300–$2,000 · 3 months source
Estimated typical U.S. route for "UX Designer" — built from BLS education requirements and College Board 2024–25 average published prices (public, in-state tuition + fees + books). Not yet verified against a specific state's licensing rules — confirm with your state licensing board or program.
Typical progression
UX Designer Intern
Internship
$36,000
~4 mos to advance
Junior UX Designer
Entry / Junior
$60,000
~2 yrs to advance
UX Designer
Established
$96,000
~3 yrs to advance
Senior UX Designer
Senior
$123,000
Internships are a common on-ramp here — they speed up landing that first role and improve your odds, which is why the Safe and High-ceiling plans build one in.
Key skills
A typical day
- •Interview and observe users
- •Design wireframes and prototypes
- •Run usability tests
Fields of study
Design · Human-Computer Interaction · Psychology
Top colleges for Technology
Explore all- Massachusetts Institute of Technology4% admit · $124,000 grad pay
- Stanford University4% admit · $122,000 grad pay
- Carnegie Mellon University11% admit · $109,000 grad pay
- University of California, Berkeley11% admit · $97,000 grad pay
- Georgia Institute of Technology16% admit · $99,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.
Related careers
Other careers from this field of study
Mapped by field-of-study code (Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology), not by job-title guessing.