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The national median salary for Fashion Designers is $80,683 per year ($38.79/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024. The middle 50% of earners make between $53,726 and $107,994 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $169,624 per year. There are approximately 20,910 fashion designers employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Design clothing and accessories. Create original designs or adapt fashion trends.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
+2.0%
About as fast as average
Annual openings
2K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
26K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
2% from new growth98% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
Bachelor's degree
Experience
None
On-the-job training
None
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Apparel, Piece Goods, and Notions Merchant Wholesalers
NAICS 424300
6K
$80,810
Management of Companies and Enterprises
NAICS 551100
4K
$100,670
Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers
NAICS 458100
4K
N/A
Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing
NAICS 315200
2K
$77,090
Specialized Design Services
NAICS 541400
1K
N/A
Wage range across top 5 industries: $77,090 to $100,670 (31% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$17.29
$35,963
P25
$25.83
$53,726
P50MEDIAN
$38.79
$80,683
P75
$51.92
$107,994
P90
$81.55
$169,624
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · professional sector
Cooling
Openings Rate
4.2%
Quits Rate
2.0%
Professional & Business Services openings tumbled 318K in March -- the largest single-sector drop in this release. Openings rate fell from 5.5% to 4.2%. Layoffs jumped to 527K (+99K). White-collar demand has cooled abruptly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average fashion designers salary?
The national median salary for Fashion Designers is $80,683 per year ($38.79/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2024 data. The middle 50% earn between $53,726 and $107,994 annually.
How much do top-earning fashion designers make?
The 90th percentile salary for Fashion Designers is $169,624 per year ($81.55/hr). The 75th percentile is $107,994 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for fashion designers?
Entry-level Fashion Designers (10th percentile) earn approximately $35,963 per year ($17.29/hr). The 25th percentile is $53,726 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
Built and maintained by Falcon Incentives, a compensation strategy and incentive design consultancy.