The Average Salary of a Set Designer

Museums and historical sites are among the three biggest employers of set and exhibit designers.

Mainly employed in film-making, performing arts such as live theater and the museum industry, set and exhibit designers held just under 8,000 jobs in May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These designers are responsible for creating the backdrops for movies, television shows and plays.

Wages

The average, or mean, wages earned by set and exhibit designers in May 2009 were $24.33 hourly or $50,600 annually. Set and exhibit designers made median wages of $21.83 hourly or $45,400 annually. The lowest-earning 10 percent of workers in this occupation had salaries up to $25,620 annually, and the highest-earning designers made yearly salaries up to $82,810.

Top employers

The industries that employed more than 1,000 set and exhibit designers in May 2009 were the motion picture and video industries, with 1,390 on the payroll. Performing arts companies provided work for 1,270 set and exhibit designers, and museums, historical sites and similar institutions employed 1,020 exhibit and set designers. The movie and video industry was the highest-paying among these, with an average annual salary of $65,050.

Best-paying locations

Massachusetts, California and the District of Columbia all had average annual salaries in excess of $60,000 for set and exhibit designers in May 2009, according to the BLS, with Massachusetts topping the list at $62,600, followed by California at $61,000 and D.C. at $60,170. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn., was the highest-paying metropolitan area, with an average yearly salary of $80,070 for set and exhibit designers.

References

• Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2009:Set and Exhibit Designers