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Graphic Designers pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and Wausau, WI
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Graphic Designers is $97,360 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. It is $55,230 per year in Wausau, WI. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is 76.3% above Wausau, WI on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 27-1024 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 1,280 wage and salary jobs in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and 60 in Wausau, WI. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings