Austin has emerged as the best-value city for UX designers in the United States. The combination of competitive base salaries ($112K median), no Texas state income tax, moderate cost of living, and a booming tech scene makes it the top destination for designers relocating from coastal markets. Hardware-led big-tech, employment platform UX, broad-equity big-tech satellite offices, and a thriving startup ecosystem anchor the employer base. The city's culture, food scene, and outdoor recreation add quality-of-life factors that salary data alone does not capture.
Median base
$112,000
25th-75th range
$100K-$125K
Average total comp
$130,000
vs national
+4% above
Sector pay bands
Pay ranges by industry sector and employer category for mid-to-senior UX, product, and interaction designers in this metro. Sector ranges are aggregated rather than per-employer to avoid misleading single-data-point comparisons.
| Sector / employer category | Mid-to-senior pay range |
|---|---|
| Hardware-led big-tech (high-base, low-equity tier) | $130K - $215K total comp |
| Big-tech broad-equity satellite offices | $140K - $260K total comp |
| Employment / job-platform UX | $105K - $155K |
| Enterprise software headquarters | $95K - $135K |
| Funded Texas startup ecosystem | $85K - $130K + equity |
| Travel and hospitality platforms | $100K - $140K |
| Web and CMS-platform companies | $95K - $135K |
| Test and instrumentation software | $90K - $130K |
Cost of living
Austin's COL is 1.19x national, very affordable compared to coastal tech cities. Housing has risen sharply since 2020 but remains 35-40% below San Francisco levels. Texas has no state income tax, adding $5K-$10K to effective take-home pay on a $100K+ salary. A $112K Austin salary has purchasing power equivalent to roughly $94K nationally, exceeding San Francisco's COL-adjusted $77K despite a $28K raw salary gap.
Local community
Local meetups, conferences, schools, and creative spaces that anchor the Austin design scene.
Austin FAQ
What happens to a question
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01 / You write
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02 / Read by a person
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03 / Source named
Whatever comes back names the survey, filing or pay table the number sits in, and the year it was collected, so you can go and check it.
04 / You approve
An answer worth more than one reader can be rewritten with nothing identifying left in it, and it goes up only once you have said it can.
The limits of a salary page
This site is a compensation reference assembled from published survey and filing data. It is not career advice, not employment advice, not immigration advice and not financial advice. What any one designer is paid turns on level, location, company and the offer actually in front of them.
An employment or visa question belongs with a qualified adviser rather than with us. Where a figure came from, how the levels were mapped, what a source covers and when it was last pulled are the ones that can be taken here.