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Boston Career Explorer

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media

Graphic Designers

Design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects.

Also called: Artist, Brand Designer, Designer, Graphic Artist, Graphic Design Coordinator, Graphic Designer

Median pay in Greater Boston
$78,270
$37.63/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
3,560
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+1.4%
440 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Bachelor's degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$51,440$61,490$78,270$98,260$116,000

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor.
  • Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed.
  • Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type.
  • Develop graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos, and Web sites.
  • Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts, based on knowledge of layout principles and esthetic design concepts.
  • Use computer software to generate new images.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure63 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 64
  • Language-model AIOE 59
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 66

Observed AI use today: Substantial (Anthropic Economic Index)

Graphic design has moderate AI exposure, and AI tools are already used a good deal in this work. Tools can help with making layouts, trying out type and arrangements, and producing first-draft graphics. Federal projections say AI may replace some of this work and make other workers more efficient. Reviewing layouts and shaping concepts with design judgment still depend on the designer.

Likely to change

  • Building first-draft layouts and sample designs
  • Producing logos and web graphics faster

Still relies on people

  • Reviewing final layouts and suggesting improvements
  • Shaping concepts with design judgment and taste

What federal projections say

“Productivity change, capital/labor substitution - share decreases as new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), replace some workers and make other workers more efficient.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

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    You already work from sketches and layouts. Electricians follow blueprints and sketches, with apprenticeship training, $79,910 median pay in Boston, and 11.6% projected growth in Massachusetts.

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

30 programs near Boston (plus 3 graduate)

Related occupations

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