Senior UX Designer salary in San Francisco, CA

Based on 80 certified H-1B filings at DOL wage level III in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Menlo Park, San Bruno, San Mateo, Pleasanton, Redwood City.

Also listed as: Web Designer, Product Designer

Median salary$180,000
Middle 50%$158.9k–$206.3k
vs. all levels here+11%comparison median $162,718
Filings80FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $153,691 and $302,100.
PercentileSalary
10th$153,691
25th$158,912
50th (median)$180,000
75th$206,334
90th$218,203

Salary by year

Median salary

$120k $155k $190k FY2023: median $141,842 (21 filings) FY2024: median $159,432 (33 filings) FY2025: median $180,000 (32 filings) FY2026: median $178,000 (48 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 4 filings FY20 FY2021: 4 filings FY21 FY2022: 7 filings FY22 FY2023: 21 filings FY23 FY2024: 33 filings FY24 FY2025: 32 filings FY25 FY2026: 48 filings FY26 48
Shaded: FY2025–FY2026, the years behind the figures above. Median shown for years with at least 10 filings. FY2026 covers Q1–Q3 only.
Show as table
Fiscal yearMedianP25P75Filings
FY2020–––4
FY2021–––4
FY2022–––7
FY2023$141,842$135,000$149,47321
FY2024$159,432$140,000$185,73333
FY2025$180,000$163,608$201,48632
FY2026$178,000$153,691$208,03448

Cost of living

San Francisco's median senior UX Designer salary of $180,000 is worth about $155,700 at national average prices.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (U.S. = 100; San Francisco = 115.6).

Compared with all workers here

All Web and Digital Interface Designers in the San Francisco, CA area earned a median of $163,810 in May 2025 (6,630 employed). The H-1B median here is $180,000, 10% higher.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS metropolitan area estimates. BLS wages include some incentive pay; H-1B figures are base salary.

Employers filing at this level

EmployerMedianFilings
Meta$211,55614
Googletoo few8
Walmarttoo few8
OpenAI OpCotoo few3
Visatoo few2
DocuSigntoo few2
Feedlytoo few2
Gamma Techtoo few2
Samsung Research Americatoo few2
Tindertoo few2

Employers with at least 2 filings here. Median shown at 10+ filings.

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I $100,000 60
Mid-level · Level II $135,650 128
Senior · Level III $180,000 80
Expert · Level IV $216,000 105

Median shown when a level has at least 10 filings.

Minimum H-1B salary by level

Wage levelPrevailing wage (most common)Median offered salaryFilings
Entry-level · Level I$87,526$100,00060
Mid-level · Level II$120,598$135,650128
Senior · Level III$153,691$180,00080
Expert · Level IV$186,763$216,000105

The prevailing wage is the minimum an employer must pay for this job and area. Amounts vary by county within a metro and by wage source.