Austin pays below most of Texas for this role, though still within a normal range for the state. That's well below the national average for set and exhibit designers — one of the largest gaps in this dataset. Cost of living here is close to the national average — not a major factor either way. This is a high-confidence estimate, based on a large sample of reported wages.
Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Austin ranks #74 for cost of living and #40 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.
| City | Mean salary | vs. Austin |
|---|---|---|
| Ann Arbor, Michigan | $55,070 | -17.1% |
| Baltimore, Maryland | $78,680 | +18.5% |
| Dallas, Texas | $66,840 | +0.6% |
| Detroit, Michigan | $49,660 | -25.2% |
| Houston, Texas | $68,140 | +2.6% |
| Indianapolis, Indiana | $63,970 | -3.7% |
| Los Angeles, California | $113,990 | +71.6% |
| Miami, Florida | $75,900 | +14.3% |
| New York, New York | $102,670 | +54.6% |
| Sarasota, Florida | $66,280 | -0.2% |
| Orlando, Florida | $66,140 | -0.4% |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $62,990 | -5.1% |
| Portland, Oregon | $68,530 | +3.2% |
| Richmond, Virginia | $56,800 | -14.5% |
| Riverside, California | $71,330 | +7.4% |
| San Diego, California | $80,880 | +21.8% |
| San Francisco, California | $112,660 | +69.6% |
| Seattle, Washington | $95,590 | +43.9% |
| Tampa, Florida | $57,390 | -13.6% |
Single filer, federal income tax + FICA only, 2025 rates — Texas has no state income tax on wages. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional for your specific situation.
Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.
The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.
Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.
