Graphic Designers in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,518
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$10,562
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,935
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$60,080
Kept after tax
$49,518
Worth in national money
$53,935
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Ohio is 25 of 51 states for graphic designers, with a middle wage of $60,080. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Ohio, this sits in the middle: 236 of 494 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Ohio does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $60,080 you keep $49,518, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $53,935 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $65,130, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Ohio ranks 25 of 51 for graphic designers at $60,080. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Graphic designers ranks 236 of 494 occupations in Ohio by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Ohio income tax, retained pay for graphic designers on $60,080 is $49,518. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $53,935 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $65,130 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Graphic Designers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,370 |
| This salary | $60,080 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Ohio | $49,518 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,454 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,014 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $58,915 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,435 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $60,080 as a midpoint for Ohio, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,050 and the ninetieth is $99,370 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Ohio's $49,518, worked from $60,080. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 236 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,935 uses one figure for the whole of Ohio. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 236.
- The Ohio median of $60,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,050 to $99,370. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Ohio take-home of $49,518, on $60,080 for work ranking 236 of 494 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 236 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,935, worked from $60,080, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Ohio address, on work sitting at 236 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $65,130, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $39,050 and the top tenth $99,370 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Ohio sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $53,935 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Ohio then takes its own share, leaving $49,518.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Ohio is $65,130. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($39,050) and the ninetieth ($99,370) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $53,935 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $49,518 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.