Game Designer salary
What a game designer actually earns, from 97 live job postings blended with the official US OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage anchor. Pick a market for its median and range, then read the seniority split, the trend, and the country comparison below. Updated 2026-07-23.
What the number means
A game designer earns a blended US median near 101,561 dollars, with the typical middle running from 74,145 dollars to 132,913 dollars. The official OEWS median is 98,090 dollars, under the posted figure, because the advertised roles skew senior or well-funded. The official trend has moved up about 23 percent since 2021. Demand is rated moderate, and 4% of postings are fully remote. The nearest adjacent move on our skill graph is technical artist, at 28 percent coverage; the instrument maps the rest.
Open game designer roles
Live openings tagged to this occupation, from company career pages and remote boards. Apply at the source.
- Senior Game DesignerNimble Giant Entertainment · United StatesRemoteJul 19
- Level DesignerDevoted Studios · Canada,RemoteJul 15
- Senior Game Designer - Solitaire TriPeaks (Systems & Economy) - Fully RemoteSOFTGAMES · BerlinJul 15
- Senior Game DesignerEpicgames · Cary,North Carolina,United StatesJun 17
- Game Designer, ActivitiesEpicgames · Cary,North Carolina,United StatesJun 1
- Lead Gameplay DesignerEpicgames · BLANK,BLANK,Multiple Locations$145kJun 1
Top-paying US states
OEWS median by state, highest first.
- Californiamedian $130,240
- Washingtonmedian $126,960
- New Yorkmedian $121,700
- Utahmedian $99,300
- Texasmedian $89,630
Is your offer fair?
Run a specific number through FairElephant, which weighs it against this data, your location, and remote market rates.
Related salaries
- Creative Director salary$133,218 median
- Game Developer salary$100,762 median
- Design Technologist salary$113,968 median
Quick answers
How much does a game designer make?
The blended US median is about 101,561 dollars, with a typical range from 74,145 dollars to 132,913 dollars, against an official OEWS median of 98,090 dollars.
Is game designer a good career in 2026?
Demand for the role is rated moderate in our July 2026 corpus, with 4% of postings fully remote. The pay is shown above by seniority and by country.
What can a game designer move into?
The nearest adjacent role on our skill graph is technical artist, at 28 percent skill coverage. Run the instrument for the full set of reachable moves.
Method: bands are the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of live US postings with stated pay, shrunk toward the official OEWS anchor by sample size (the “blended” figure). Trend is the OEWS annual median for SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code 15-1255. Live corpus 97 observations, 2026-07-23. Definitions in the glossary.