CAD Designer Salary:

CAD Designers make an average of $68,000 a year, depending on one’s experience level and location. Beginning CAD Designers should expect to make less while Senior CAD Designers can make over $100,000 a year due to their increased skill and knowledge level. In addition to one’s education and skill level, the pay for a CAD Designer will vary by location, industry, and specialization. For those wanting to optimize their salary, it is important to consider how these different factors will impact the job opportunities you will see once you’re on the job market. Read on to learn more about the factors that impact how much a CAD Designer can make. 

What is a CAD Designer?

A CAD Designer is a skilled professional trained in using computer software to create and refine designs of buildings, structures, machines, and manufactured parts and products. CAD Designers work in a variety of industries including architecture, automotive, construction, engineering, manufacturing, and textiles. The role of a CAD Designer is important to many companies because it is their drawings and models that get created and turned into physical objects and structures. Because of this, CAD Designers need to have strong attention to detail and communication skills so that their designs are accurate and meet the exacting requirements specified by various stakeholders. 

The job of a CAD Designer is skills-based, meaning that one’s skills, technical abilities, and industry experience are prioritized over having a specific college or university degree. While some industries may look for a CAD Designer to have at least an Associate’s degree or training from a vocational school, most employers will also accept three to five years of on-the-job experience instead of a specific degree. CAD Designers need to know how to draft, use math and engineering principles, and be particularly adept at using industry-specific 2D and 3D CAD software, Microsoft Office, and any other project management software required by the organizations they work for. These professionals will work collaboratively as part of a larger team that can include Architects, Engineers, Surveyors, and other Drafters and Designers.

What Affects Your Pay as a CAD Designer

How much one earns as a CAD Designer will be based on one’s educational background, experience, and specialization. Pay will also vary by location and industry and those looking for high-paying CAD Designer jobs should carefully consider what they specialize in and where they plan to look for a job once on the job market. 

Education

The most important educational qualifications for CAD Designers are experience with industry-specific CAD software and knowledge of industry-specific concepts, theories, and regulations. CAD design is a skills-based profession meaning that technical knowledge and experience are often, though not always, prioritized over having a specific degree. The most important skill to have is the ability to create detailed, accurate, technical drawings using CAD software. Many industries use AutoCAD but which particular CAD software a CAD Designer needs to master will be industry-specific.

While one can become a CAD Designer without a degree, many do have a Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree and this can be required by certain employers in specific industries. It is common, for instance, for CAD Designers working in the textile industry to need a BA in design. Other employers will still want to see that a candidate has the necessary CAD and industry knowledge and a degree, certificate program, or bootcamp can help to show this. Taking CAD certification exams, like those from The American Design Drafting Association and Autodesk, can be an additional way to show your knowledge and expertise to a potential employer.

Experience

Along with a knowledge of CAD software, most employers want to hire someone with experience working with CAD on the job and within their specific industry. CAD Designers typically need three to five years of experience to be hired. Most employers will also accept this level of experience as an alternative to not having a degree, provided that one has learned important concepts and theories specific to one’s industry. 

Someone looking to become a CAD Designer can gain experience by taking an entry-level position as a CAD Drafter. CAD Drafter jobs often require one to know CAD software but allow one to learn other important aspects through on-the-job training. Entry-level positions are a great way to not only gain experience before pursuing a job as a CAD Designer, but they also allow one to get a sense of the industry and how it works, which will be useful in a collaborative role like CAD Designer. 

Industry

Which industry one chooses to specialize in and the type of employer one works for will determine pay. Architecture and engineering industries can offer high-paying and secure careers for CAD Designers. Common engineering industries that one can consider are aerospace, civil, electrical, mechanical, and structural engineering. These industries use a CAD Designer’s technical knowledge to create designs for everything from bridges, cars, and rockets to telecommunications systems. 

The size of the company one works for will also impact pay. Larger firms tend to pay more than smaller ones, though that can also depend on the industry. CAD Designers can also work remotely and part-time, though some CAD Designers will need to be available frequently to visit factory floors or building sites. Someone in CAD design can work for themselves or work freelance, though this can impact the hours one works and one’s pay, and is more suited to certain industries, like jewelry design. 

Location

How much a CAD designer makes will vary by location. States like Michigan, California, Ohio, Florida, and New York employ a large number of CAD Designers across various industries and offer comparatively higher salaries than some other states. For instance, while Utah employs a large amount of commercial and industrial Designers, these jobs can be lower-paying than some others. 

High salaries are not the only location-based factor to consider. The standard of living is also important when it comes to location. While CAD Designers can command a higher salary in New York City, for example, it can be more cost-effective to work and live in Detroit, which is home to many automotive and manufacturing companies. And, though Utah might have lower salary ranges, the amount one makes will allow one to have a higher standard of living in Utah than in many cities in California. Overall, it is important to weigh one’s prospective CAD Designer salary against the other costs of living in a particular city before committing to search for a job in that particular location. 

Specialization

Most specializations for a CAD Designer will be further knowledge of one’s specific industry or refinement of one’s skillset. Employers are looking to hire someone who knows their industry, so the more work you can do to learn industry standards, regulations, guiding concepts, and tools, the more you will stand out as a candidate whose knowledge will be particularly useful. To refine one’s skillset, it can also be useful to learn a variety of different CAD programs, which will help to sharpen your drafting skills and allow you to strengthen your problem-solving muscles. 

More CAD programs are starting to integrate versions of artificial intelligence and certain industries are using Building Information Modeling (BIM). Many industries will find the knowledge of how to use AI-backed CAD useful and knowing how to use these programs can be a way to set yourself apart from the competition. If your extra skillset can help to resolve a problem that your employer is dealing with then it is likely to help you secure a job or get a promotion. 

Pay Range for CAD Designers

CAD Designers in the United States earn an average of $68,821 a year. According to Glassdoor, there is quite a range of average salaries for a CAD Designer, from $72,000-128,000. This wide salary range reflects an average that accounts for both entry-level positions and senior positions from all industries. Beginning CAD Designers should expect to earn less and more experienced and skilled CAD Designers can earn more, as evidenced by the high-end salary range from Glassdoor. 

Pay will also depend on location and industry. For instance, CAD Designers working at industrial supply company McMaster-Carr make an average of $95,000 a year, meaning that this company’s entry-level CAD Designers will likely be making more than the national average and their Senior CAD Designers will earn more than $100,000 a year. By contrast, the CAD Designers working for AECOM, an infrastructure consulting firm, are making about the national average. Comparing different companies, industries, and locations can help you get a better sense of realistic salaries for a CAD Designer. 

Highest-Earning Job Titles for CAD Designers

For a CAD Designer, the highest-earning job titles are manager, lead, or senior roles. According to Indeed, Senior CAD Designers can expect to make an average of $82,185 per year. Those on the highest end of the pay range spectrum are making between $100,000-120,000 per year (if not more, depending on the industry).

When looking for these managers, lead, or senior positions, it is common for the specific industry to appear rather than the CAD designation, for instance, Senior Mechanical Designer or Senior Civil 3D Designer. Paying attention to which industries pay their CAD Designer Manager and Lead or Senior CAD Designers the most can be a useful way to determine which industry to specialize in. Additionally, CAD Designers who want to work as engineers will find that they can make more money but that engineering jobs also require more education. 

Learn the Skills to Become a CAD Designer at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers a variety of in-person and live online classes that will teach prospective CAD Designers the skills they need to learn to be successful designers, workers, and leaders. Those wanting to learn CAD Design can find AutoCAD classes for every skill level and might also be interested in Noble’s Microsoft Office and project management classes. Every Noble class provides hands-on training from an expert instructor and class sizes are kept small so that students can receive individual attention and feedback. In-person classes are available at Noble Desktop’s Manhattan facility and live online classes can be taken from anywhere. 

Those pursuing a career in CAD Design will be particularly interested in Noble’s AutoCAD classes. If you are unsure whether learning AutoCAD is right for you, consider starting with the six-hour Introduction to AutoCAD class. This one-day class will teach basic drawing and editing techniques using AutoCAD and get complete beginners started using this software. To become proficient in AutoCAD, learners will want to take Noble Desktop’s more comprehensive or advanced AutoCAD classes, bootcamps, and certificate programs. Noble Desktop’s AutoCAD Bootcamp is a great way for beginners to learn up to intermediate-level AutoCAD quickly. Bootcamps are accelerated classes and they are one of the best options for those who want to get started using AutoCAD right away to learn necessary, career-oriented skills. 

Bootcamps are not right for every learner and prospective CAD Designers can also take individual AutoCAD classes or sign up for a masterclass to take all three levels of AutoCAD back-to-back. Beginners can take, intermediate learners can take, and advanced learners should take. Beginner-friendly AutoCAD Level I focuses on drawing fundamentals and teaches students how to organize, edit, annotate, and prepare drawings for printing. AutoCAD Level II for intermediate learners adds to this knowledge to teach students advanced and customizable layer techniques, how to create, edit, and store blocks, and how to work with external references and create data tables. Advanced learners should take AutoCAD Level III which focuses on training students how to complete AutoCAD projects from start to finish and provides advanced training in how to use the tools necessary for each project and how to use AutoCAD’s collaboration features. Those who want to take all three classes sequentially should look into signing up for the AutoCAD Masterclass. 

Beginners and those with AutoCAD experience interested in becoming an Autodesk Certified Professional should look to enroll in the AutoCAD Certification Program. This complete program of study provides beginning, intermediate, and advanced training in AutoCAD, six hours of private one-on-one tutoring, and the Autodesk Certified Professional in AutoCAD for Design & Drafting exam with a free retake option. Certifications are a great way to prove to employers that you have the skills necessary to be a CAD Designer and some will require certification for employment or advancement in one’s career. 

Noble offers two 3D modeling classes that CAD Designers should also consider, 3D Modeling in AutoCAD and SketchUp Pro Bootcamp. Both classes will allow students to learn how to turn 2D drawings into 3D models and will teach the foundation of 3D modeling and editing in their respective software programs. 3D Modeling in AutoCAD requires students to have familiarity with 2D drawing and teaches learners to create solids and surfaces from 2D objects and to use more advanced features of AutoCAD to edit, visualize, and refine the view of one’s models. No previous experience is necessary for the two-day SketchUp Pro Bootcamp which will walk students through the steps of creating a 3D model, working with shapes, solid tools, and text, and exporting and rending one’s 3D model.