Are you wondering if you will need to move to find a job if you change careers and become a User Experience (UX) Designer? Maybe there is somewhere you have always wanted to live, but you are worried you won’t be able to find a job. Well, relax. UX Designers are in demand all over the United States and in many other countries.
In a Glassdoor survey of the 50 most popular jobs in the US, UX Designer came in at number 24 with a median base salary of $97,047 a year. For the last 20 years, tech firms have been concentrated on the East and West coasts, but that is beginning to change. Also, many UX design jobs are now fully remote, so you can live anywhere you want and still work the job of your dreams
Best Cities for UX Design
Here is a list of the top cities for UX Designers. They have the highest concentration of tech firms or design agencies, plus active and supportive design communities to help new designers get started.
San Francisco
San Francisco, California is home to Silicon Valley, the place where most of the computing and tech industries started. San Francisco is home to Google and Apple and has a vibrant startup culture. The IDEO design agency is also located in San Francisco. There is an active design community with many meetups and groups for designers, plus yearly conferences to help keep your skills sharp.
One of the most liberal cities in the country, San Francisco is also known for its high cost of living. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is between $2,500 and $3,000 per month, but wages are also high with salaries ranging from $70,000 to $200,000 per year. The climate is moderate with rain and fog in the winter, and clear and dry weather in the summer. You can find great hiking nearby in the redwoods and the Napa Valley wine country is not far away.
San Diego
Further south from San Francisco, San Diego offers many well-known design agencies and some tech firms. In addition to some active design groups, the weather is warm and sunny with some great beaches. The cost of living is a bit lower than San Francisco with rent $1,800 to $2,400 a month and an average salary of $100,000 per year.
Seattle
Up the coast to the north is Seattle, Washington, which is right behind San Francisco in number of tech startups. Seattle is home to Amazon and big tech companies like Gemini, Fetch Rewards, and Convoy. There are many local events and design groups and Seattle is big into coworking spaces. The annual salary is $109,000 a year with rent going for $1,600 to $2,000 a month. Seattle is a beautiful city with easy access to nature and hiking, biking, and kayaking.
Redmond
East of Seattle is Redmond, Washington which is home to Microsoft. Redmond offers some good UX meetups and groups like UX Crunch and Ladies that UX, although the cost of living in Redmond is higher than in Seattle. Monthly rent ranges between $1,800 to $1,900 and salaries are a bit lower at $102,710 per year.
Boston
On the East Coast, Boston, Massachusetts offers two major universities–Harvard and MIT–that have given rise to many tech opportunities. Robotics company Boston Dynamics is located here, as are Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, and LinkedIn. There are also great networking opportunities. The average UX design salary in Boston is $105,000 a year and rent goes for between $1,900 and $2,600 a month. The winters are cold and snowy, but the city is full of history and culture. It is one of the oldest cities in the US, after all.
New York
New York, New York is a hub of finance, marketing, and advertising with many design firms. There are many great conferences and local design events. The average yearly salary is $104,000 with rents ranging from $2.200 to $3,200 a month.If you like cities, New York is a great place to live with wonderful museums, a world-famous theater district, and many other cultural amenities.
Chicago
Chicago, Illinois is one of the biggest cities in the US with a vibrant UX design community. It is the headquarters of Grubhub, Capital One, and Motorola among many others. The average yearly salary is $105,000 and rent is between $1,250 and $1,850 a month. Chicago has some great museums and wonderful jazz clubs.
Austin
Austin, Texas, is an up and coming city for startups. It is the home of Dell and Oracle, with many active and welcoming UX groups. Austin’s cost of living is much lower than other tech-rich cities with rents at $1,300 to $2,000 a month and an average yearly UX design salary of $103,000. The climate is warm in the winter and hot and humid in summer.
Cities Outside the US
While most UX Designers live in the US, the field is growing across the world. Here are some international cities that offer design jobs.
London
London, United Kingdom has lots of tech startups and plenty of culture. The cost of living is not quite as high as New York with monthly rent going for the equivalent of $1,300 to $1,700. The average design salary is $54,218.
Toronto
Toronto, Canada, has brutal winters, but great design employment opportunities with companies like Google, Apple, Starbucks, and Cisco. Toronto has a diverse and vibrant culture. Annual average salary is $68,547 US dollars and rents range from $1365 to $1584.
Berlin
Berlin, Germany is a great city for UX Designers. With many theaters, art galleries, museums, libraries, movie theaters, and 3 opera houses, this is one of the major cultural centers of Europe, as well as a welcoming place for UX design. There are lots of coworking spaces, too. Rent is the US equivalent of $1,199 a month and the yearly salary average is $52,839.
Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden is one of the first smart cities in the world, collecting data from municipal sources, processes, and citizens. Not only does this keep the city running smoothly, it creates many job opportunities for UX Designers. The average yearly salary is $80,000 in US dollars, and rent ranges from $1,029 to $1,500 a month.
Learn UX Design
If you would like to improve your UX design skills, one of the best ways to do that is to sign up for classes. You can choose classes that meet in-person or online to learn XD, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Some people prefer to attend brick-and-mortar sessions when learning new information, but that isn’t always available. Live online classes have a similar set-up with a real-time, remote instructor who can answer questions and take control of your monitor—with permission—to show you how to do things. Training is part or full-time and available weekdays, weeknights, or weekends.
The best way to prepare for a career shift to a field like UX design is to enroll in a bootcamp or certificate program. These are intensive training courses that run from a few weeks to a few months and will cover the design process and software in much more depth than tutorials can. Another plus of training is that you will leave class with a professional-quality portfolio that you can show to prospective employers.
Conclusion
It’s easy to take UX design classes and start a new career. Choose between in-person sessions in NYC at Noble’s location or sign up for live online UX design courses and attend from anywhere. Find UX bootcamps in your area and get started in a new direction today.