CAD Designer Salary (2026)
Typical pay is $66,150 a year, with most CAD designers earning between $55,650 and $80,870. Based on the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Salary Calculator›CAD Designer
Nationally, the typical CAD designer earns $66,150 a year. Early-career pay starts around $55,650, experienced CAD designers earn $80,870 or more, and the top 10% make over $99,710. About 103,700 people work in this occupation in the US. Pay is highest in District of Columbia ($97,880) and, among metro areas, in Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT ($84,440).
CAD Designer (Civil and Architectural) salary in the United States
Annual pay, BLS survey of May 2025
What CAD designers do
CAD designers in civil and architectural work turn engineers' and architects' designs into detailed drawings and models using AutoCAD, Civil 3D and Revit. BLS counts them as architectural and civil drafters, which is the occupation used here. BIM and 3D modeling skills usually sit at the higher end of the range.
CAD Designer salary by state
Typical annual pay for CAD designers in every state where BLS publishes figures, highest first.
| State | Typical | Early career | Experienced |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $97,880 | $78,960 | $118,490 |
| Massachusetts | $76,990 | $64,270 | $82,460 |
| California | $76,520 | $62,220 | $96,300 |
| Colorado | $76,370 | $61,570 | $92,310 |
| Connecticut | $76,290 | $64,250 | $79,720 |
| New York | $76,260 | $60,890 | $93,840 |
| Maryland | $75,180 | $61,870 | $86,550 |
| Georgia | $74,940 | $56,930 | $79,790 |
| Oregon | $74,000 | $62,870 | $80,510 |
| Delaware | $73,040 | $58,530 | $80,710 |
| Washington | $73,000 | $61,040 | $83,920 |
| Rhode Island | $71,700 | $61,640 | $83,960 |
| Minnesota | $70,680 | $61,450 | $80,780 |
| Tennessee | $69,220 | $57,140 | $80,480 |
| Nevada | $67,000 | $57,320 | $82,100 |
| Maine | $66,200 | $57,840 | $78,470 |
| Montana | $65,750 | $58,390 | $77,510 |
| West Virginia | $65,640 | $48,290 | $84,680 |
| New Hampshire | $65,300 | $58,580 | $76,200 |
| Pennsylvania | $64,800 | $54,560 | $79,570 |
| Arizona | $64,750 | $58,410 | $79,960 |
| North Dakota | $64,720 | $58,610 | $77,040 |
| South Carolina | $64,680 | $50,110 | $79,320 |
| Utah | $64,290 | $56,020 | $80,860 |
| Iowa | $64,220 | $57,500 | $80,390 |
| Wyoming | $63,730 | $57,270 | $72,570 |
| Hawaii | $63,510 | $56,220 | $82,290 |
| Virginia | $63,450 | $53,940 | $76,800 |
| Texas | $63,320 | $50,810 | $81,050 |
| New Jersey | $62,960 | $56,880 | $78,000 |
| Wisconsin | $62,930 | $57,380 | $78,620 |
| North Carolina | $62,750 | $51,780 | $78,670 |
| Florida | $62,640 | $48,380 | $77,580 |
| Arkansas | $62,420 | $57,760 | $74,100 |
| Kansas | $62,220 | $52,220 | $72,290 |
| Oklahoma | $62,140 | $48,060 | $76,190 |
| Missouri | $61,940 | $55,230 | $76,360 |
| Idaho | $61,840 | $52,080 | $76,000 |
| Nebraska | $61,550 | $54,170 | $77,030 |
| Ohio | $61,450 | $48,710 | $76,710 |
| Louisiana | $61,010 | $48,090 | $81,560 |
| Vermont | $61,000 | $47,460 | $73,550 |
| Kentucky | $60,120 | $48,140 | $74,870 |
| Indiana | $60,000 | $50,220 | $74,810 |
| Mississippi | $59,920 | $50,790 | $67,800 |
| Michigan | $58,330 | $48,410 | $73,800 |
| Illinois | $58,240 | $48,690 | $74,790 |
| Alabama | $57,100 | $46,420 | $68,850 |
| South Dakota | $52,470 | $46,660 | $61,160 |
| New Mexico | $50,230 | $43,670 | $75,130 |
Highest-paying metro areas
| Metro area | Typical |
|---|---|
| 1. Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $84,440 |
| 2. Rochester, MN | $83,780 |
| 3. Waterbury-Shelton, CT | $83,630 |
| 4. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $82,820 |
| 5. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $81,130 |
| 6. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $80,040 |
| 7. Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $79,860 |
| 8. Lake Charles, LA | $79,540 |
| 9. Dalton, GA | $79,410 |
| 10. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $79,310 |
| 11. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $78,340 |
| 12. Lexington Park, MD | $78,010 |
| 13. Chico, CA | $77,850 |
| 14. Manhattan, KS | $77,810 |
| 15. Helena, MT | $77,320 |
Pay in Apollo's markets
| Metro | Typical |
|---|---|
| Atlanta | $74,180 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $66,890 |
| Houston | $63,120 |
| Austin | $74,230 |
| Charlotte | $63,940 |
| Raleigh | $65,840 |
| San Antonio | $58,750 |
| Chicago | $58,800 |
| Orlando | $63,120 |
| Tampa | $65,160 |
| Miami | $61,720 |
| Jacksonville | $62,180 |
| Greenville-Spartanburg | $62,480 |
| Columbia, SC | $64,110 |
| Charleston, SC | $68,460 |
| Savannah | $74,190 |
Related cad and design salaries
CAD Designer salary FAQs
How much does a CAD designer make in the US?
The typical (median) CAD designer in the US earns $66,150 a year, or about $31.80 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Half earn more and half earn less.
What is the entry-level salary for a CAD designer in the US?
Early-career CAD designers in the US typically earn around $55,650 (the 25th percentile), and the lowest-paid 10% earn under $46,260. Degree, internships, licenses and the industry all move starting pay.
How much do experienced CAD designers earn in the US?
Experienced CAD designers in the US earn $80,870 or more (the 75th percentile), and the top 10% earn over $99,710.
Which state pays CAD designers the most?
District of Columbia has the highest typical pay for CAD designers at $97,880 a year. The highest-paying metro area is Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT at $84,440 (BLS, May 2025).
Are CAD designers in demand?
BLS projects employment in this occupation to grow 5.2% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% for all jobs, with about 9,100 openings a year nationally as people retire, change jobs or the field grows.
Hiring CAD designers?
Where these numbers come from
Pay figures come from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program (OEWS), which surveys about 1.1 million employer locations and is the government's main source of pay by occupation and location. This page uses the May 2025 survey, released in 2026, and updates itself when BLS publishes the next year's figures. Job outlook comes from the BLS Employment Projections for 2025–35. Cost of living comes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024, where the US average is 100.
Pay is base wages and salary before tax. It does not include bonuses, overtime, benefits or equity. Early career is the 25th percentile (a quarter of workers earn less), Typical is the median and Experienced is the 75th percentile. The bar shows the full range from the 10th to the 90th percentile. The salary rank check estimates a percentile by drawing straight lines between those five published points.
BLS groups some job titles together. Controls engineers, for example, are counted with electrical engineers, and CAD designers with drafters. Each result names the BLS occupation it uses so you can see exactly what is being measured. BLS does not publish every occupation in every area, for example when too few people in a job were surveyed or when a figure does not meet its reliability standards. When a metro figure is missing, the calculator shows the state figure, or the national figure if the state is also missing, and says so.
BLS occupation used on this page: Architectural and Civil Drafters (SOC 17-3011).