Web Designer Salary: Your 2024 Guide

Web design is one of the tech industry's most flexible and in-demand fields. Web designers working in India earn an average total pay of ₹37,000 per month. This figure includes a base salary of ₹20,000 and ₹17,000 in additional pay [1]. Additional pay may include commissions, bonuses, or profit sharing. Remember that your employer, experience, and location can also impact salary. 

Read on to learn more about a web designer’s salary. 

Web designer salaries by experience level

A junior web developer, an entry level position, earns an average base salary of ₹16,615 per month [2]. Meanwhile, a web designer's base salary averages ₹20,000. With experience, a designer may advance to become a senior web designer, with an average salary of ₹40,000 [3]. 

Web designer salaries by location

Earnings in the web design profession can vary based on national and international location. Indeed provides a breakdown of salaries for web designers by cities in India. It's important to note these averages reflect a wide range of experience in web design, from entry level to senior professionals. The list below outlines a few cities with the highest average web designer salaries.

• Gurugram, Haryana - ₹26,650 per month

• Ahmedabad, Gujarat - ₹23,575 per month

• Hyderabad, Telangana - ₹22,691 per month

• Noida, Uttar Pradesh - ₹20,484 per month

• Mohali, Punjab - ₹19,968 per month

Freelance and contract web designer salaries

Instead of being directly employed by a company, you can work as a freelance web designer. Freelancing is a type of self-employment that allows you to set your own pay range per project. On average, freelance web designers in India earn a monthly salary of ₹20,000 [4].

Contract web designers are hired to complete a specific project during a predetermined period of time. Typically, contract workers are employed by a staffing firm under the direction of the employer. When you work as a contract web designer, the agency you work for typically sets your rate, which means it could be higher or lower than what you'd earn as a freelancer [5].

Job title variations and salaries

Titles for web designer jobs can vary based on experience level, industry, and specialisation. You can review some of the most common alternative job titles for web designers and their average monthly salaries in the list below.

Note: All India salary information is sourced from Glassdoor in July 2023.

• Lead web designer: ₹41,520 per month

• Senior web designer: ₹40,000 per month

• Front-end developer: ₹41,666 per month

• UX (user experience) designer: ₹66,666 per month

• UI (user interface) designer: ₹5,00,000 per month

• HTML CSS developer: ₹25,000 per month

• Full-stack web developer: ₹41,666 per month

What does a web designer do?

Web designers are creative professionals who develop the look and feel of a website. As a designer, you may design websites before making it functional using web development. You may collaborate with other designers, copywriters, and marketing specialists to ensure their vision comes to life. Generally, the scope of the role varies based on the client or employer. Job requirements for web designers are likely to include the following:

• Creating sitemaps and structures based on business needs

• Designing mockups using design software like Photoshop or Sketch

• Developing wireframes based on user interface/user experience (UI/UX)

• Optimising websites for speed and scalability

• Testing websites in different browsers and devices

• Writing code using HTML/CSS/JavaScript or a content management system like WordPress or Drupal

Web design specialisations

As a web designer, you may focus on creating one specific type of website, such as e-commerce websites, or create various website types, including blogs, online stores, social media, magazines, and commercial portfolio websites. As you gain more experience, you may become a specialist in a particular area of web design, which can lead to higher-profile projects with greater earning potential. 

Where do web designers work?

Web designers tend to fall into one of two categories:

• Those who work in-house or on a contract basis as part of a web team or agency

• Those who run their own freelance or agency business

Self-employment is a significant part of the field, and freelance web designers often work on a contract basis. Many web designers have a home office and do a lot of their work remotely, sometimes for clients in other areas of the world.

As you build a career as a web designer, you may work in different settings with different types of clients or employers. Here are some of the types of companies that employ web designers:

• Consulting firms

• Corporate businesses with an internal web team

• E-commerce brands

• Freelance and contract work

• Newspapers, magazines, and other media companies

• Universities and colleges

• Web design agencies

How to become a web designer

To be considered for web designing jobs, you should build your web design skills, knowledge, and experience. Whilst there are no formal entry requirements to become a web designer, completing a diploma program or bachelor's degree in computer science can give you a chance to learn the skills you’ll need in the field. Relevant areas of study include graphic design and multimedia.

Essential web design skills include:

• Knowledge of web design best practices and latest trends

• Web programming language skills, such as PHP, Java, HTML, CSS

• An understanding of UX/UI principles

• A good understanding of database-driven websites and MySQL

• Awareness of mobile-first concepts and responsive design

• Experience with Google Analytics

• Knowledge of search engine optimization

• Hone skills with WordPress, Magento, Joomla, Shopify, WooCommerce, and other website and e-commerce platforms.

Learn more about web design with Coursera

If you’re ready to start your web design career, consider enrolling in the Google UX Design Professional Certificate on Coursera. Get hands-on experience with industry tools and learn skills at your own pace. Upon completion, gain a certificate to include in your resume, CV, or LinkedIn profile.