Interior Designer.
Philadelphia.
$67,000
median salary, 6% above the national average
$53,000 to $86,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
Philadelphia is 9% more expensive than the national average. For Interior Designers, that shakes out to a median of $67,000, with the full range spanning $53,000 to $86,000. Specialization in commercial, hospitality, or healthcare interiors drives higher pay than residential work. Know the range before you walk in. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Interior Designer in Philadelphia, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $64,800 for Interior Designers (SOC 27-1025) in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, based on 1,170 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$49,820
25th percentile
$55,460
Median
$64,800
75th percentile
$84,110
90th percentile
$100,170
Workers surveyed
1,170
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Interior Designers (SOC 27-1025) rather than Interior Designer specifically. The Philadelphia range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 27-1025Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $60,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$44,000
to $54,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$57,000
to $70,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$74,000
to $87,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$84,000
to $104,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $19,000 to the total package.
Base
$67,000
Equity
$11,000
Bonus
$7,000
Signing
$1,000
Estimated total: $86,000
How Philadelphia compares.
Philadelphia, PA
$67,000
Cost of living: 9% above average
National Average
$63,000
Philadelphia is $4,000 above
Interior Designer salary by city.
Salary by role in Philadelphia.
What you should know.
The Interior Designer landscape in Philadelphia is not what most salary sites will tell you. Philadelphia combines a robust healthcare and life sciences sector with established finance and higher education institutions. The city's pharmaceutical corridor is among the strongest in the country. Tech growth has accelerated, particularly in health tech and enterprise software, offering salaries that stretch further than in nearby New York. Specialization in commercial, hospitality, or healthcare interiors drives higher pay than residential work. Designers with NCIDQ certification, proficiency in Revit and 3D visualization, and a portfolio of large-scale projects earn at the top of the range in major metros.
Junior Interior Designers start at $46,000 to $54,000. Mid-level designers managing client relationships and full projects earn $58,000 to $72,000. Senior Designers and Design Directors reach $75,000 to $95,000, with firm principals and celebrity designers earning well above $120,000. In Philadelphia, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. Self-employed interior designers often earn more through markup on furnishings and materials, adding 20 to 35% to effective income. Salaried roles may include bonuses of 5 to 10% and trade account access for personal projects. And on the tax side: pennsylvania has a flat 3.07% state income tax, but Philadelphia adds a 3.75% city wage tax for residents. This combined local burden is worth factoring into salary negotiations. When someone quotes you $67,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Account for the Philadelphia wage tax in your ask. Request a 5 to 8% premium over suburban offers to offset the city's local tax on all earned income. The range for Interior Designers in Philadelphia runs from $53,000 to $86,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
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Common questions.
Interior Designer salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Philadelphia.
Related salary pages
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Interior Designer Salary in Philadelphia, PA." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/interior-designer/philadelphia
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