Interior Designer.
New Orleans.
$60,000
median salary, 5% below the national average
$47,000 to $77,000. Last updated August 2026.
Get the job.
Data points to own the conversation.
Interior Designer pay in New Orleans ranges from $47,000 to $77,000 in 2026. The median is $60,000, 5% below the national average. New Orleans has a distinctive economy shaped by energy, port operations, tourism, and a growing digital media sector. Every dollar in that range is negotiable if you come prepared. 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 New Orleans, 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 $60,810 for Interior Designers (SOC 27-1025) in the New Orleans-Metairie, LA metropolitan area, based on 120 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$37,400
25th percentile
$46,490
Median
$60,810
75th percentile
$69,640
90th percentile
$87,020
Workers surveyed
120
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 New Orleansrange 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 $54,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$39,000
to $48,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$51,000
to $63,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$66,000
to $78,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$75,000
to $93,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $17,000 to the total package.
Base
$60,000
Equity
$10,000
Bonus
$6,000
Signing
$1,000
Estimated total: $77,000
How New Orleans compares.
New Orleans, LA
$60,000
Cost of living: 8% below average
National Average
$63,000
New Orleans is $3,000 below
Interior Designer salary by city.
Salary by role in New Orleans.
What you should know.
Before you negotiate an Interior Designer offer in New Orleans, understand the terrain. New Orleans has a distinctive economy shaped by energy, port operations, tourism, and a growing digital media sector. The city's creative and cultural industries are unique employment drivers. Post hurricane rebuilding has created ongoing demand in construction, engineering, and resilience planning roles. 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 New Orleans, 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: louisiana's top income tax rate is 4.25%. New Orleans has no city income tax. The moderate state rate and affordable living costs yield good take home pay. When someone quotes you $60,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Highlight energy sector or resilience engineering experience. New Orleans employers pay premiums for professionals who understand the region's unique environmental and infrastructure challenges. The range for Interior Designers in New Orleans runs from $47,000 to $77,000. 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
Considering a related role?
- A Surgical Technologist in New Orleans earns $59,000 (2% less)
- The highest-paying role in New Orleans is CTO at $273,000
Common questions.
Interior Designer salary in other cities.
Other salaries in New Orleans.
Related salary pages
Jump to nearby roles and cities most relevant to Interior Designers in New Orleans.
Related tools.
Do you work as an interior designer in New Orleans?
Your individual figure is never published. Submissions appear only as aggregate percentiles, and nothing is shown for a role and city until at least five people have reported. It is stored against your account, which is what keeps the dataset clean.
Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
Want this data on your site? Embed the salary widget. One script tag, free forever.
Related tools