UX Designer.
Kansas City.
$100,000
median salary, 5% below the national average
$76,000 to $128,000. Last updated August 2026.
Get the job.
Data points to own the conversation.
Kansas City is 7% cheaper than the national average. For UX Designers, that shakes out to a median of $100,000, with the full range spanning $76,000 to $128,000. Portfolio quality, user research methodology depth, and ability to quantify design impact on business metrics are key differentiators. 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 UX Designer in Kansas City, 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 $75,690 for Web and Digital Interface Designers (SOC 15-1255) in the Kansas City, MO-KS metropolitan area, based on 310 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$48,820
25th percentile
$57,790
Median
$75,690
75th percentile
$98,100
90th percentile
$136,480
Workers surveyed
310
Why this differs from the estimate above. The Orbyt estimate of $100,000 is 32% higher than this published figure. That is usually not an error in either number: BLS reports by occupation code, and Web and Digital Interface Designers covers a different population than the UX Designer title as it is typically advertised. Both are shown, unreconciled, so you can judge which one describes the job you mean.
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Web and Digital Interface Designers (SOC 15-1255) rather than UX Designer specifically. The Kansas Cityrange 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 15-1255Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $90,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$65,000
to $80,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$85,000
to $105,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$110,000
to $130,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$125,000
to $155,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $27,000 to the total package.
Base
$100,000
Equity
$15,000
Bonus
$10,000
Signing
$2,000
Estimated total: $127,000
How Kansas City compares.
Kansas City, MO
$100,000
Cost of living: 7% below average
National Average
$105,000
Kansas City is $5,000 below
UX Designer salary by city.
Salary by role in Kansas City.
What you should know.
The UX Designer landscape in Kansas City is not what most salary sites will tell you. Kansas City straddles Missouri and Kansas, creating a unique dual state job market with strong logistics, tech, and agriculture technology sectors. The metro's central location has made it a hub for distribution centers and supply chain companies. Cerner's healthcare IT presence and a growing startup scene have boosted demand for technology professionals. Portfolio quality, user research methodology depth, and ability to quantify design impact on business metrics are key differentiators. Designers who combine visual craft with interaction design and prototyping command higher salaries. Experience with enterprise B2B products or regulated industries like healthcare and finance also drives premiums.
Junior UX designers start at $65,000 to $85,000, advancing to mid level at $95,000 to $120,000 after two to three years. Senior UX designers earn $120,000 to $160,000. Design leads and directors reach $160,000 to $220,000, while VPs of Design at large companies can exceed $300,000 in total comp. In Kansas City, 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. Equity at tech companies adds $10,000 to $60,000 annually. Bonuses range from 5 to 15% of base. Benefits often include design tool subscriptions, conference budgets, and continuing education stipends. Signing bonuses of $10,000 to $25,000 are common at senior levels. And on the tax side: missouri's top income tax rate is about 4.8%, and Kansas City adds a 1% earnings tax. Workers living in Kansas face that state's rates instead. Choose your side of the state line carefully. When someone quotes you $100,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Negotiate which side of the state line you will be based on. Your tax situation differs meaningfully between Missouri and Kansas, and some employers offer flexibility on office location. The range for UX Designers in Kansas City runs from $76,000 to $128,000. 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 Database Administrator in Kansas City earns $99,000 (1% less)
- The highest-paying role in Kansas City is CTO at $282,000
Common questions.
UX Designer salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Kansas City.
Related salary pages
Jump to nearby roles and cities most relevant to UX Designers in Kansas City.
Related tools.
Do you work as an ux designer in Kansas City?
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