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Salary · Instructional Designer · United States

Instructional Designer salary: $77,440 median, and how to negotiate yours.

The full pay range by percentile, every state, the top-paying metro areas and similar roles, from the latest BLS survey. Place your own offer on the range.

Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025
Annual wage range · U.S. · BLS May 2025
$77,440median ($37.23/hr)

Hourly pay, BLS May 2025: 10th percentile $23.07 · 25th $29.22 · median $37.23 · 75th $47.51 · 90th $58.49.

Quick answer

The median annual wage for instructional coordinators in the United States was $77,440 in May 2025 (BLS). The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $47,980 and the top 10% earned more than $121,670. That median is 1.5 times the $50,980 median for all occupations. The highest-paying state was District of Columbia ($105,990).

Data Government data groups this job as Instructional Coordinators (O*NET-SOC 25-9031.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

10th percentile
$47,980
lowest-paid 10% earn less
25th percentile
$60,780
a quarter earn less
75th percentile
$98,820
a quarter earn more
90th percentile
$121,670
top 10% earn more
Key facts

More on instructional designer pay

  • The median hourly wage for instructional coordinators in the United States was $37.23 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • The middle half of instructional coordinators in the United States earned between $60,780 and $98,820 a year in May 2025 (25th to 75th percentile, BLS).

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • The lowest-paid 10% of instructional coordinators in the United States earned less than $47,980 a year in May 2025, and the top 10% more than $121,670 (BLS).

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • The mean annual wage for instructional coordinators in the United States was $80,920 in May 2025, according to BLS; the mean is a different measure from the median.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • BLS estimated that 227,760 people were employed as instructional coordinators in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Pay by state

Instructional Designer salary in every state

Data BLS state estimates, May 2025. 51 states and DC published a median for this occupation. Sort by pay or by number employed.

Highest median pay
  1. District of Columbia$105,990
  2. Maryland$102,220
  3. Washington$97,250
  4. California$97,010
  5. Connecticut$96,170
Most people employed
  1. Texas31,970
  2. California20,950
  3. New York18,730
  4. Florida18,030
  5. Illinois10,330
Median annual wage by state
State10th–90th percentile
District of Columbia$105,990$68,330–$156,4301,220
Maryland$102,220$49,440–$143,6704,350
Washington$97,250$61,660–$129,4304,720
California$97,010$50,740–$152,26020,950
Connecticut$96,170$58,820–$129,9101,780
New Jersey$96,090$61,050–$121,8803,770
Hawaii$96,080$60,870–$122,8101,130
Massachusetts$95,320$53,880–$129,4806,170
Oregon$84,620$58,550–$130,8902,940
Virginia$83,230$50,310–$131,9405,830
Wisconsin$83,000$56,320–$125,6802,130
Colorado$82,160$56,210–$107,9603,400
New Hampshire$81,210$45,790–$115,940510
Georgia$81,060$56,700–$119,6007,830
New Mexico$80,870$55,000–$120,720510
New York$80,560$50,620–$125,88018,730
Minnesota$80,550$59,730–$118,3303,130
Delaware$79,290$49,390–$98,990980
Michigan$79,290$51,830–$108,9705,680
Nebraska$79,150$51,320–$104,0101,370
Texas$78,710$52,490–$106,07031,970
Vermont$78,360$59,380–$108,120730
Ohio$77,760$46,660–$107,2903,510
Maine$76,700$49,010–$103,880480
Wyoming$76,140$56,760–$115,330290
Illinois$76,050$45,220–$112,42010,330
Pennsylvania$75,580$48,220–$105,3507,540
North Dakota$75,340$55,770–$94,600650
Iowa$74,970$50,390–$96,2002,760
Tennessee$74,390$45,030–$99,1804,120
Alaska$72,320$52,990–$108,020550
Missouri$72,080$48,410–$103,6903,110
West Virginia$69,600$42,110–$100,370730
Alabama$69,000$46,460–$109,7102,040
Nevada$67,410$44,080–$96,7601,130
Arkansas$67,100$48,380–$95,5501,300
Indiana$66,300$44,770–$99,6802,640
Utah$65,780$38,100–$100,2803,680
South Carolina$65,460$38,120–$104,2904,370
Kansas$64,750$47,870–$95,3101,950
Oklahoma$63,980$42,970–$101,7802,540
Kentucky$63,640$43,360–$102,3403,380
North Carolina$63,340$46,370–$95,1508,260
Louisiana$63,120$47,580–$98,3002,140
Rhode Island$63,110$38,430–$101,4101,240
Idaho$63,030$51,310–$99,3601,490
Arizona$62,620$46,080–$98,9106,560
Mississippi$61,830$37,700–$96,1001,840
Montana$60,920$46,440–$96,250740
Florida$60,790$44,900–$98,44018,030
South Dakota$57,910$46,910–$89,590500
Top-paying metro areas

Where the median is highest

Data Metropolitan areas with at least 100 people employed in the occupation, BLS May 2025.

  1. Kennewick-Richland, WA$114,320
  2. Merced, CA$106,710
  3. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$105,890
  4. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA$105,790
  5. Trenton-Princeton, NJ$105,720
  6. Vallejo, CA$105,400
  7. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$105,220
  8. Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV$104,950
  9. Bakersfield-Delano, CA$104,600
  10. Fresno, CA$104,260
Similar roles

How the pay compares

Data National medians for related occupations (O*NET related roles, BLS pay).

  1. Principal$105,870
  2. Instructional Designer$77,440
  3. Special Education Teacher$74,260
  4. High School Teacher$72,040
  5. Training Specialist$69,280
  6. Middle School Teacher$64,370
  7. Elementary School Teacher$63,970
Negotiation script builder

Ask for more, calmly and in writing

Advice Uses only what you type. Replace anything in brackets with something true.

Our view If you cite market data, cite this page's source: the BLS median for your state and the percentile your offer sits at. A specific, sourced number is easier to agree to than a feeling.

Pay by industry

What OEWS reports by employing industry

Data Median and mean annual wage for instructional designer jobs in the industries employing the most of them (May 2025). Among the 6 industries here that meet TryHired's reliability rule (5,000+ jobs, 5%+ of establishments reporting, low sampling error, a non-degenerate wage distribution), OEWS reports the highest median for those employed in state government, excluding schools and hospitals (oews designation) ($83,760).

Pay by industry
IndustryJobsMedian annual wageMean annual wage
Elementary and Secondary Schools103,770$81,050$86,450
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools37,080$64,020$72,960
Educational Support Services22,750$73,470$78,560
Junior Colleges9,550$66,650$73,420
State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)8,230$83,760$87,420
Child Care Services6,700$53,980$59,170
Other Schools and Instruction6,070$61,950$65,120
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)4,360$81,830$86,410

Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 national industry-specific estimates (A_MEDIAN and A_MEAN fields), detailed industries with at least 1,000 such jobs. Since May 2025 OEWS publishes specific values for many wages that used to appear only as “$239,200 or more”; values BLS still marks that way are shown that way. Industry estimates differ; they are not a forecast of anyone's pay after a move.

Method

How this page is built

Wages are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates for May 2025 (national, state and metropolitan area), for the occupation shown. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include base pay, commissions, production bonuses and tips, and exclude overtime, shift differentials, non-production bonuses and benefits. Percentiles describe all workers in the occupation, not entry or senior levels.

What this page can't tell you
  • Pay at a specific employer, or for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Experience level: percentiles are not seniority bands.
  • Equity, bonuses outside OEWS's definition, and benefits.
Sources
  1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
  2. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.

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