650+ Design & UX Jobs in San Francisco, CA

Observed government pay for the metro's broader arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupation family was a $115,250 mean wage and a $97,320 median wage in 2025, with the 25th percentile at $63,780 and the 90th percentile at $199,490. Proxy signals for Bay Area UX and product-design work are higher: local posted salary ranges center on about $169k to $225k, Levels reports $215,000 median yearly total compensation for UX designers, and a Glassdoor-based San Francisco UX estimate shows an average of $135,001 with a typical $103,693–$177,757 middle range.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 551 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $107,500 at the 25th percentile, $160,808 at the median and $200,000 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of October 15, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 250+ openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Competitive market | next 3-6 months

This is a competitive market, not a collapsing one. The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro had a 4.6% unemployment rate in August 2026, while nonfarm payroll jobs reached 2,416,300 and were up 0.6% over the year; at the same time, two design-heavy buyer sectors were softer, with Information employment down 3.5928% and Professional and Business Services down 1.1787% year over year. For design specifically, Revelio Public Labor Statistics shows California design, creative, and UX employment down 0.8% year over year in September 2026 while active postings were essentially flat, which fits a market with openings but limited room for undifferentiated applicants. Local demand is still real—more than 450 postings across more than 250 companies over the last 90 days—but the mix is heavily senior, with about 45% senior roles, about 15% lead+ roles, and only about 5% entry roles.

Best positioned: Senior product or UX designers who can show shipped work in prototyping, Figma, design systems, interaction design, and user research have the best odds right now.

Main caution: The biggest trap is assuming Bay Area pay means broad access: posted salary ranges center on about $169k to $225k, but only about 5% of sampled roles are entry level and only about 10% are remote.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 697 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Design Better Podcast: 30 open roles
2. Google Inc: 8 open roles
3. SARACA: 8 open roles
4. Acceler8 Talent: 7 open roles
5. Gap Inc.: 7 open roles
6. Intuit, Inc.: 6 open roles
7. Jacobs Engineering Group: 6 open roles
8. Meta Inc.: 6 open roles
9. TYLin Group: 6 open roles
10. Atlassian Corp.: 5 open roles

Where the openings are

• San Francisco: 465
• Oakland: 35
• San Mateo: 31
• Berkeley: 29
• Redwood City: 17
• Corte Madera: 13
• South San Francisco: 11
• Walnut Creek: 10

Work arrangement

on-site 371 (54%), hybrid 261 (38%), remote 49 (7%)

Where the demand is

Opportunity is concentrated in digital product work tied to software and platform teams, not in a broad rebound across every creative specialty. In the local posting sample, software development and technology each made up about 35% of activity, with financial services and technology, information and internet as smaller follow-on pockets. The skill mix also looks like product-design hiring rather than visual-only hiring: prototyping appeared in about 50% of postings, Figma in about 45%, and product design, interaction design, and design systems each in about 35%. The employer base is fragmented rather than dominated by one company, and more than 450 postings appeared across more than 250 companies over the last 90 days. That helps if you can target a clear niche, but the seniority mix is unforgiving: about 45% of roles were senior, about 15% were lead+, and only about 5% were entry. About 35% of sampled postings came from small employers, which creates openings for generalists who can handle research, prototyping, and systems work in one seat. Purely visual or traditional graphic-design paths look narrower than product-oriented design. Nationally, graphic designer median pay was $62,960 and BLS projects graphic designer employment to decline 2% from 2025 to 2035. Local proxy data also puts San Francisco graphic designer pay below product/UX-focused signals, with a 25th percentile of $68,680 and a 75th percentile of $115,940.

• Product design / UX in software and platform teams (high): Software development and technology each account for about 35% of sampled postings, and the requested skill mix centers on prototyping, Figma, product design, interaction design, and design systems.
• Fintech and financial-services design (moderate): Financial services account for about 10% of sampled postings, so this is a real but smaller pocket; it is worth targeting, but recent Chime layoffs are a reminder that the segment can stay selective.
• Traditional graphic design / visual-only roles (limited): This lane looks tighter than product-oriented work, with lower local proxy pay bands and a weaker national long-run outlook for graphic designers.

Where to focus: Focus first on mid-to-senior product-design openings inside software, platform, and fintech teams where you can prove end-to-end problem solving, not just polished visuals.

Roles worth searching next

• Design Operations: Nationally, Design Operations postings increased 52.5% month over month in September 2026, making it one of the stronger adjacent design-function signals.
• Front-end design engineer / web and digital designer hybrid: BLS treats web and digital interface designers as a related occupation with a $104,000 median annual wage and 5% projected growth from 2025 to 2035.
• Product Manager: National industry reporting says designers are taking on more product and engineering responsibilities, which makes PM a plausible next move for some senior designers.

What postings ask for

• Prototyping (table_stakes | immediate): Prototyping shows up in about 50% of sampled local postings, making it one of the clearest baseline filters for Bay Area design hiring. Who: Everyone, especially entry-level and career-switching candidates.
• Figma (table_stakes | immediate): Figma appears in about 45% of postings, so lacking it narrows your target list quickly. Who: Everyone applying to product, UX, or interface-heavy roles.
• Design systems (premium | immediate): Design systems appear in about 35% of postings and line up well with a market where senior and lead roles dominate. Who: Mid-career and senior candidates, plus juniors who want a sharper niche.
• User research (differentiator | near-term): User research appears in about 30% of postings and helps separate true product thinkers from visual-only applicants. Who: Product designers, UX designers, and switchers coming from customer-facing fields.
• Systems thinking (premium | near-term): Systems thinking appears in about 15% of postings, which makes it less common but useful for differentiation in complex product teams. Who: Mid-career designers aiming for senior, staff, or platform-oriented work.
• AI-assisted design workflow (differentiator | near-term): National evidence shows AI is being integrated into creative workflows, and 91% of designers in a cited survey were using AI tools weekly. Who: Mid-career candidates, career switchers, and anyone competing for product-design roles.

Questions about this market

What do Design, Creative & UX roles pay in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA?

Observed government pay for the metro's broader arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupation family was a $115,250 mean wage and a $97,320 median wage in 2025, with the 25th percentile at $63,780 and the 90th percentile at $199,490. Proxy signals for Bay Area UX and product-design work are higher: local posted salary ranges center on about $169k to $225k, Levels reports $215,000 median yearly total compensation for UX designers, and a Glassdoor-based San Francisco UX estimate shows an average of $135,001 with a typical $103,693–$177,757 middle range. This market can pay extremely well, but that premium mostly sits in senior product and UX seats tied to tech budgets rather than across every creative subfield. Software development and technology together account for about 70% of sampled local postings.

Where is demand for Design, Creative & UX roles in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA concentrated?

Opportunity is concentrated in digital product work tied to software and platform teams, not in a broad rebound across every creative specialty. In the local posting sample, software development and technology each made up about 35% of activity, with financial services and technology, information and internet as smaller follow-on pockets. The skill mix also looks like product-design hiring rather than visual-only hiring: prototyping appeared in about 50% of postings, Figma in about 45%, and product design, interaction design, and design systems each in about 35%. The employer base is fragmented rather than dominated by one company, and more than 450 postings appeared across more than 250 companies over the last 90 days. That helps if you can target a clear niche, but the seniority mix is unforgiving: about 45% of roles were senior, about 15% were lead+, and only about 5% were entry. About 35% of sampled postings came from small employers, which creates openings for generalists who can handle research, prototyping, and systems work in one seat. Purely visual or traditional graphic-design paths look narrower than product-oriented design. Nationally, graphic designer median pay was $62,960 and BLS projects graphic designer employment to decline 2% from 2025 to 2035. Local proxy data also puts San Francisco graphic designer pay below product/UX-focused signals, with a 25th percentile of $68,680 and a 75th percentile of $115,940.

Which employers are hiring the most Design, Creative & UX talent in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA?

Recent postings show the most activity from Design Better Podcast (20 postings), Meta Inc. (10 postings), Instagram LLC (10 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Design, Creative & UX roles in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 10% are remote and 45% hybrid, with 45% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

Browse California openings by job title

• Software Engineer: 1,182 open roles statewide
• General Manager: 419 open roles statewide
• Product Manager: 411 open roles statewide
• Project Manager: 388 open roles statewide
• Program Manager: 327 open roles statewide
• Technical Program Manager: 316 open roles statewide
• Senior Software Engineer: 277 open roles statewide
• Staff Software Engineer: 234 open roles statewide
• Engineering Manager: 173 open roles statewide
• Senior Manager: 138 open roles statewide
• Senior Product Manager: 117 open roles statewide
• Associate Director: 108 open roles statewide

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