What 1,426 responses say about design fees

Fast Company published the results of the Design Pricing Transparency Project, run with AIGA, on 20 July 2026. Fielded between 25 February and 12 April 2026 with research partner Empire Insights, it collected 1,426 responses, 1,273 from freelance designers and 153 from hiring managers. Roughly a third of freelancers report six-figure annual earnings and 8 per cent clear $200,000, with product and experiential design paying most, followed by AI and data work. Project fees range from under $1,000 for a flyer to more than $50,000 for apps and design systems.

The more telling number is confidence: only 12 per cent say they are very confident about pricing, even though designers' rates broadly match what companies actually pay. Most build experience in-house first, and 64 per cent do not want to return to salaried work. On AI the picture splits: 62 per cent use the tools regularly, 70 per cent think they degrade creative quality, and while 40 per cent of hiring managers start projects with AI, only 14 per cent expect demand for designers to fall.