What Are The Going Design Rates PART II

If you read the last post at the very top according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics I stated my findings for the mean hourly wage for designers at 25.34 an hour. Here, I will repost it for your convenience.

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics the mean hourly rate for design in California is $25.34 an hour.
http://www.bls.gov/OES/current/oes271024.htm#st

Now a bit of reality.

I did a bit of calling around with other designers in the bay area getting quotes on a 5 page design. I told them I wanted a nice classy website one that was not cheap looking but would promote my business as unique and professional. In other words I wanted a very professional looking site with some business cards made.

Out of the over 30 calls (yes over 30) to various web designers here in the bay area I got an average quote for a 5 page design with a business card and flyer design for $900 (average).

The most expensive quote I got was 3,400 and one near 2,000 dollars. So for the average bid at $900 at a $25/hourly rate we can break the time down below , and I will comment.

$900 divided by $25 an hour = 36 hours of work.

This I totally agree with, it takes about a weeks worth of work to design a custom, sleek style site. There is a lot work that goes into making a site including customer service interviews, changes, approvals and even SEO (marketing). So much in fact I can do a short book on it.

So, in short conclusion professional work in the SF Bay Area you can expect to pay anywhere from about $700 to $1,200 for quality design. And I stress the terms PROFESSIONAL and QUALITY.

If you were looking for quality work and got offers for the above under the $400 range you you may want to reconsider. If can afford professional design work then be sure to examine portfolios and get all your questions answered. Web design is expensive no doubt about it. However there is a reason why it is priced so.