Interior Designers Salary
Interior Designers in St. Louis, MO-IL make a median of $61,570 a year, or about $29.6 an hour. The range runs from $47K at the entry level to $102K for experienced workers. Adjusted for local prices (RPP 95.09), that's roughly $64,749 in purchasing power. A 2-bedroom apartment runs $1,218/month, about 30.1% of take-home, which is tight.
So what does $62K get you in St. Louis?
Groceries, utilities, transportation, and healthcare scaled from national averages by St. Louis’s Regional Price Parity (95.09). Rent from HUD Fair Market Rents. Taxes estimated for single filer, standard deduction. * Healthcare is the employee-paid share only (premiums + out-of-pocket). Actual costs vary by coverage type: employer-sponsored, ACA marketplace, or uninsured.
About interior designers
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What this looks like in St. Louis
Interior designers pay in St. Louis tracks closely to the national median, $62K locally vs. $67K nationwide, a 8% difference. Rent runs $1,218/month for a 2-bedroom (HUD FMR), taking 29.6% of the median take-home. That's within the 30% rule, though not by much. Cost of living (RPP 95.09) is near the national average, so spending patterns here track the typical American budget fairly closely. Pay and costs are both near average, leaving limited margin for savings at the median wage.
Compared to nearby metros
Median pay for interior designers in metros near St. Louis, adjusted for local cost of living.
| Metro | Median pay | COL-adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | $65K | $70K |
| Columbia | $68K | $76K |
| Springfield | $52K | $59K |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | $77K | $74K |
COL-adjusted = median salary ÷ (BEA Regional Price Parity ÷ 100). Expresses purchasing power in national-average dollars.
Compensation breakdown
Annual earnings by percentile, St. Louis, MO-IL
Entry-level interior designers (10th percentile) start around $47K. Mid-career wages sit at $62K. Top earners bring in $102K or more, a $55K spread from bottom to top.
Interior Designers pay across states
Median income ranked highest to lowest, compared to the national figure
View Interior Designers salary in all states
| State | Median salary | vs. national | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $98K | +47% | 620 |
| Wyoming | $96K | +43% | 90 |
| California | $80K | +19% | 8,500 |
| Massachusetts | $80K | +19% | 1,580 |
| Colorado | $78K | +17% | 2,300 |
| Washington | $77K | +14% | 1,330 |
| Illinois | $76K | +14% | 2,570 |
| New York | $76K | +12% | 5,340 |
| New Jersey | $74K | +10% | 1,670 |
| Minnesota | $73K | +9% | 1,220 |
| Georgia | $72K | +7% | 3,050 |
| Arkansas | $70K | +4% | 740 |
| Oklahoma | $69K | +2% | 490 |
| Connecticut | $67K | +0% | 630 |
| Oregon | $66K | -1% | 1,030 |
| South Dakota | $65K | -3% | 150 |
| Texas | $65K | -3% | 6,450 |
| Maryland | $65K | -3% | 1,440 |
| Nebraska | $65K | -3% | 430 |
| New Hampshire | $64K | -5% | 300 |
| Vermont | $64K | -5% | 110 |
| Maine | $64K | -5% | 230 |
| South Carolina | $64K | -5% | 940 |
| Hawaii | $64K | -5% | 270 |
| Tennessee | $64K | -5% | 1,530 |
| Alaska | $63K | -6% | 40 |
| Wisconsin | $63K | -7% | 1,200 |
| Indiana | $63K | -7% | 1,020 |
| Virginia | $63K | -7% | 1,550 |
| Pennsylvania | $62K | -7% | 1,820 |
| Montana | $62K | -8% | 290 |
| Utah | $62K | -8% | 1,110 |
| Arizona | $61K | -9% | 1,600 |
| Ohio | $61K | -9% | 2,180 |
| North Carolina | $61K | -9% | 2,610 |
| Kansas | $61K | -9% | 400 |
| Alabama | $61K | -9% | 620 |
| Florida | $61K | -9% | 7,410 |
| New Mexico | $61K | -9% | 90 |
| Louisiana | $61K | -10% | 350 |
| Delaware | $60K | -10% | 190 |
| Missouri | $60K | -11% | 1,010 |
| Michigan | $59K | -12% | 1,930 |
| Kentucky | $59K | -12% | 490 |
| North Dakota | $59K | -12% | 160 |
| Rhode Island | $58K | -14% | 550 |
| Iowa | $58K | -14% | 510 |
| West Virginia | $50K | -26% | 90 |
| Mississippi | $44K | -35% | 330 |
Showing 1–10 of 49 states with published data
BLS does not publish data for every state when sample sizes are too small
Track interior designers salary changes
BLS updates this data quarterly. We'll email you when St. Louis numbers change.
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Frequently asked questions
Can a interior designer afford a 2BR apartment alone in St. Louis?
Yes — at the median salary of $62K, rent takes 29.6% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,218/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.
What’s the entry-level salary for interior designers in St. Louis?
The 10th-percentile wage — what new interior designers typically earn — is $47K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,822/month. At HUD’s $1,218/month FMR, rent would take 43% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.
Is interior designer a high-paying job in St. Louis?
Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $62K locally vs. $67K nationally, a 8% difference.
How does St. Louis compare to the national average for interior designers?
St. Louis pays $62K median vs. the U.S. average of $67K — that’s -8%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 95.09), the purchasing-power equivalent is $65K — below the national median.
How much do interior designers make in St. Louis, MO-IL?
The median is $61,570 a year, that works out to about $30 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $47,040, and experienced interior designers can clear $101,860. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.
Is $62K enough to live in St. Louis?
On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,114/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,218/month, which eats 29.6% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.
How far does a interior designers salary go in St. Louis?
St. Louis has a Regional Price Parity of 95.09 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median interior designers salary is worth about $64,749 in national-average purchasing power.
Where do interior designers get paid the most?
The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.