Usability Salary Survey 2002

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Here are the results of the salary survey for usability/HCI professionals conducted by myself and another CHIWEB member - Jeremy Harrington in October 2002.

The average salary for usability professionals in the US was $ 78,999 USD. This is fairly consistent with findings from previous studies done in the last couple of years:

October 2002 Salary Survey Results

Country Annual gross salary (USD) Annual gross salary (local currency) Average experience (years) Average contractor / consultant rate (USD)
United States
$ 78,999
$ 78,999 USD
5
$ 98
Canada
$ 45,525
$ 70,915 CAD
5
$ 105
Japan
$ 61,647
¥ 7,532,646 JPY
5
$ 134
Europe
$ 46,332
€ 46,476 EUR
5
$ 111
Australia
$ 51,990
$ 91,974 AUD
3
$ 83

Total 240 respondents: United States 158, Canada 8, Japan 2, Europe 29, Australia 8.

Salaries by years of experience for US usability professionals (USD)
1 year
$ 62,727
2-4 years
$ 66,902
5-7 years
$ 92,211
8-10 years
$ 93,200
11-15 years
$ 70,192
16-26 years
$ 112,333
Total 158 US respondents. Note breakdown only possible for US due to higher response rate.

Notes:

  • Whilst there was only a sample size of 8 for Canada, there was little variance between earnings which ranged from USD $31,250 - $60,444.
  • 2 responses were received from India and 1 from Singapore. As salaries for India were substantially lower than those for Japan, these were not included as they would have skewed the results for Asia. Only 1 person from India stated their annual salary which was US $8,800.
  • There was no significant difference between UK and rest of Europe results (and as such these have been consolidated for easier comparison with other studies - refer www.nngroup.com/reports/salary).
  • Results from Australia not likely to be representative of the broader population as there was only a small sample size (n=8) and earnings ranged from USD27,000-86,509. I believe the top figure is not an error based on my understanding of Australian UE professionals are earning.
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