As of May 01, 2026, the average hourly pay of Lighting Designer in the United States is $22. While Salary.com is seeing that the highest pay for Lighting Designer in the US can go up to $27 and the lowest down to $19, but most earn between $21 and $25. Salary.com shows the average base salary (core compensation), as well as the average total cash compensation for the job of Lighting Designer in the United States.
| Percentile | Hourly Pay Rate | Location | Last Updated |
| 10th Percentile Lighting Designer Salary | $19 | US | May 01, 2026 |
| 25th Percentile Lighting Designer Salary | $21 | US | May 01, 2026 |
| 50th Percentile Lighting Designer Salary | $22 | US | May 01, 2026 |
| 75th Percentile Lighting Designer Salary | $25 | US | May 01, 2026 |
| 90th Percentile Lighting Designer Salary | $27 | US | May 01, 2026 |
A theatre lighting designer (or LD) works with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create the lighting, atmosphere, and time of day for the production in response to the text, while keeping in mind issues of visibility, safety, and cost. The LD also works closely with the stage manager or show control programming, if show control systems are used in that production. Outside stage lighting, the job of a Lighting Designer can be much more diverse and they can be found working on rock and pop tours, corporate launches, art installation and on massi...
Source: Wikipedia (as of 04/17/2019). Read more from Wikipedia
See user submitted job responsibilities for Lighting Designer.
1 - 3 years experience
Associate's Degree
5 + years experience
Bachelor's Degree
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| Job Title Production Director | Experience | EducationBachelors | Salary Compared to This Job |
| Job Title Production Manager | Experience 5 + | EducationBachelors | Salary Compared to This Job |
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Core compensation
Includes base and short-term incentives
Skills associated with Lighting Designer: Design
Recently searched related titles: Assistant Production Planner, Producers Assistant, Senior Associate Producer
Learn more about: Compensation Packages, Employee Flight Risk, Gender Pay Gap, Job Openings for This Role
Jobs with a similar salary range to Lighting Designer : Traffic Anchor, Certified Paraoptometric, Production Intern
