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Hi! I would say that is way too low. You may make more as a freelancer. If you don’t feel like you have other options or room to negotiate, consider taking the position to build your portfolio and gain more industry experience as a transition period. But I would not spend too much time there without a negotiating a higher salary.
Do a cost of living comparison for San Francisco and your city (Chicago vs Cincinnati are both Midwest but huge difference in COL) … so starting salary for UI (not the same as UX) would be around 110k+ depending on the compensation package and company. UX pays a little more early on.
Did you look at glassdoor, Comparably, LinkedIn salaries, h1b database? You need to learn to research this stuff to be proactive in the conversations with recruiters even before you have an offer.
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No. Even 4 years ago, the average was ~$70-80k for an entry level designer in the Midwest
Depends where you're at in the Midwest. A few years ago, in Grand Rapids, MI and as a Senior Graphic Designer at an agency (10 YOE), I only made 60k. And that was a "good" wage.
Errrrrrr what? I’m in Detroit and make 94k with ~2yoe.
Industry? Company size?
Start up not sure on size
60K is definitely better than 50k, however wether this is a fair offer, depends on the location. 60k may be a decent rate for a place like Cincinnati Ohio, but may be below the market rate in Chicago IL. Be sure to check salaries on sites like LinkedIn, Glassdoor and pay scale
Also be sure to take a look at the whole compensation package, do you get decent benefits: health, vision, dental, 401K, PTO etc.
I would say the benefits are good. Being that I am making a career change and have less than 1 year of experience, I figured it would be better to get my foot in the door and worry about negotiation power in my next role after 2-3 years. Although I do regret not asking for maybe 65 or 70 :(