UX Professionals’ Salary Survey

1

Some Key Findings

Salaries in the UX industry depend on many variables, such as the location and size of your company, the industry, your academic background and professional experience.

This survey allows you to compare your compensation to industry peers, better understand what drives compensation in this market, and learn how to increase your value.

Some of what we learned from this year’s survey:

Half of the respondents earn between $50-125,000; 20% receive more than $125,000.

Salaries in the financial and health fields tend to be higher, and salaries in the transportation and hospitality fields tend to be lower.

Salaries tend to be relatively higher in North America, Australia and Central America. The UX US salary average is more than double that of Europe.

Salaries are higher in larger companies. It should be noted, however, that salaries in companies of 11 to 50 employees are particularly low, compared to salaries in companies that are even smaller (1 to 10 employees).

Salaries tend to be higher in companies with higher revenues. Salaries were particularly low among respondents working in companies that earn less than $10 million.

Usability professionals who use Web analytics tools tend to earn relatively high salaries. One exception: Respondents who use Google Analytics tend to earn relatively low salaries.

In general, men and women earn comparable salaries. However, the number of men who receive high salaries is relatively larger than the number of women receiving high salaries.

There is a correlation between increased salary and age, until the ages of 51 to 55. At this point, salaries begin to drop.

In general, individuals with advanced academic education tend to receive higher salaries.

The current economic climate seems to have had a mixed impact on the job security and earnings of usability professionals:

Approximately two thirds of respondents feel secure in their place of work (64.2%). Employees feel more secure than freelancers and external contract workers. Feelings of job security are highest in Asia (84%), though security is still relatively

high in North America (70%), Australia (62%) and Europe (65%). Half of the respondents received an annual bonus.

2

Methodology

Survey results are based on 543 responses collected from UX professionals worldwide through a standardized questionnaire.

Salary figures that appear in this survey reflect annual compensation for each respondent, including bonuses. All survey results are presented in US dollars.

About ClickTale

ClickTale is the leader in Customer Experience Analytics, the next advance in web analytics, optimizing usability and maximizing conversion rates of any website. Its patented Customer Experience Visualization™ technology allows ebusinesses to see their customers’ true-to-life online experience at all levels of detail, from aggregated views to playable videos of users’ browsing sessions. Unlike traditional analytics platforms that assess page-to-page navigation, ClickTale reveals the customer experience inside the page. ClickTale, an enterprise-class SaaS solution, is fast to deploy and provides immediate ROI. Serving over 2,000 customers worldwide including Fortune 500 ebusinesses, ClickTale is the fastest growing company in its space.

To learn more, see: www.clicktale.com

© 2012 ClickTale Ltd. All rights reserved.

3

Who’s Working Where? Company and Job Characteristics

Company Industry

Of the 543 respondents who completed the ClickTale UX Salary Survey, 25% are in the

software industry, while 14% are in the communications industry. 33% of those who

responded did not specify their industry, or chose Other.

Company Location

Most respondents were either from North America and Europe, in comparable percentages.

Software 25%

Other 24% Communications

14%

Missing 9%

eCommerce 9%

Finance 7%

Healthcare 4%

Gaming 3%

Travel/Hospitality 2%

Insurance 2%

Transportation 1%

Europe North America

Asia

Australia Africa

South America Central America

Missing

4

Company Size (Number of Employees)

Survey respondents represent companies of all sizes. About a fifth of respondents work for

companies that have between 51 and 200 employees, and a similar number work for

companies with over 10,000 employees.

Company Revenue

Half of the respondents are employed by companies whose profit is less than $100 million

USD annually.

.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

1-10 11-50 51-200 201-500 501-2,000 2,001-10,001 10,000+Number of Employees

.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

<@10M $10-100M $100-500M $500M-1B $1-5B $5-10B <$10B Missing

5

Age, Gender and Education

Age Groups

Half of the respondents were between 25 and 35 years old. More than 85% of the

respondents were between 25 and 45 years old.

Male vs. Female Ratio

Close to two thirds of the respondents were men.

2.8%

20.8%

31.3%

18.0%

14.0%

6.6%

2.9%

1.7%

.2%

1.7%

.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0%

18-24

25-30

31-35

36-40

41-45

46-50

51-55

56-60

61-65

Missing

Female 36%

Male 63%

missing 1%

6

Education Level

The vast majority of respondents have an academic degree, with approximately a third

having a Bachelors degree and a third having a Masters degree or Ph.D.

Position at Work

The vast majority of respondents (86%) work full-time, though approximately 11% work as

freelancers or external consultants.

0.6% 3.3%

10.1%

22.7%

30.0%

33.3%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

12th grade orless

Graduated highschool or

equivalent

Some college,no degree

Associatedegree

Bachelorsdegree

Post-graduatedegree

Full-time employee (30 or more hours per

week) 86%

Contractor / Freelance / Solo

consultant 11%

Part-time employee (less than 30 hours

per week) 2%

Student 1%

Unemployed 0% Other

3%

7

Who’s Making What? Salary Makeup and Trends

Annual Salary

Half of the respondents earn between $50,000 and $125,000 annually. Almost 20% earn

over $125,000 annually.

Salary by Industry

Overall, the survey indicates that salaries in the financial and health fields tend to be

higher. Salaries in the transportation and hospitality fields tend to be lower.

8.5%

7.0%

12.2%

21.5%

18.2%

14.2%

9.4%

9.0%

.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0%

Less than $25,000

$25,000 to $34,999

$35,000 to $49,999

$50,000 to $74,999

$75,000 to $99,999

$100,000 to $124,999

$125,000 to $149,999

$150,000 or more

$- $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000

8

Salary by Company Location

Salaries tend to be relatively higher in North America and Australia, as well as in Central

America. Salaries are relatively low in Europe and Africa. Salaries in North America are

more than double that of UX salaries in Europe.

Salary by Company Size

In general, salaries tend to be higher in larger companies than in smaller companies. It

should be noted, however, that salaries in companies of 11 to 50 employees are

particularly low, as compared to salaries in even smaller companies (1 to 10 employees).

$91,900 $89,800

$75,000

$50,000 $49,500 $43,300 $39,300

$- $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000

$100,000

NorthAmerica

Australia CentralAmerica

SouthAmerica

Asia Europe Africa

$54,000 $44,300

$60,000 $58,800

$71,300 $75,800

$87,100

$- $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000

$100,000

1-10 11-50 51-200 201-500 501-2,000 2,001-10,001 10,000+

9

Salary by Company Revenue

Salaries tend to be higher in companies that have higher revenues. Salaries were

particularly low among respondents working in companies with a profit of less than $10

million.

Salary by Age

There is a correlation between increased salary and age, until one reaches the ages of 51

to 55. At this point, salaries begin to drop. Keep in mind that these statistics are probably

affected by the low number of survey participants in older age groups.

$-

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

$120,000

<@10M $10-100M $100-500M $500M-1B $1-5B $5-10B <$10B

$28,300 $38,800

$57,900

$77,300 $93,800

$95,100

$123,400

$94,400

$75,000

$-

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

$120,000

$140,000

18-24 25-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65

10

Salary by Education

In general, individuals with advanced academic education tend to receive higher salaries.

Annual Bonuses

Almost half of the respondents (45.5%) receive an annual bonus.

$32,800

$58,600 $54,300

$67,600 $75,400

$-

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

$70,000

$80,000

Graduated high schoolor equivalent

Some college, no degree Associate degree Bachelors degree Post-graduate degree

53.6%

45.5%

.9% .0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

No Yes Missing

11

Job Stability and Satisfaction Guaranteed? Job security and sentiment

Job Security and Type of Employment

The level of job security felt by employees is high – sometimes, very high. In contrast,

freelancers and external contract workers felt a lower degree of job security. (The number

of respondents in other categories was too low to draw statistical conclusions.)

Job Satisfaction

Most of the respondents are satisfied with their work (70.4%). Only 10% reported that

they were dissatisfied with their work.

4.33

3.76 3.45

3.16

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

Student Full-time employee (30or more hours per week)

Part-time employee (lessthan 30 hours per week)

Contractor / Freelance /Solo consultant

Job

Secu

rity

(1=v

ery

inse

cure

; 5=

very

sec

ure)

2.0%

8.3%

17.9%

52.5%

17.9%

1.5% 0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very Satisfied Missing

12

Salary Earnings and Job Satisfaction

The salary level of respondents tends to rise as their job satisfaction rises. This can also be

interpreted in the opposite manner: Satisfaction rises as salary level rises.

Respondents who are highly satisfied tend to have higher salary levels than the

respondents with low satisfaction levels.

Job Security

Approximately two thirds of respondents feel secure in their place of work (64.2%), while

only 10% do not feel a sense of security.

$45,900

$57,200 $58,000 $66,300

$74,200

$-

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

$70,000

$80,000

Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very Satisfied

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0%

Very Insecure

Insecure

Neutral

Secure

Very secure

Missing

13

Job Security by Location

Feelings of job security are relatively high in Asia, and are somewhat high in North

America, Australia and Europe. (The number of respondents in other locations is too low to

draw statistical conclusions.)

Usability Techniques: Is there an advantage?

Usability Techniques and Tools

Use of usability techniques and tools tends to drop with smaller companies. Among larger

companies, the use of satisfaction surveys, usability testing and behavioral analytics tends

to increase.

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

CentralAmerica

Africa Asia North America Australia Europe South America

$87 $96 $97 $98 $101

$135 $139

$155 $173 $174

$224 $225

$243 $266

$336 $340

Information architectureUsability testing (informal)

Interface/interaction designPersonas and user profiles

Creating prototypesRequirements gathering

Heuristic or expert reviewUser Research (e.g. interviews &…

Benchmarking or competitive studiesEye tracking

Focus groupsBehavioral analytics

Usability testing (in a lab)Usability testing (remote, moderated)

Satisfaction surveysOther

14

Salaries of Respondents Using Web Analytics

Salary levels of respondents who use web analytics tools like IBM Unica, comScore Digital

Analytix, Webtrends and Adobe SiteCatalyst are high, both relatively and absolutely. In

contrast, salaries of respondents who use Google Analytics are relatively low, with an

almost 30-25% decrease in annual earnings.

$88,900 $85,300 $84,200 $83,000 $72,300

$60,600

$-

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

IBM Unica comScoreDigital Analytix

Webtrends AdobeSiteCatalyst

Other GoogleAnalytics

15

How to Advance Your Career and Market Value?

Based on the information received from our survey responses, here’s some advice for

advancing your career in the UX industry:

1. Keep up-to-date with new technology

page 13 (Usability Techniques and Tools)

2. Use Web Analytics and Behavioral Analytics tools

page 14 (Salaries of Respondents Using Web Analytics)

3. Consider furthering your academic education

page 6 (Education Level)

4. Be aware that larger companies generally offering better compensation

page 8 (Salary by Company Size)

5. Be aware of differences in salaries based on industry, with finance and healthcare in

the lead

page 7 (Salary by Industry)

Satisfaction goes up as salaries increase

UX employees working in the insurance industry are the least satisfied with their job

Satisfaction increases as job security goes up

Satisfaction goes down as the amount of employees in a company increases