Designs the lighting for theatre, dance, opera, concerts and live events, shaping mood, focus and timing of every moment. BLS does not publish separate figures for lighting technicians; it counts them within lighting technician (SOC 27-4015), whose median pay is $68,060 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Typical entry-level education: Postsecondary nondegree award.
- SOC 27-4015
- Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
- Last updated October 9, 2026
At a glance
Lighting Designer in four numbers
- Median pay
- $68,060a year, or $32.72/hrBLS OEWS, May 2025Lowest 10% $42KTop 10% $131K
US median, all jobs: $50,980
- Projected growth
- -4.8%DecliningBLS EP, 2025–2035This career−4.8%All jobs+3.5%
Projected employment change, 2025–2035 Item Value This career −4.8% All jobs +3.5% - Openings a year
- 6009,900 jobs todayBLS EP, 2025–2035
- Jobs in 20259.9K
- Projected 20359.4K
Employment, 2025–2035 Item Value Jobs in 2025 9.9K Projected 2035 9.4K - Typical education
- Certificateneeded to enterBLS EP, 2025–2035; mix: O*NET
Also advertised as: Theatrical Lighting Designer, Concert Lighting Designer, Stage Lighting Designer, Associate Lighting Designer, Event Lighting Designer.
Pay
How much do Lighting Technicians make?
Every lighting designer in the US, by percentile of annual wage
Median
$68,060
Middle half earn $52,770 to $95,640
- 10th
- $42,310
- 25th
- $52,770
- 75th
- $95,640
- 90th
- $130,760
All US occupations: $50,980
| Percentile | Value |
|---|---|
| 10th | $42,310 |
| 25th | $52,770 |
| Median | $68,060 |
| 75th | $95,640 |
| 90th | $130,760 |
| All US occupations | $50,980 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
- Median annual wage
- $68,060
- Median hourly wage
- $32.72/hr
- Mean annual wage
- $78,380
- People employed
- 8,900
Versus all US occupations
At $68,060, Lighting Technicians earn 34% above the $50,980 median across all US occupations, a difference of $17,080 a year.
Versus arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations
The median is typical for the Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media group, where the middle occupation pays $68,060.
Pay range
The top 10% earn $130,760 or more while the bottom 10% earn $42,310, a gap of 3.1×. That is an unusually wide spread, which usually tracks specialisation, employer type and years of experience.
Rank in the bank
This median pays more than 43% of the 1,741 occupations in the NueCareer career bank.
Highest-paying state
Washington pays the most at $126,100, and still leads at $117,836 once local prices are taken into account.
Pay by state
Which states pay Lighting Technicians the most?
State medians come from the same OEWS release as the national figures. The cost-of-living column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, restating pay in national-average dollars so a high-cost state and a low-cost one can be compared directly.
| State | Median | COL-adjusted | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Washington | $126,100 | $117,836 | 80 |
| 2California | $94,070 | $84,962 | 2,950 |
| 3New Jersey | $87,550 | $80,465 | 340 |
| 4New York | $78,000 | $72,275 | 780 |
| 5Connecticut | $72,450 | $69,926 | 80 |
| 6Georgia | $70,150 | $72,851 | 260 |
| 7Oklahoma | $67,110 | $76,398 | 60 |
| 8Louisiana | $66,840 | $75,776 | 40 |
| 9Florida | $62,190 | $60,137 | 600 |
| 10Nevada | $61,250 | $61,263 | 390 |
Job outlook
Is Lighting Designer a growing career?
Employment change over 2025–2035, against every US occupation
Declining. -4.8% projected growth vs 3.5% for all occupations.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Lighting Technicians | −4.8% |
| All US occupations | +3.5% |
Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035
Declining
BLS projects employment of Lighting Technicians to change -4.8% over 2025–2035, while total US employment is projected to rise 3.5%. That is 500 fewer jobs.
Annual openings
About 600 openings are projected each year, 6.1% of the 9,900 jobs that existed in 2025. Most come from workers leaving the occupation, not from growth alone.
Getting in
How to become a Lighting Designer
Most lighting designers hold a bachelor's or MFA in theatre design, often from programs with specific lighting design tracks. They learn drafting in Vectorworks, console programming on systems such as ETC Eos and grandMA, and color and electrical theory. Many work as electricians, programmers and assistant lighting designers before getting their own designs.
United Scenic Artists, IATSE Local USA 829, represents lighting designers for Broadway and many regional theatres, and USITT provides training, conferences and design competitions. Concert designers often come up through touring lighting crews and production companies.
- 1
Typical entry-level education
Postsecondary nondegree award
- 2
Work experience in a related occupation
None
- 3
Typical on-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training
- 4
Preparation needed (O*NET job zone)
Some preparation
BLS Employment Projections, 2025–2035; job zone from O*NET 31.0 Database.
The work
What does a Lighting Designer do?
Lighting designers decide what the audience sees and how it feels. Working from the script or set list and the director's vision, they plan the color, angle, intensity and movement of light for each scene, then draft a light plot showing where every fixture hangs and how it is focused.
During technical rehearsals they sit at a tech table and build hundreds of cues with the programmer, timing fades to music and action. Concert and touring designers use moving lights, LED walls and pixel-mapped effects, while theatre designers often work with more subtle, sculptural light. Designers also produce paperwork such as channel hookups and focus charts so the design can be maintained or remounted.
Day-to-day tasks
- Read scripts and attend rehearsals to plan the lighting concept
- Draft light plots and fixture schedules
- Select fixtures, colors and gobos for each look
- Supervise hanging and focusing of lights
- Build and time cues with the console programmer
- Adjust the design during technical and dress rehearsals
- Document the design for remounts and tours
Typical tasks, researched by NueCareer from the sources below.
Working conditions and hours
Lighting designers work in theatres, arenas and rehearsal rooms, with long evenings and late nights during tech weeks. Touring designers travel extensively. Much of the work is freelance, juggling several productions, and includes time on ladders and lifts during focus sessions.
Tools and software
- Computer aided design CAD software · in demand
- Data base user interface and query software · in demand
- Electronic mail software · in demand
- Office suite software · in demand
- Presentation software · in demand
- Project management software · in demand
- Spreadsheet software · in demand
- Enterprise resource planning ERP software
- Industrial control software
- Internet browser software
- Program testing software
“In demand” marks an O*NET Employer-Based Hot Technology, software named in real job postings for this occupation.
Personality fit
What personality type suits a Lighting Designer?
NueCareer estimate (Holland code ARE) built on O*NET's Lighting Technician profile, scored 1 to 7
| Axis | Lighting Designer |
|---|---|
| Realistic | 7 |
| Investigative | 2 |
| Artistic | 4 |
| Social | 1 |
| Enterprising | 3 |
| Conventional | 4 |
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database
What the work is built around
Day to day this is work built around hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors, combined with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data.
- Realistic7.0
- Conventional4.1
- Artistic3.8
- Enterprising3.1
- Investigative2.0
- Social1.2
Closest MBTI types
NueCareer fit scores: cosine similarity between each MBTI type's interest vector and this occupation's O*NET interest profile. Not a BLS or O*NET figure; the method is documented on our methodology page.
Explore further
Careers related to Lighting Designer
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More arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media careers
Median annual pay, with lighting technicians highlighted
- Art Director$114,850
- Technical Writer$90,390
- Editor$77,920
- Writer and Author$76,910
- Public Relations Specialist$74,750
- Lighting Designer$68,060
- Interior Designer$67,190
- Graphic Designer$62,960
- Photographer$44,660
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Art Director | $114,850 |
| Technical Writer | $90,390 |
| Editor | $77,920 |
| Writer and Author | $76,910 |
| Public Relations Specialist | $74,750 |
| Lighting Designer | $68,060 |
| Interior Designer | $67,190 |
| Graphic Designer | $62,960 |
| Photographer | $44,660 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Lists Lighting Designer appears on
Questions
Lighting Designer: frequently asked questions
How much do Lighting Technicians make?
BLS does not publish a separate wage for lighting technicians. It counts them within lighting technician, whose median pay is $68,060 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The middle half of that occupation earn between $52,770 and $95,640, and the top 10% earn $130,760 or more.
Do you need a degree to become a Lighting Designer?
Not a degree, but you do need credentialed training: BLS lists a postsecondary non-degree award (a certificate or license program) as the typical entry route for Lighting Technicians. BLS also lists short-term on-the-job training as typical on-the-job training.
Is Lighting Designer a growing career?
No. BLS projects employment to fall 4.8% over 2025–2035, a loss of 500 jobs (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 600 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.
What does a Lighting Designer do?
Lighting designers decide what the audience sees and how it feels. A typical task: read scripts and attend rehearsals to plan the lighting concept. Employers most often ask for Computer aided design CAD software, Data base user interface and query software, Electronic mail software.
Which states pay Lighting Technicians the most?
The highest state medians for Lighting Technicians are Washington ($126,100), California ($94,070), New Jersey ($87,550) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
What personality type suits a Lighting Designer?
O*NET scores Lighting Technicians highest on the Realistic, Conventional and Artistic interest areas, so the work mixes hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping that lines up most closely with ISTJ personalities. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.