Average and Median Salaries

• The average salary of a multimedia and visual communications specialist as of May 2010 was $30.50 per hour, or $63,440 per year, as determined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median salary, or the number in the exact middle of all the salary figures for this occupation, was $58,510 per year.
  
  

Salary Range

• The middle 50 percent of multimedia and visual communications specialists were making $21.16 to $37.44 per hour in 2010, or $44,020 to $77,870 per year. The bottom 10 percent had hourly pay rates at or below $16.27, and the top 10 percent were earning $48 per hour and higher, or $99,830 per year and more.
  
  

Types of Employment

• Salaries in this occupation vary with the type of employment. Multimedia and visual communications specialists working in advertising, public relations and related services were making an average annual salary of $58,910 in 2010; in specialized design services $59,120; for software publishers $68,310; and with the motion picture and video industries $72,380.
  
  

Top-Paying Regions

• The top-paying state for this career in 2010 was California, where multimedia and visual communications specialists earned $35.84 per hour on average, or $74,560 per year. Rounding out the top five areas by state or district were New York at $66,340 per year on average, Oregon at $62,690, the District of Columbia at $62,670 and Connecticut at $62,410.
  
  

Outlook

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sees increasing demand for multimedia and visual communications specialists through at least 2018. Nevertheless, competition for these jobs is intense, as the number of interested and qualified candidates exceeds the number of available positions.