Salary_Report_2027

The 2027 Salary(+) Report

The salary benchmark by and for service design professionals. This year you see your own position the moment you finish.

524of 1,500 submissions

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Your answers stay anonymous. The survey runs through November 30.

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In good company

A global effort: contributions from 46 countries so far, sized on the map below.

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Last_Contributions

Country/Region	Job title	Seniority	Satisfaction
Brazil	Design lead	Lead/Manager	8/10
Ireland	Service designer	Senior	6/10
United States (US)	Customer experience designer	Lead/Manager	7/10
Brazil	Service designer	Lead/Manager	6/10
Brazil	UX designer	Senior	5/10
Brazil	Service designer	Junior	10/10
Brazil	Customer experience designer	Lead/Manager	8/10
Brazil	Customer experience designer	Lead/Manager	8/10
Brazil	Service designer	Senior	5/10
Brazil	Service designer	Lead/Manager	8/10

First_Look

First signals

Percentages from the first 524 contributions, against the 2026 report. The full benchmark arrives with the report in January.

Seniority level

Share of respondents by level

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	2026	2027	Change
Junior	4.9%	5.7%	+0.8%
Mid	18.8%	14.5%	-4.3%
Senior	34.1%	34.7%	+0.6%
Lead/Manager	25.9%	28.4%	+2.5%
Principal	7.3%	8%	+0.7%
Director	5.8%	5.9%	+0.1%
VP	0.7%	0.2%	-0.5%
Partner	0.3%	0.2%	-0.1%
Founder	1.8%	1.5%	-0.3%
Other	0.4%	0.8%	+0.4%

Agency, in-house or freelance

Where respondents work

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	2026	2027	Change
Agency or consulting	31%	34.2%	+3.2%
In-house	60%	53.1%	-6.9%
Freelance or independent	6.3%	7.6%	+1.3%
Mixed: employed + freelance	-	1.7%	%
Student	0.6%	0.6%	0%
Other	2.1%	2.9%	+0.8%

Switched jobs

In the last 12 months

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	2026	2027	Change
Yes	29.4%	29.3%	-0.1%
No	69.1%	69.1%	0%
Other	1.6%	1.5%	-0.1%

Plan to switch jobs

In the coming 12 months

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	2026	2027	Change
Yes	31.5%	38.4%	+6.9%
Maybe	30.6%	28.7%	-1.9%
No	37.9%	32.9%	-5%

Voices

What contributors say

It is thanks to the last report that I could negotiate my current salary. It is important to have those standards and you are creating them.

United Kingdom

Last year's report helped me be more aware of how much of a raise I should get this year. And I got it!

Portugal

This is such an important survey and I've been making use of the reports of the previous two years.

Finland

Thank you for providing transparency across the industry.

Canada

Helps to negotiate and justify salary requirements.

Sweden

I like to understand the benchmarks for my skills and what is happening more broadly for service designers. I honestly feel less alone when I can see others are struggling with similar issues too.

Australia

Checking market value for my role and location. Amazingly interesting insights, super valuable. We are very grateful for this work!

Germany

Helps me know if I’m at current benchmarks and if I’m not, how to advocate for more and what skills I need to develop

Canada

It helped a lot. I used it to support my request for a salary increase

Spain

First_Look

Pay, tools and feedback

How respondents feel about pay, tools and this survey.

AI adoption

How respondents use AI tools in their work

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	2026	2027	Change
No AI use	4.3%	1.5%	-2.8%
Experiments occasionally	26.4%	16.2%	-10.2%
Regular for defined tasks	47%	47.7%	+0.7%
Deeply integrated	21.3%	34.5%	+13.2%

Compensation satisfaction

Rating of total compensation, 1 to 10. Higher is more satisfied. Average 6.9 this year, 6.7 in 2026.

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	2026	2027	Change
1	1.4%	1.9%	+0.5%
2	2.5%	1.7%	-0.8%
3	3.1%	3.1%	0%
4	6.9%	5.5%	-1.4%
5	8.7%	9.2%	+0.5%
6	14%	14.3%	+0.3%
7	25.9%	22.9%	-3%
8	20.1%	21.6%	+1.5%
9	12.2%	13%	+0.8%
10	5.2%	6.9%	+1.7%

Used the report

Whether respondents have used the report before

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	2026	2027	Change
Yes	40.3%	39.5%	-0.8%
No	59.7%	60.5%	+0.8%

Question relevance

Agreement that the questions are relevant, 1 to 5. Higher is stronger agreement. Average 4.3 this year, 4.3 in 2026.

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	2026	2027	Change
1	0.1%	0.2%	+0.1%
2	1%	0.8%	-0.2%
3	9.1%	9.5%	+0.4%
4	46.2%	45.2%	-1%
5	43.6%	44.3%	+0.7%

Contribute to the report

Support our mission of making service design more transparent and equal. See your own position the moment you finish.

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