Floral designer wages vary substantially by pay percentile and location. The latest national figures list 45,200 U.S. floral designer jobs in 2025, a median wage of $17.96 per hour, and a median annual wage of $37,360. Metro-level estimates from May 2023 show the highest reported mean hourly wage in Salinas, California, at $25.55.
Contents
- National employment and wage benchmarks
- U.S. wage distribution
- Highest-paying metro areas by the hour
- Highest-paying metro areas by annual wage
- Employment levels and concentration
- Employment outlook
National employment and wage benchmarks
The Occupational Outlook Handbook reports 45,200 floral designer jobs in the United States in 2025. That employment figure provides the national scale for an occupation that is also measured through hourly and annual pay.
The 2025 median floral designer wage was $17.96 per hour, while the median annual wage was $37,360. These figures come from the O*NET local wage release for floral designers and are reported measures rather than an annualized conversion. See Hawaii Wages 27-1023.00 - Floral Designers.
For an earlier national benchmark, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a May 2023 mean wage of $17.07 per hour and a mean annual wage of $35,500. Those measures describe the national average for that period, not the newer 2025 median. The source is Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 27-1023 Floral Designers.
Together, the releases show why the measurement label matters. A median identifies the midpoint of the wage distribution, while a mean is an average. The 2025 median and the May 2023 mean also refer to different periods, so they should be read as separate benchmarks rather than as a direct year-over-year comparison.
U.S. wage distribution
The 2025 percentile figures show the range of reported floral designer pay. At the 10th percentile, the wage was $13.75 per hour and $28,600 annually. At the 25th percentile, it was $15.78 per hour and $32,810 annually.
The median was $17.96 per hour and $37,360 annually. At the 75th percentile, pay reached $21.97 per hour and $45,700 annually. At the 90th percentile, the figures were $24.52 per hour and $51,000 annually. These are reported hourly and annual measures from the same 2025 O*NET release.
| 2025 percentile | Hourly wage | Annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $13.75 | $28,600 |
| 25th | $15.78 | $32,810 |
| Median | $17.96 | $37,360 |
| 75th | $21.97 | $45,700 |
| 90th | $24.52 | $51,000 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentiles is $10.77 per hour and $22,400 annually in the reported measures. The 90th-percentile annual wage is therefore materially higher than the 10th-percentile annual wage, while the middle values describe the central portion of the distribution. These comparisons use the published amounts only and do not assume a particular work schedule or convert one measure into the other.
The percentile data can help readers place an individual wage in context. A wage below $15.78 per hour is below the 25th percentile in this release; a wage above $21.97 is above the 75th percentile; and a wage above $24.52 is above the 90th percentile. The comparison is descriptive and applies to the 2025 U.S. figures.
Highest-paying metro areas by the hour
The May 2023 BLS metro estimates identify several locations with mean hourly wages above the national May 2023 mean of $17.07. Salinas, California, had the highest listed mean at $25.55 per hour. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara reported $22.62, followed by Santa Rosa at $22.44 and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward at $22.17.
Other listed metro means were $21.74 in Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii; $21.70 in Rochester, Minnesota; $21.42 in Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida; $21.20 in Anchorage, Alaska; $21.17 in Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut; and $20.88 in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California.
These are May 2023 metro estimates from Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 27-1023 Floral Designers. They are mean wages for the named metropolitan areas, not 2025 medians. The geography and period should remain attached to each figure when comparing locations.
The spread across this group is notable: Salinas is listed at $25.55 per hour, while Santa Maria-Santa Barbara is listed at $20.88. The figures show variation among metro areas, but they do not by themselves explain living costs, employer mix, experience, job duties, or the number of workers represented in each estimate.
Highest-paying metro areas by annual wage
The same May 2023 metro release reports annual mean wages for the locations above. Salinas led at $53,140. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara reported $47,050, Santa Rosa reported $46,660, and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward reported $46,110.
The remaining listed annual means were $45,230 in Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina; $45,130 in Rochester; $44,550 in Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island; $44,090 in Anchorage; $44,030 in Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk; and $43,430 in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara.
| Metro area | Mean hourly wage | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Salinas, California | $25.55 | $53,140 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California | $22.62 | $47,050 |
| Santa Rosa, California | $22.44 | $46,660 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California | $22.17 | $46,110 |
| Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii | $21.74 | $45,230 |
| Rochester, Minnesota | $21.70 | $45,130 |
| Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida | $21.42 | $44,550 |
| Anchorage, Alaska | $21.20 | $44,090 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut | $21.17 | $44,030 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California | $20.88 | $43,430 |
The annual figures are reported by BLS alongside the hourly figures. They should not be treated as a calculation made from the displayed hourly amounts. Salinas is the highest location in both reported measures in this group, while Santa Maria-Santa Barbara is the lowest of the ten listed metro areas in both.
Employment levels and concentration
Pay is only one way to compare metro markets. The May 2023 estimates also report the number of floral designers and each metro’s location quotient. Employment counts were estimated at 720 in San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, 250 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, 160 in Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, and 80 in Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island.
The estimates were 70 floral designers in Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina and Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, 60 in Santa Rosa, 50 in Salinas, and 40 each in Rochester and Anchorage. These are metro employment estimates, so the smaller counts should be read as estimates of occupational employment in the named areas, not as a ranking of job quality.
The location quotient compares an occupation’s local employment concentration with its national occupation concentration. A value above 1 indicates a higher local concentration than the national comparison; a value below 1 indicates a lower concentration.
Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina had the highest listed location quotient at 3.20. Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island had 1.74, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk had 1.37, Santa Maria-Santa Barbara had 1.21, and Rochester had 1.14. Santa Rosa registered 1.08, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward 1.04, and Salinas 1.01. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and Anchorage each had a location quotient of 0.77.
The concentration figures add context to the wage list. For example, Salinas combined the highest listed mean wages with an estimated 50 floral designers and a location quotient of 1.01. Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina had a lower listed mean wage than Salinas but the highest location quotient, 3.20, with an estimated 70 floral designers. The two measures describe different characteristics: pay level and occupational concentration.
Employment outlook
The Occupational Outlook Handbook projects 42,700 floral designer jobs in 2035, compared with 45,200 jobs in 2025. It projects a 6% decline from 2025 to 2035, a numerical decrease of 2,500 jobs over that period. These are projections, not observations of employment already realized.
Even with the projected decline, BLS projects about 5,200 floral designer openings per year on average over 2025–2035. The annual openings figure and the projected decline address different questions: the first describes average openings expected during the period, while the second describes the projected change in total employment between the two endpoint years.
The outlook therefore combines a declining projected employment level with continuing annual openings. For readers considering floral design work, the national wage distribution, local metro wages, employment counts, and location quotients provide separate pieces of context. The wage figures are tied to their stated release periods, while the 2035 figures are forecasts for the 2025–2035 period.