Technology · Wales
UX Designer salary in Cardiff, 2026
Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025, adjusted for the Wales regional pay differential. Updated 2026-04-21. Methodology.
UX Designer salary by experience in Cardiff
That headline median masks a wide spread once you split Cardiff ux designers by years of experience. The four bands below reflect what each tier typically commands in Cardiff — local figures, not UK averages, with each step usually triggered by a level change rather than an annual increment.
| Experience level | Salary range | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Entry (0-2 yrs) | £25,650 – £32,775 | £29,213 |
| Mid (3-5 yrs) | £36,338 – £47,025 | £41,682 |
| Senior (6-10 yrs) | £66,690 – £85,215 | £75,953 |
| Lead (10+ yrs) | £87,994 – £120,413 | £104,204 |
Gross figures only tell half the story — what actually lands in your bank account depends on tax, NI, student loan and pension. Run your own number below.
Take-home pay calculator · 2024/25
UX Designer, Cardiff
£32,761/yr · £630/wk · effective rate 23.4%
| Gross salary | £42,750 |
| Pension (5%) | −£2,138 |
| Income tax | −£5,609 |
| National Insurance | −£2,243 |
| Net take-home | £32,761 |
Earn more as a UX Designer
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Pay ranges and take-home are the planning numbers; what you can actually move into right now is a different question. Live ux designer vacancies in Cardiff are below.
Open vacancies · via Reed
6 live UX Designer jobs in Cardiff
Live listings refresh daily. View the full set on Reed.
See all UX Designer jobs in Cardiff →It's also worth seeing how Cardiff stacks up — both against the UK average and against other cities ux designers commonly relocate between.
UX Designer pay: Cardiff versus UK average
UX Designer pay across other UK cities
What separates a £30K developer from a £78K one in Cardiff
Beyond the headline numbers, the more useful question for engineers is what actually drives pay between bands.
The pay gap between a junior and a staff-level UX Designer in Cardiff is essentially a gap in ownership. Juniors implement; mid-level engineers own a feature; seniors own a system; staff engineers shape what the team builds and why. The salary curve mirrors that — entry roles cluster around £28,500, mid-level pay lands close to the £42,750 median, and the upper quartile (£57,000) is where engineers sit who can be trusted to scope and lead a quarter of work without a manager rewriting it.
Three things move salary fastest in Cardiff: depth in Figma or User research that's hard to hire for, a track record of shipping production systems (not side projects), and being credibly able to mentor others. Total comp matters too — the larger London-headquartered tech employers (and US firms with a Cardiff office) increasingly pay 15–30% of base in equity or RSUs, which doesn't show up in ONS figures. If you're benchmarking offers, ask for total comp, not just base.
UX Designer salaries in cities near Cardiff
If Cardiff doesn't quite work for the role — commute, rent, partner's job — the same role in nearby cities tells you what the trade-off looks like in £ terms. The four comparisons below show how pay shifts within the same region — multipliers come from the ONS regional median pay differential, so the figures already account for the regional gap.
Other technology jobs in Cardiff
Adjacent technology roles often pay differently to ux designer for similar skill profiles, which is useful when you're choosing what to specialise in next. Salaries for closely related technology roles in Cardiff are below — useful when comparing routes into or out of the UX Designer track.
Roles with overlapping skills
Common questions about ux designer pay in Cardiff, answered with the underlying figures from the same dataset used above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average UX Designer salary in Cardiff?
£42,750 per year is the median UX Designer salary in Cardiff, drawn from ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings data adjusted for the regional pay differential. Lower quartile sits at £32,300; upper quartile at £57,000.
How much does a UX Designer earn per month in Cardiff?
About £3,563 gross, which works out at roughly £2,565 take-home after income tax and National Insurance for the 2024/25 tax year (assuming no student loan and a 5% pension contribution). Use the calculator above for a number that matches your own circumstances.
What is the starting salary for a UX Designer in Cardiff?
Entry-level UX Designers in Cardiff typically start between £25,650 and £32,775. Pay then steps up at the 3-year and 6-year marks — mid-level practitioners earn £36,338–£47,025, with senior roles reaching £66,690–£85,215.
Is Cardiff a good place to work as a UX Designer?
It depends on what you weight more heavily — pay, cost of living or commute. Cardiff pays 5% below the UK UX Designer median, with major local employers including Admiral Group, BBC Wales, Principality. Cost of living runs at 81 on the UK-100 index, so £42,750 here has the real purchasing power of £52,778 at the national average. Unemployment of 4.3% gives a useful read on how tight the local labour market is — under 4% generally favours candidates on pay.
What skills do UX Designers need to earn more?
Reaching the upper-quartile £57,000 band tends to come down to depth in Figma, User research, Wireframing, plus a track record that lets you credibly take on senior or lead-level scope. Career outlook for the role is medium, so the speciality areas worth doubling down on are Prototyping and Design systems.
Salary base figures: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (2025), with regional adjustment from ONS regional median gross pay tables. Live job counts (where shown): Reed Jobseeker API, refreshed daily. Take-home calculations apply 2024/25 UK tax-year thresholds for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.