Side-by-side distribution
Instructional Designer
$90,656
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 33.8%
- Live roles
- 296
Professor
$99,377
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 21.8%
- Live roles
- 2,856
Highest-paying jobs
Instructional Designer
Senior Learning Designer, Indian Languages
Instructional Systems Designer
Instructional Systems Designer
Learning Experience Designer - Sales Enablement
Sr. Instructional Designer, Learning Operations
Learning Experience Designer
Instructional Designer
Cyber Instructional System Designer, Senior
Instructional Designer, Senior
Highest-paying jobs
Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering - Assistant or Associate Professor
Faculty Physician – Cardiovascular Critical Care (Assistant, Associate or Full Professor)
Faculty Physician - Cardiologist: Electrophysiology (Assistant, Associate, Full Professor)
Faculty Physician – Pediatric Urology (Assistant or Associate Professor – Academic Track)
Faculty Physician – Cardiologist: Adult Congenital Heart Disease (Assistant, Associate or Full Professor)
Faculty Physician - Gastroenterology (Assistant or Associate Professor - Academic or Master Clinician Track)
Faculty Physician- Laryngologist- Assistant/Associate Professor (Academic/ Clinician Track )
Faculty Physician – Cardiovascular Advanced Imaging (Assistant, Associate or Full Professor)
Faculty Physician – Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology (Assistant, Associate or Full Professor)
Faculty Physician – Sarcoma Oncology (Assistant, Associate or Full Professor)
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
General Assembly
|
$104,000 | 6 |
|
Leidos
|
$115,888 | 5 |
|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$113,700 | 4 |
Qualtrics
|
$75,000 | 3 |
Anduril Industries
|
$118,750 | 2 |
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
|
$102,275 | 2 |
T-Mobile
|
$101,250 | 2 |
Metropolis
|
$80,000 | 2 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| UO University of Maryland | $126,230 | 57 |
| UO University of Wisconsin–Madison | $66,000 | 37 |
|
University of Minnesota Physicians
|
$367,704 | 36 |
| NU Northeastern University | $172,000 | 32 |
University of Ottawa
|
$99,377 | 24 |
| BS Ball State University | $66,000 | 23 |
| CS Colorado State University | $129,500 | 19 |
College of Southern Nevada
|
$77,164 | 19 |
Instructional Designer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | $101,250 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | $82,500 | 3 |
| New York | $80,000 | 5 |
Instructional Designer vs Professor: which pays more?
The median for Instructional Designer is $90,656 per year (typically $75,000–$110,585), versus $99,377 for Professor ($72,000–$138,925). That puts Professor about 10% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Instructional Designer and Professor are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.