The Wages of Design

While many kitchen and bath dealers, designers and distributors say they were drawn to this field out of a love for design, love doesn't put food on the table, pay the mortgage or send the kids to college. Kitchen and bath professionals want to be paid a fair wage for their hard work, and are ever mindful of the best ways to earn financial successes that match their creative successes.

So, what does it take to earn the “big bucks” in the kitchen and bath industry? Education, experience, certifications and NKBA membership all pay measurable dividends in terms of compensation, while creative freedom appears to come at a cost. Geographic location, too, plays a key role in overall compensation. And, of course, owning a firm is considerably more profitable than working at one – at least most of the time.

These are the key findings of three recent surveys conducted jointly by the Hackettstown, NJ-based National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) and Kitchen & Bath Design News. The surveys, which collectively polled more than 1,700 kitchen and bath professionals, looked at salary, commission, benefit packages and more for kitchen and bath dealers, designers and distributors.

Dealer Compensation

For those looking to maximize earnings, kitchen and bath dealerships are the best place to work, according to survey results. Indeed, at $68,462 and $54,067, respectively, managers and employees at dealerships received higher average compensation in 2007 than their counterparts at either kitchen and bath design-only firms or distributorships (though the survey showed benefit packages were stronger among employees at kitchen and bath distributors).

Salary differentials were smaller for owners at kitchen and bath dealerships, with the average annual salary for owners totaling $118,227 (with the total number including value of perks received) during 2007, which is 3.4 percent higher than the average salary for owners of design-only firms, and 2.9 percent lower than the average salary for owners of kitchen and bath distributors.

Bonuses were not uncommon among the dealers surveyed, with roughly one-third (32%) of those polled saying they received a year-end or holiday bonus in 2007, with the average bonus totaling $4,621. Just 8.7% received a performance bonus last year, with an average bonus coming in at $6,441.

While managers and employees at kitchen and bath dealerships seem to have an edge when it comes to pay and benefits, they lost that advantage when it came to flexibility: Only 36% of managers and 38% of employees reported enjoying a flex-time arrangement, compared to nearly double that many design-only firm respondents who reported having flexible schedules.

But while flex-time is encouraged to enhance creativity, when determining who gets the highest pay, it’s not just about talent or creative expertise. Rather, experience is a defining factor in determining compensation. According to survey results, employees who had been in the industry less than five years made an average of only $39,609 per year in 2007, while those in the industry five to nine years averaged $51,593 and those in the industry 10-19 years cited an average salary of $61,041.
However, the benefits of experience seem to top out here, with those in the industry 20 years or longer averaging just $62,835.