Interior Designers: salary, outlook & degrees
Plan, design, and furnish the internal space of rooms or buildings. Design interior environments or create physical layouts that are practical, aesthetic, and conducive to the intended purposes. May specialize in a particular field, style, or phase of interior design.
Middle half $51,840–$85,740. 71,500 jobs.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
82% hold a bachelor's or higher. Those with one: $62,968.
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata, workers with at least a high school diploma; EducationGuide calculation
About 7,700 openings a year, including replacements.
BLS Employment Projections 2025-35
Considerable preparation (usually a bachelor's).
BLS; O*NET 31.0 job zone
Degrees that lead to this career
What workers ages 25-34 in this job studied, among those with a bachelor's or higher. This is what people actually did, not a requirement.
| Field of bachelor's degree | Share | Degree pages |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial Art And Graphic Design | 49% | Graphic / Interior / Fashion Design |
| Architecture | 10% | Architecture · Architectural Sciences and Technology |
| Fine Arts | 4% | — |
| Psychology | 4% | Psychology |
| Communications | 3% | Communications · Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other |
| Marketing And Marketing Research | 3% | Marketing · Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations |
| Biology | 2% | Biology |
| General Business | 1% | Business |
| Business Management And Administration | 1% | Business Administration |
| Family And Consumer Sciences | 1% | Human Development and Family Studies · Foods, Nutrition, and Related Services |
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata (ages 25-34, employed, bachelor's or higher; top 10 fields); EducationGuide calculation.
Education workers say the job requires
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers (“required level of education”); small samples, so treat shares as approximate.
Pay by state and metro
| State | Median wage |
|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $98,450 |
| Wyoming | $96,100 |
| California | $80,230 |
| Massachusetts | $80,110 |
| Colorado | $78,390 |
| Washington | $76,570 |
| Illinois | $76,290 |
| New York | $75,580 |
| New Jersey | $74,020 |
| Minnesota | $73,270 |
| Georgia | $71,760 |
| Arkansas | $69,990 |
| Oklahoma | $68,520 |
| Connecticut | $67,330 |
| Oregon | $66,350 |
| South Dakota | $65,220 |
| Texas | $65,160 |
| Maryland | $65,070 |
| Nebraska | $64,870 |
| New Hampshire | $64,140 |
| Vermont | $63,870 |
| Maine | $63,830 |
| South Carolina | $63,790 |
| Hawaii | $63,780 |
| Tennessee | $63,660 |
| Alaska | $63,320 |
| Wisconsin | $62,740 |
| Indiana | $62,580 |
| Virginia | $62,560 |
| Pennsylvania | $62,400 |
| Montana | $61,770 |
| Utah | $61,740 |
| Arizona | $61,460 |
| Ohio | $61,410 |
| North Carolina | $61,400 |
| Kansas | $61,090 |
| Alabama | $61,050 |
| Florida | $60,860 |
| New Mexico | $60,850 |
| Louisiana | $60,610 |
| Delaware | $60,360 |
| Missouri | $59,610 |
| Michigan | $59,340 |
| Kentucky | $59,240 |
| North Dakota | $59,190 |
| Rhode Island | $58,100 |
| Iowa | $58,040 |
| West Virginia | $49,800 |
| Mississippi | $43,740 |
| PR | $32,150 |
Florida metro areas
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach$60,860
- Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford$61,430
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater$61,850
- Naples-Marco Island$75,210
- North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota$58,270
- Jacksonville$61,650
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers$59,610
- Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin$67,230
Virginia metro areas
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria$79,590
- Richmond$58,790
- Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk$59,920
- Roanoke$61,730
- Charlottesville$59,290
California metro areas
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim$80,000
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont$87,460
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad$80,640
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario$76,090
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara$85,140
- Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom$77,690
- Santa Maria-Santa Barbara$78,960
- Santa Rosa-Petaluma$77,970
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: median annual wage, all workers in the job. Metro areas: the largest by employment.
What the work takes
Top skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
Knowledge used
- Design
- Customer and Personal Service
- Building and Construction
- English Language
- Sales and Marketing
Work styles
- Attention to Detail
- Innovation
- Dependability
- Cooperation
- Adaptability
People in this job tend to have Artistic (creative), Realistic (hands-on) interests.
O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0): skills and knowledge by importance; work styles; interest high points.
Interior Designers: questions
How much do interior Designers make?
Interior Designers earn a U.S. median $67,190 a year; the middle half earn $51,840 to $85,740 (BLS, May 2025). Workers ages 25-34 in this job earn a median $59,662 (Census ACS 2020-2024).
Is interior Designers a growing field?
BLS projects growth of 2.7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,700 openings a year, including replacements.
What degree do you need to be an interior Designer?
BLS lists the typical entry education as bachelor's degree. In O*NET's survey, 92% of workers say a bachelor's or higher is required. Among workers ages 25-34 with a bachelor's, the most common field of degree is commercial Art And Graphic Design (49%).
How much do interior Designers make in Florida?
The median in Florida is $60,860 a year (BLS, May 2025), compared with $67,190 nationally.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2025-35); O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); U.S. Census Bureau ACS microdata. SOC 27-1025. Method
Data: JSON · Markdown · all careers
Cite this: “Interior Designers: salary, outlook and degrees,” EducationGuide.com, https://educationguide.com/careers/interior-designers.