There are a wide variety of applications for an interior design degree, beyond becoming an interior designer. Many of the career alternatives for graduates with interior design degrees have higher salaries and typically more positions available.
To check out some great interior design degree programs that will prepare you for a wide variety of professions, have a look at our ranking of the top 15 online interior design degree programs. If any of the schools on our list interest you, be sure to follow the links to their school website and request more information about their interior design program.
Interior Design Career Outlook
Featured Programs
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), interior designers make an average salary of $51,500 per year. There are only 66,500 interior designers who are employed full-time in the United States, and that number is only projected to rise by 4% over the next decade. Fortunately, interior design curriculums will teach students expertise and skills in areas that can qualify them for many other professions, including:
- Industrial Designer: Having the ability to appreciate aesthetic designs and how to implement them for practical purposes is something that you will learn in an interior design degree program. Industrial designers create the look, feel, and function of consumer products such as cars, toys, and technological gadgets. Industrial designers make an average annual salary of $65,970 per year, and there are currently 39,700 industrial designers employed in the United States, with that number projected to increase by 4% over the next decade.
- Landscape Architect: Being able to create graceful, beautiful, and functioning spaces is a skill that you will develop in an interior design degree program. Those skills can be put to great use when designing natural areas such as parks, campuses, and courtyards, which is what landscape architects do. Landscape architects make an average annual salary of $65,760 per year, and there are currently 24,700 landscape architects employed in the United States, with that number expected to increase by 6% over the next decade.
- Urban Planner: Having the ability to draft physical layouts and devise programs that help enhance community interaction and wellbeing is an expertise that can be developed in an interior design program. Urban planners help to envision new urban spaces and are increasingly being expected to integrate natural enhancements into our cities. Urban planners make an average annual salary of $71,490 per year, and there are currently 36,000 urban planners that are employed in the United States, with that number expected to increase by 13% over the next decade.
- Architect: Understanding how to create physical spaces that help enhance humanity’s experience of the world is useful for interior designers and architects. An interior design curriculum would allow students to understand spatial relationships and how to apply them to create floor plans for building renovation, which can be very useful to an architectural firm. Architects make an average annual salary of $78,470 per year, and there are currently 128,000 full-time positions currently employed in the United States, with that number expected to increase by 4% over the next decade.
If these, or any other careers that require an understanding of spatial relations and aesthetic beauty, and how to use them to create products and spaces that enrich human life, might suit you, a good first step could be to enroll in an interior design degree program.
