Many young professionals dream of being interior designers. It’s a glamorous job after all. Who wouldn’t want to spend their days traveling around the world shopping for one-of-a-kind antiques, decorating celebrity homes, and shooting their own design show or even debuting their own home décor line. Life as an interior designer is a charmed one, isn’t it?
The truth is that this description is the exception rather than the rule. Interior designers with this type of career are far and few between. The trouble is that many interior design hopefuls think they can’t have a career in interior design unless they make it to this level. Otherwise, they are doomed to earn pennies on the dollar as interns. However, lots of interior designers make a great living working in all sides of the industry. You can still use your creativity and realize your dream of becoming an interior designer if you embrace other avenues of the profession.
This chart displays annual mean salaries for Interior Designers in the U.S. The data was collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics OES - May 2008.
Interior design services are needed for all kinds of industries. The government is the highest paying industry with interior designers earning $70,900 annually. Employment services is the second highest paying industry, in which interior designers stand to earn as much as $69,780 in salary. Interior designers working as independent artists earn an average annual income of $65,660. Facilities support interior designers earn approximately $63,700 annually and those working as merchant wholesalers earn an average salary of $58,640.
You have lots of options in the interior design industry. If you broaden your horizons, you increase your chances of making it to the top of the business.
Related Charts for Interior Design Salaries:
Interior Design Salaries - Top Paying Metropolitan Areas
Interior Design Salary Ranges - Top Paying States
The bar graph above shows the industries with the highest Interior Design salaries. The data is shown in table format below:
| Industry |
Annual Mean Wage |
|---|
| Government |
70,900 |
| Employment Services |
69,780 |
| Independent Artists |
65,660 |
| Facilities Support |
63,700 |
| Merchant Wholesalers |
58,640 |
|
