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Interior Designers

Architecture and ConstructionO*NET 27-1025.00United States

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.

COMING SOON See related ASU learning
Median annual earnings
$65,863

50th percentile, United States

Projected change
+6.5%

2025 to 2035

Typical education
Bachelor's degree

84% of the workforce

Employment
100.75K jobs

Growing to 107.29K by 2035

Explore this career by location

Compare nationwide estimates with state or county job-market data.

Showing United States

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Build the skills

ASU learning related to this career

These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.

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The work

What interior designers do

Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.

  • Design plans to be safe and to be compliant with the American Disabilities Act (ADA).
  • Use computer-aided drafting (CAD) and related software to produce construction documents.
  • Research health and safety code requirements to inform design.
  • Confer with client to determine factors affecting planning of interior environments, such as budget, architectural preferences, purpose, and function.
  • Advise client on interior design factors, such as space planning, layout and use of furnishings or equipment, and color coordination.
  • Coordinate with other professionals, such as contractors, architects, engineers, and plumbers, to ensure job success.
  • Inspect construction work on site to ensure its adherence to the design plans.
  • Review and detail shop drawings for construction plans.
  • Render design ideas in form of paste-ups or drawings.
  • Subcontract fabrication, installation, and arrangement of carpeting, fixtures, accessories, draperies, paint and wall coverings, art work, furniture, and related items.
  • Select or design, and purchase furnishings, art work, and accessories.
  • Estimate material requirements and costs, and present design to client for approval.
  • Research and explore the use of new materials, technologies, and products to incorporate into designs.
  • Design spaces to be environmentally friendly, using sustainable, recycled materials when feasible.
  • Formulate environmental plan to be practical, esthetic, and conducive to intended purposes, such as raising productivity or selling merchandise.

Pay and outlook

What the job pays and where it is heading

Annual earnings range

Reported earnings by percentile, United States

10th percentile
$33,228
25th percentile
$45,724
50th percentile
$65,863
75th percentile
$98,450
90th percentile
$162,872

The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $65,863 and half earn less.

Employment outlook

2025 to 2035 projection

+6.5%faster than average
2025100,748 jobs
2035 projected107,290 jobs

6,542 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.

Preparation

Education levels

What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.

Bachelor's degree
84%
Master's or Professional degree
8%
Some college
4%
Associate degree
4%

Skills

Skills employers ask for

Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.

  • Interior Design
  • Showrooms
  • Project Management
  • Autodesk Revit
  • AutoCAD
  • Space Planning
  • Construction
  • SketchUp (3D Modeling Software)
  • Furniture Fixtures And Equipment (FF&E)
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Renovation
  • Material Selection
  • Construction Management
  • Construction Documentation
  • Design Software
  • Interior Architecture
  • Building Codes
  • Procurement
  • Cabinetry

How the work gets done

Core competencies

Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.

Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Persuasion
Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Operations Analysis
Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Mathematics
Using mathematics to solve problems.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.

In the market

Job titles and employers

Recent job postings in United States

Common job titles

  1. 01Interior Designers2,986 postings
  2. 02Kitchen Designers2,820 postings
  3. 03Kitchen and Bath Designers787 postings
  4. 04Interior Design Assistants323 postings
  5. 05Interior Design Consultants279 postings
  6. 06Interior Design Interns236 postings
  7. 07Designers233 postings
  8. 08Managers/Interior Designers206 postings
  9. 09Project Designers184 postings
  10. 10Interior Design Professionals127 postings
  11. 11Project Interior Designers126 postings
  12. 12Design Supervisors117 postings
  13. 13Design Consultants103 postings
  14. 14Residential Interior Designers101 postings
  15. 15Interior Design Project Managers100 postings
  16. 16Workplace Managers95 postings
  17. 17Commercial Interior Designers91 postings
  18. 18Interior Design Specialists88 postings
  19. 19Interior Design Coordinators78 postings
  20. 20Interior Design Managers76 postings

Top employers

  1. 01The Home Depot2,403 postings
  2. 02Gensler220 postings
  3. 03GPAC196 postings
  4. 04Floor & Decor188 postings
  5. 05Actalent183 postings
  6. 06RH180 postings
  7. 07Cushman & Wakefield118 postings
  8. 08Calico114 postings
  9. 09La-Z-Boy84 postings
  10. 10Hks78 postings
  11. 11Ihire66 postings
  12. 12Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum57 postings
  13. 13LZB Retail50 postings
  14. 14Perkins + Will50 postings
  15. 15Prosource Wholesale50 postings
  16. 16HDR45 postings
  17. 17Stantec40 postings
  18. 18CannonDesign38 postings
  19. 19Corgan35 postings
  20. 20W3Global35 postings

Keep looking

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