Interior Designers
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.
Also called: Certified Kitchen Designer · Color and Materials Designer · Commercial Interior Designer · Decorating Consultant · Designer · Interior Decorator
Median pay (national)
$63,490
$38,480–$106,090 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
69,580
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
+3.2%
~7,800 openings/yr
Typical entry
Bachelor's degree
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for interior designers shows an unusually wide range: the top 10% earn $106,090 versus $38,480 at the bottom 10% — 2.8x. The median of $63,490 leaves roughly 67% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change +3.2% from 2024 to 2034 — about as fast as the 3% all-occupation average. Even so, BLS projects about 7,800 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 51 states with released data, Washington pays the most for this role (median $79,490, +25% vs the national median), while Puerto Rico sits lowest at $32,900 — a 142% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list. On the tools side, O*NET flags Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop as in-demand technologies for this role.
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Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
- Mathematics
- Learning Strategies
- Science
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this 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.
- 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.
- Design spaces to be environmentally friendly, using sustainable, recycled materials when feasible.
Tools & technology
- Adobe Creative Cloud software
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Autodesk AutoCAD
- Autodesk Revit
- Chaos Enscape
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Trimble SketchUp Pro
- 20-20 Technologies 20-20 Design
- Autodesk 3ds Max
- Autodesk Architectural Desktop
- Autodesk Revit Architecture
- Autodesk VIZ
- AutoDesSys form Z
Knowledge areas
- Design
- Customer and Personal Service
- Building and Construction
- English Language
- Sales and Marketing
- Administration and Management
- Computers and Electronics
- Public Safety and Security