Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 27-1021

Commercial and Industrial Designers

The published band from $53,460 to $139,770 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Art Directors.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Commercial and Industrial Designers: Art Directors ($115K) , Artists and Related Workers, All Other ($71K) , Sound Engineering Technicians ($73K) , Technical Writers ($90K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Commercial and Industrial Designers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 27-1021 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Prepare sketches of ideas, detailed drawings, illustrations, artwork, or blueprints, using drafting instruments, paints and brushes, or c…
  2. 2. Modify and refine designs, using working models, to conform with customer specifications, production limitations, or changes in design tr…
  3. 3. Evaluate feasibility of design ideas, based on factors such as appearance, safety, function, serviceability, budget, production costs/met…
  4. 4. Confer with engineering, marketing, production, or sales departments, or with customers, to establish and evaluate design concepts for ma…
  5. 5. Present designs and reports to customers or design committees for approval and discuss need for modification
  6. 6. Develop industrial standards and regulatory guidelines
  7. 7. Research production specifications, costs, production materials, and manufacturing methods and provide cost estimates and itemized produc…
  8. 8. Coordinate the look and function of product lines
  9. 9. Direct and coordinate the fabrication of models or samples and the drafting of working drawings and specification sheets from sketches
  10. 10. Investigate product characteristics such as the product's safety and handling qualities, its market appeal, how efficiently it can be pro…
  11. 11. Develop manufacturing procedures and monitor the manufacture of their designs in a factory to improve operations and product quality
  12. 12. Participate in new product planning or market research, including studying the potential need for new products

Commercial and Industrial Designers: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 27-1021 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Design. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.0
  2. 2. Reading Comprehension 3.9
  3. 3. Critical Thinking 3.8
  4. 4. Complex Problem Solving 3.8
  5. 5. Speaking 3.5
  6. 6. Operations Analysis 3.3
  7. 7. Judgment and Decision Making 3.3
  8. 8. Time Management 3.3

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Design 4.7
  2. 2. Engineering and Technology 4.7
  3. 3. Production and Processing 4.0
  4. 4. Mechanical 4.0
  5. 5. Computers and Electronics 3.9
  6. 6. Mathematics 3.7
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$53,460 to $139,770
median $83,910 · ~2.6× spread
$84K
National median
↑ +3%
Growth 2024-2034
2,500
Annual openings
33,490
Estimated US jobs
Art Directors
Highest-pay peer · $115K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree

Top Paying States for Commercial and Industrial Designers

1. Michigan $102,160
2. Louisiana $98,040
3. Rhode Island $101,140
4. Georgia $91,360
5. Washington $94,280
6. Arkansas $92,540
7. Kansas $104,870
8. Massachusetts $101,720
9. Minnesota $94,370
10. California $100,770

Other Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations titles

  1. 1. Sound Engineering Technicians $73,130
  2. 2. Technical Writers $90,390
  3. 3. Media and Communication Workers, All Other $73,620
  4. 4. Special Effects Artists and Animators $102,030
  5. 5. Art Directors $114,850
  6. 6. Artists and Related Workers, All Other $71,240

The OEWS band for Commercial and Industrial Designers runs from $53,460 (10th) to $139,770 (90th), about 2.6× wide, with median $83,910. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +3% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 2,500 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Michigan at $102,160. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Art Directors at $114,850. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Commercial and Industrial Designers pay-rank #5 in Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations

Among 36 detailed Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations with a published OEWS median, Commercial and Industrial Designers is pay-rank #5, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Commercial and Industrial Designers is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Commercial and Industrial Designers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 27-1021

Michigan · top state for Commercial and Industrial Designers

$102K published median

Louisiana · #2 state pay

$98K · behind Michigan

Art Directors

Highest-pay peer vs Commercial and Industrial Designers · $115K

Artists and Related Workers, All Other

Lower-pay peer beside Commercial and Industrial Designers · $71K

Compare Commercial and Industrial Designers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Commercial and Industrial Designers with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations titles sit near Commercial and Industrial Designers at the top of the pay table? ▼
Commercial and Industrial Designers is pay-rank #5 of 36 detailed Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Fashion Designers ($81K), Editors ($78K), Producers and Directors ($90K), Technical Writers ($90K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do commercial and industrial designers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Commercial and Industrial Designers. Leading ones include: Prepare sketches of ideas, detailed drawings, illustrations, artwork, or blueprints, using drafting instruments, paints and brushes, or c…; Modify and refine designs, using working models, to conform with customer specifications, production limitations, or changes in design tr…; Evaluate feasibility of design ideas, based on factors such as appearance, safety, function, serviceability, budget, production costs/met…; Confer with engineering, marketing, production, or sales departments, or with customers, to establish and evaluate design concepts for ma…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for commercial and industrial designers? ▼
For SOC 27-1021, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.0), Reading Comprehension (3.9), Critical Thinking (3.8), Complex Problem Solving (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Design, Engineering and Technology, Production and Processing. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Commercial and Industrial Designers? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $53,460 and the 90th at $139,770 for Commercial and Industrial Designers (2.6× spread). The national median is $83,910. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Commercial and Industrial Designers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Commercial and Industrial Designers is +3%. Projected annual openings: about 2,500. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Commercial and Industrial Designers? ▼
BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Commercial and Industrial Designers. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Commercial and Industrial Designers? ▼
Michigan ($102,160), Louisiana ($98,040), Rhode Island ($101,140) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Commercial and Industrial Designers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 27-1021. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Commercial and Industrial Designers. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics