Commercial and Industrial Designers
Also called: Art Glass Designer, Automobile Designer, Bank Note Designer, Bicycle Designer, Bike Designer, Boat Designer, Body Stylist, Car Body Designer
Design and develop manufactured products, such as cars, home appliances, and children's toys.
What commercial and industrial designers do
Typical tasks
- Prepare sketches of ideas, detailed drawings, illustrations, artwork, or blueprints, using drafting instruments, paints and brushes, or computer-aided design equipment.
- Modify and refine designs, using working models, to conform with customer specifications, production limitations, or changes in design trends.
- Evaluate feasibility of design ideas, based on factors such as appearance, safety, function, serviceability, budget, production costs/methods, and market characteristics.
- Confer with engineering, marketing, production, or sales departments, or with customers, to establish and evaluate design concepts for manufactured products.
- Present designs and reports to customers or design committees for approval and discuss need for modification.
- Research production specifications, costs, production materials, and manufacturing methods and provide cost estimates and itemized production requirements.
- Direct and coordinate the fabrication of models or samples and the drafting of working drawings and specification sheets from sketches.
- Investigate product characteristics such as the product's safety and handling qualities, its market appeal, how efficiently it can be produced, and ways of distributing, using, and maintaining it.
- Develop manufacturing procedures and monitor the manufacture of their designs in a factory to improve operations and product quality.
- Participate in new product planning or market research, including studying the potential need for new products.
- Read publications, attend showings, and study competing products and design styles and motifs to obtain perspective and generate design concepts.
- Fabricate models or samples in paper, wood, glass, fabric, plastic, metal, or other materials, using hand or power tools.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Commercial and Industrial Designers salary
The median annual wage for commercial and industrial designers is $83,910 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $53,460 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $139,770. The mean annual wage is $93,260.
The mean hourly wage of $44.00 is 6.1× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Commercial and Industrial Designers (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $83,910 → in 3 years $90,200 → in 5 years $94,700 → in 10 years $106,800 (10-year range $91,800–$124,000). The model assumes pay growth of +2.4% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Commercial and Industrial Designers
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Commercial and Industrial Designers? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Commercial and Industrial Designers
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
The same job in Japan
| Commercial and Industrial Designers United States | インダストリアルデザイナー Japan | |
|---|---|---|
| Median / average pay | $83,910 | ¥5.40M ≈ $34,314 |
| Pay in 10 years (est.) | $106,800 | ¥6.17M |
| Outlook score | 49 | 33 |
| AI replacement risk | 66% High | 54% Moderate |
| Workers | 33K | — |
Matched by occupation (SOC code). Yen converted at 157.25 JPY/USD for reference; Japanese figures are averages, U.S. figures are medians, and the surveys define occupations differently.
Skills, education and requirements for Commercial and Industrial Designers
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Education of workers
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 4 — considerable preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★★★☆☆ Moderate (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become commercial and industrial designers
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as commercial and industrial designers
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.