Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · Holland code ARC

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: Designer, Interior Design Consultant, Interior Design Coordinator, Interior Designer, Certified Kitchen Designer, Color and Materials Designer, Commercial Interior Designer, Decorating Consultant.

O*NET 27-1025.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $67,190; Middle half earn $51,840 to $85,740. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 84% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +3% · As fast as average; 87,100 jobs in 2024, projected 89,900. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Interior designers".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.
Review and detail shop drawings for construction plans.
Inspect construction work on site to ensure its adherence to the design plans.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Writing3.6 / 5
Active Learning3.1 / 5

Knowledge areas

Design4.9 / 5
Customer and Personal Service4.5 / 5
Building and Construction4.2 / 5
English Language4.1 / 5
Sales and Marketing3.8 / 5
Administration and Management3.6 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic52
Investigative35
Artistic76
Social28
Enterprising45
Conventional47

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

architect · DE Architekt/Architektin · FR architecte
interior architect · DE Innenarchitekt/Innenarchitektin · FR architecte d’intérieur
landscape designer · DE Landschaftsgestalter/Landschaftsgestalterin · FR paysagiste
industrial designer · DE Industriedesigner/Industriedesignerin · FR designer industriel/designeuse industrielle
furniture designer · DE Möbeldesigner/Möbeldesignerin · FR designer mobilier/designeuse mobilier
conceptual artist · DE Konzeptkünstler/Konzeptkünstlerin · FR artiste conceptuel/artiste conceptuelle

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Interior designers (3421)40,600 employed
Architects (2451)61,000 employed
Clothing, fashion and accessories designers (3422)18,300 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “デザイナー”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥326,500; Middle half earn ¥266,100 to ¥421,500 a month.
Workers in the category: 91,450; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.12. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (27-1025).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test