economic impact of the profession can be discovered, by research on the Internet and contacts with professional organizations. One place to find the impact of interior design related to the general economy in the United States is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It publishes a report on occupational outlook that pinpoints various occupations, including interior design. It is referred to as SOC Code 27‐1025.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook on the BLS Web site (www.bls.gov/ooh/arts‐and‐design) gives information on overall job outlook for the next 10 years. It provides other information such as median pay, job outlook in the future, and other important general information. It also provides general information on the interior design profession for anyone looking at interior design as a career.
Although this is an annual report, the information is likely to be one year behind the year you search (i.e., 2019 will show 2018 figures). The BLS suggests that interior design employment will grow over the next several years; it reports that in 2016, the number of those employed as interior designers was 66,500 and that the number is expected to increase by approximately 4 percent by 2026.* The median wage in 2017 was reported as $51,500.** Additional information on salaries in interior design is provided in Chapter 29.
Median wage information on many cities can be accessed from the U.S. Department of Labor site www.careeronestop.org. This site allows you to compare wage information by state. You need to click the tab “Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports and Media” to find the information on interior design. There is other information on that site related to job search.
A useful report is published by ASID is titled: The Interior Design Outlook and State of the Industry. There is a charge for this report for nonmembers, but it is well worth the cost. It provides information on economic outlook, employment, design specialties, and other interesting information. Readers may also want to check with the International Interior Design Association or other professional associations for additional reports on economic and demographic topics. This report can be found on the ASID Web site www.asid.org under the tab research.
Interior Design magazine annually provides interesting statistical information on very large (“giant”) interior design firms. This information gives a glimpse of the economic impact of the interior design profession. The January 2018 issue reported group earnings at $4.1 billion in fees.*** This report also indicated median salary rates ($75,000 for “designer”).
The Interior Design magazine report also provides information on the amount of fees earned by specialties, including residential and the largest firms that do foreign projects. Remember that salary rates in this report are for the 100 largest design firms participating in this annual report; they may not reflect salary rates in your area. Note also that these types of data reports lag approximately one year from when the data were obtained.
*U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational Employment Statistics: 27‐1025 Interior Designers” (as of January 2019). Available at www.bls.gov/oes
**U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational Outlook Handbook.” Interior Designers. January 2019. Available at www.bls.gov/ooh
***Zimmerman, January 2018, pp. 103–120.
WEB SITES RELEVANT TO THIS CHAPTER
www.asid.org American Society of Interior Designers
www.cidq.org Council for Interior Design Qualification
www.idcec.org Interior Design Council for Continuing Education and, Inc
www.interiordesigncanada.org Interior Designers of Canada
www.iida.org International Interior Design Association
www.bls.gov U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
www.careeronestop.org CareerOneStop is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor
www.ncidq.org National Council for Interior Design Qualification
KEY TERMS
ateliers
Brand
Commercial interior design
Contract design
Ensembliers
Interior design
Profession
Pro bono
Residential interior design
Social responsibility
Vignette
KEY NAMES
Elsie de Wolfe
Norman deHaan
Dorothy Draper
Charles Gelber
Florence Knoll
Eleanor McMillen
William R. Moore
Louis Tegre
ORGANIZATIONS
American Institute of Decorators (AID)
American Institute of Interior Decorators (AIID)
American Institute of Interior Designers (AID)
American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)
Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) (formerly FIDER)
Institute of Business Designers (IBD)
Interior Design Council for Continuing Education and, Inc (IDCEC)
Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC)
International Interior Design Association (IIDA)
International Society of Interior Designers (ISID)
Interior Designers of Ontario
