Fashion Designers
Design clothing and accessories. Create original designs or adapt fashion trends.
- O*NET-SOC code
27-1022.00 - Preparation Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Wages
Median annual wage, U.S.$80,960
Employment, U.S.21,450
Median hourly wage$38.92
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $39,490 | $51,940 | $80,960 | $106,470 | $146,870 |
By state (30)
| State | Employment | Median annual | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | $45,720 | ||
| Arkansas | 190 | Not available | 1.08 |
| California | 6,470 | Not available | 2.57 |
| Colorado | 360 | $94,140 | 0.91 |
| Connecticut | 50 | $81,510 | 0.20 |
| Florida | 1,100 | $43,020 | 0.80 |
| Georgia | 120 | $78,340 | 0.17 |
| Hawaii | $47,990 | ||
| Indiana | 120 | $40,740 | 0.27 |
| Kansas | 40 | $59,150 | 0.22 |
| Kentucky | 120 | Not available | 0.43 |
| Maine | 30 | $49,530 | 0.35 |
| Maryland | 120 | Not available | 0.32 |
| Massachusetts | 540 | $103,520 | 1.08 |
| Michigan | 40 | $63,430 | 0.07 |
| Minnesota | 420 | $42,110 | 1.02 |
| Missouri | 200 | Not available | 0.48 |
| New Hampshire | 40 | $100,160 | 0.44 |
| New Jersey | 160 | $101,610 | 0.27 |
| New York | 5,760 | $98,640 | 4.31 |
| North Carolina | 460 | $74,990 | 0.68 |
| Ohio | 90 | $82,050 | 0.11 |
| Oregon | 860 | Not available | 3.17 |
| Pennsylvania | 320 | $63,840 | 0.38 |
| Texas | 1,850 | $40,040 | 0.95 |
| Utah | 430 | Not available | 1.80 |
| Vermont | 60 | $79,610 | 1.32 |
| Virginia | 100 | $94,120 | 0.17 |
| Washington | $82,030 | ||
| Wisconsin | 120 | $57,030 | 0.30 |
Similar occupations
Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.
Circles are the 20 most similar occupations, coloured by Job Zone. Lines join pairs where one is among the other's 10 most similar; darker lines are pairs O*NET also lists as related. Drag a circle to move it out of the way; select one to open it.
| # | Occupation | Job Zone | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Art Directors | 4 | 0.952 |
| 2 | Desktop Publishers | 3 | 0.944 |
| 3 | Producers and Directors | 4 | 0.929 |
| 4 | Video Game Designers | 4 | 0.924 |
| 5 | Special Effects Artists and Animators | 4 | 0.918 |
| 6 | Web and Digital Interface Designers | 4 | 0.917 |
| 7 | Graphic Designers | 4 | 0.917 |
| 8 | Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers | 3 | 0.916 |
| 9 | Prepress Technicians and Workers | 3 | 0.914 |
| 10 | Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners | 4 | 0.913 |
One skill away
Among the 50 occupations most similar to Fashion Designers, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.
| Occupation | Skill to build | Level gap | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prepress Technicians and Workers | Operations Monitoring | 1.25 | 0.914 |
| Web Developers | Programming | 3.75 | 0.906 |
Software to learn next
Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Fashion Designers, excluding software Fashion Designers already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.
| Software | Similar jobs using it | Lift |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe After Effects | 11 of 20 | 12.4x |
| PHP | 10 of 20 | 9.8x |
| Adobe ActionScript | 9 of 20 | 12.6x |
| YouTube | 11 of 20 | 6.9x |
| Hypertext markup language HTML | 11 of 20 | 6.5x |
| Figma | 6 of 20 | 30.8x |
| Cascading style sheets CSS | 8 of 20 | 10.5x |
| Maxon Cinema 4D | 5 of 20 | 38.5x |
| Drupal | 8 of 20 | 9.5x |
| Apple macOS | 9 of 20 | 7.3x |
Skills
From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.
| Skill | Type | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical Thinking | Essential skill | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Active Listening | Essential skill | 3.88 | 3.88 |
| Speaking | Essential skill | 3.88 | 3.88 |
| Coordination | Transferable skill | 3.75 | 3.75 |
| Social Perceptiveness | Transferable skill | 3.75 | 3.75 |
| Time Management | Transferable skill | 3.75 | 3.75 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | Transferable skill | 3.75 | 3.62 |
| Active Learning | Essential skill | 3.75 | 3.25 |
| Reading Comprehension | Essential skill | 3.62 | 3.75 |
| Persuasion | Transferable skill | 3.62 | 3.62 |
| Complex Problem Solving | Transferable skill | 3.62 | 3.25 |
| Negotiation | Transferable skill | 3.62 | 3.12 |
| Monitoring | Essential skill | 3.50 | 3.62 |
| Management of Personnel Resources | Transferable skill | 3.50 | 3.25 |
| Instructing | Transferable skill | 3.50 | 3.00 |
| Service Orientation | Transferable skill | 3.50 | 2.88 |
| Writing | Essential skill | 3.38 | 3.50 |
| Operations Analysis | Transferable skill | 3.25 | 3.25 |
| Learning Strategies | Essential skill | 3.12 | 3.12 |
| Systems Analysis | Transferable skill | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Systems Evaluation | Transferable skill | 2.88 | 3.50 |
| Management of Material Resources | Transferable skill | 2.75 | 2.62 |
| Management of Financial Resources | Transferable skill | 2.62 | 2.75 |
| Quality Control Analysis | Transferable skill | 2.38 | 2.25 |
| Mathematics | Essential skill | 2.12 | 2.25 |
| Operations Monitoring | Transferable skill | 2.12 | 1.75 |
| Technology Design | Transferable skill | 1.75 | 1.00 |
| Troubleshooting | Transferable skill | 1.75 | 0.88 |
| Equipment Selection | Transferable skill | 1.50 | 0.50 |
| Programming | Transferable skill | 1.38 | 0.50 |
| Science | Essential skill | 1.12 | not rated |
| Equipment Maintenance | Transferable skill | 1.00 | not rated |
| Installation | Transferable skill | 1.00 | not rated |
| Operation and Control | Transferable skill | 1.00 | not rated |
| Repairing | Transferable skill | 1.00 | not rated |
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
| Name | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Design | 4.41 | 4.52 |
| Computers and Electronics | 3.35 | 3.93 |
| Production and Processing | 3.25 | 3.36 |
| Sales and Marketing | 3.19 | 2.99 |
| English Language | 3.13 | 3.50 |
| Fine Arts | 2.70 | 2.96 |
| Administration and Management | 2.57 | 2.94 |
| Personnel and Human Resources | 2.44 | 2.69 |
| Mathematics | 2.28 | 2.55 |
| Education and Training | 2.24 | 2.61 |
| Communications and Media | 2.14 | 2.47 |
| Transportation | 2.06 | 2.06 |
| Administrative | 2.03 | 2.16 |
| Customer and Personal Service | 2.00 | 1.92 |
| Foreign Language | 1.96 | 1.37 |
| Sociology and Anthropology | 1.90 | 1.31 |
| Engineering and Technology | 1.81 | not rated |
| Psychology | 1.75 | 1.46 |
| Geography | 1.71 | 1.52 |
| Economics and Accounting | 1.64 | 1.40 |
| Telecommunications | 1.63 | 0.76 |
| Mechanical | 1.57 | not rated |
| Law and Government | 1.52 | 1.06 |
| Building and Construction | 1.46 | not rated |
| Public Safety and Security | 1.44 | not rated |
| Biology | 1.37 | not rated |
| Therapy and Counseling | 1.34 | not rated |
| Physics | 1.33 | not rated |
| History and Archeology | 1.28 | not rated |
| Philosophy and Theology | 1.22 | not rated |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 1.20 | not rated |
| Chemistry | 1.15 | not rated |
| Food Production | 1.14 | not rated |
| Name | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Originality | 4.25 | 4.38 |
| Oral Expression | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Fluency of Ideas | 3.88 | 3.88 |
| Written Comprehension | 3.88 | 3.75 |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.75 | 4.00 |
| Near Vision | 3.75 | 3.75 |
| Visualization | 3.75 | 3.62 |
| Speech Recognition | 3.75 | 3.38 |
| Visual Color Discrimination | 3.75 | 3.25 |
| Category Flexibility | 3.62 | 3.88 |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.62 | 3.75 |
| Written Expression | 3.62 | 3.62 |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.62 | 3.12 |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.50 | 3.12 |
| Speech Clarity | 3.38 | 3.00 |
| Information Ordering | 3.12 | 3.12 |
| Far Vision | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Selective Attention | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Finger Dexterity | 2.88 | 2.88 |
| Flexibility of Closure | 2.88 | 2.88 |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 2.88 | 2.75 |
| Perceptual Speed | 2.88 | 2.75 |
| Time Sharing | 2.50 | 2.00 |
| Manual Dexterity | 2.38 | 2.12 |
| Number Facility | 2.25 | 2.62 |
| Mathematical Reasoning | 2.25 | 1.88 |
| Auditory Attention | 2.12 | 2.00 |
| Control Precision | 2.12 | 2.00 |
| Speed of Closure | 2.12 | 2.00 |
| Trunk Strength | 2.12 | 2.00 |
| Hearing Sensitivity | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| Memorization | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| Depth Perception | 2.00 | 1.75 |
| Extent Flexibility | 2.00 | 1.50 |
| Rate Control | 1.75 | 0.88 |
| Multilimb Coordination | 1.62 | 0.75 |
| Reaction Time | 1.62 | 0.62 |
| Static Strength | 1.50 | 0.62 |
| Wrist-Finger Speed | 1.50 | 0.62 |
| Dynamic Strength | 1.38 | 0.50 |
| Explosive Strength | 1.38 | 0.50 |
| Gross Body Equilibrium | 1.38 | 0.50 |
| Dynamic Flexibility | 1.12 | not rated |
| Response Orientation | 1.12 | not rated |
| Spatial Orientation | 1.12 | not rated |
| Glare Sensitivity | 1.00 | not rated |
| Gross Body Coordination | 1.00 | not rated |
| Night Vision | 1.00 | not rated |
| Peripheral Vision | 1.00 | not rated |
| Sound Localization | 1.00 | not rated |
| Speed of Limb Movement | 1.00 | not rated |
| Stamina | 1.00 | not rated |
Software used
Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.
- Adobe Creative Cloud software in demand
- Adobe Illustrator in demand
- Adobe InDesign in demand
- Adobe Photoshop in demand
- Microsoft Excel in demand
- Microsoft Office software in demand
- Microsoft PowerPoint in demand
- Adobe Acrobat hot
- Autodesk Revit hot
- JavaScript hot
- Microsoft Outlook hot
- Microsoft Word hot
- SAS hot
- Trimble SketchUp Pro hot
- Autodesk AutoCAD Design Suite
- Autodesk SketchBook Pro
- C-DESIGN Fashion
- CLO Virtual Fashion Marvelous Designer
- Computer aided design and drafting software CADD
- Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite
- Corel Painter
- Fashion Toolbox
- Financial accounting software
- Lectra Prima Vision Print Repeat
- Optitex 3D Suite
- Patternmaking software
- StartingAClothingLine.com Digital Fashion Pro
- User interface design software
- Web browser software
Where it concentrates
Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.
| Metro area | Employment | Location quotient | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 5,050 | 5.84 | Not available |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 5,540 | 4.23 | $99,560 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 320 | 1.50 | $82,010 |
| Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | 150 | 1.36 | $60,010 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 450 | 1.36 | $102,370 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 480 | 1.28 | $106,630 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 250 | 1.14 | $99,420 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 590 | 1.05 | $63,210 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | 170 | 0.90 | Not available |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 160 | 0.82 | $61,810 |