Florida·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-1021

Best Commercial programs in Florida, ranked by enrollment

Design and develop manufactured products, such as cars, home appliances, and children's toys.

15 schools in Florida run programs that feed this job, graduating 375 people a year. The job pays a median of $78,720 in Florida across about 1,990 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDesignerDesign EngineerProduct DesignerIndustrial DesignerEngineerToy MakerBody StylistColor Expert
Graduates / yr
375
in Florida
Median pay · Florida
$78,720
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,990
people employed
Schools
15
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
56%
across those schools
Median net price
$32,163
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Florida that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in Florida that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Florida (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Florida page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 50.0401In Florida
259
69.1%
6$31,611$26,000
2
CIP 50.0402In Florida
84
22.4%
5$31,611$26,000
3
CIP 15.1701In Florida
32
8.5%
4$63,554$17,750

Top 15 schools in Florida

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 15 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Full Sail University
Winter Park, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
175Design and Visual Communications, General$25,47944%$32,163
2Miami Ad School
Miami, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
60Commercial and Advertising Art$56,833
3Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
38Design and Visual Communications, General$20,36061%$35,48397%
4The University of Tampa
Tampa, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
26Design and Visual Communications, General64%$33,07040%
5Jacksonville University
Jacksonville, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Design and Visual Communications, General51%$25,81357%
6Fort Myers Technical College
Fort Myers, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
13Energy Systems Technology/Technician81%
7Valencia College
Orlando, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
10Energy Systems Technology/Technician48%
8Fred K Marchman Technical College
New Port Richey, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
8Commercial and Advertising Art71%
9Seminole State College of Florida
Sanford, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
8Energy Systems Technology/Technician41%
10Robert Morgan Educational Center and Technical College
Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
7Commercial and Advertising Art13%
11William T McFatter Technical College
Davie, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
6Commercial and Advertising Art66%
12Southeastern University
Lakeland, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Design and Visual Communications, General43%$29,91553%
13Lindsey Hopkins Technical College
Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
3Commercial and Advertising Art66%
14University of Florida
Gainesville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
2Design and Visual Communications, General$43,14491%24%
15Palm Beach State College
Lake Worth, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
1Energy Systems Technology/Technician41%

All 15 schools in Florida

Every school in Florida with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Florida that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Full Sail UniversityWinter ParkPrivate for-profit1751
Miami Ad SchoolMiamiPrivate for-profit601
Keiser University - Ft LauderdaleFort LauderdalePrivate not-for-profit381
The University of TampaTampaPrivate not-for-profit261
Jacksonville UniversityJacksonvillePrivate not-for-profit141
Fort Myers Technical CollegeFort MyersPublic131
Valencia CollegeOrlandoPublic101
Fred K Marchman Technical CollegeNew Port RicheyPublic81
Seminole State College of FloridaSanfordPublic81
Robert Morgan Educational Center and Technical CollegeMiamiPublic71
William T McFatter Technical CollegeDaviePublic61
Southeastern UniversityLakelandPrivate not-for-profit41
Lindsey Hopkins Technical CollegeMiamiPublic31
University of FloridaGainesvillePublic21
Palm Beach State CollegeLake WorthPublic11

What commercial and industrial designers earn in Florida

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Florida
$78,720
Mean annual
$81,770
Jobs in state
1,990
What the range looks like
10th pct$51,440Median$78,72090th pct$120,640
Versus the national median
-6.2%

U.S. median $83,910. Florida pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.93×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Florida

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
$76,790median
50 jobs
Jacksonville, FL
$80,240median
120 jobs
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
$78,890median
240 jobs
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL
$70,380median
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
$75,400median
40 jobs
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
$77,350median
330 jobs
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
$80,690median
700 jobs
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
$69,290median
70 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.2%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
2,500
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
1,000
30,600 → 31,600
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Commercial and Industrial Designers page.

How to become a Commercial

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Active ListeningReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingSpeakingWritingMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Florida

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Commercial and Industrial Designers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 15.1503Packaging Science
  • 15.1701Energy Systems Technology/Technician
  • 50.0401Design and Visual Communications, General
  • 50.0402Commercial and Advertising Art
  • 50.0404Industrial and Product Design

Common questions

Answers for people weighing commercial and industrial designers programs in Florida.

What degree do you need to become a Commercial?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Design and Visual Communications, General, which awarded 259 degrees in Florida in 2024-25, 69.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Commercial?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Energy Systems Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 375 people a year in Florida.

How much do commercial and industrial designers earn in Florida?+

The median is $78,720 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.2% below the U.S. median of $83,910. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for commercial and industrial designers growing?+

BLS projects a +3.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Florida?+

15 institutions in Florida reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do commercial and industrial designers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Designer, Design Engineer, Product Designer, Industrial Designer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-1021.

Commercial and Industrial Designers in other statesNew YorkUtahCaliforniaTexasOhioNorth CarolinaGeorgiaIndiana

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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