Headline risk
9%
Low RiskCommercial and industrial designers
United States AI Work Index tracks this occupation on the shared structural baseline and then layers on local demand resilience, wages, and confidence.
Why This Score
Share of job tasks that overlap with current AI capabilities
Median annual wage
Projected employment change over 10 years
Typical preparation needed for this occupation
Occupation profile
Design and develop manufactured products, such as cars, home appliances, and children's toys. Combine artistic talent with research on product use, marketing, and materials to create the most functional and appealing product design.
Task evidence
100% weighted task match · 4% effective coverage
Scores combine AI task overlap, human advantages, and local demand. How it works
United States Now
Median Wage
USD 79,450
Employment 2024
30.6K
Projected Change (2024–34)
3.2%
Openings (2024–34)
2.5K
Wage distribution
Demand outlook
Employment of industrial designers is projected to grow 3 percent from 2024 to 2034, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
Role Profile
Tasks
- 1. Prepare sketches of ideas, detailed drawings, illustrations, artwork, or blueprints, using drafting instruments, paints and brushes, or computer-aided design equipment. AI use: 0%
- 2. Modify and refine designs, using working models, to conform with customer specifications, production limitations, or changes in design trends. AI use: 0%
- 3. Confer with engineering, marketing, production, or sales departments, or with customers, to establish and evaluate design concepts for manufactured products. AI use: 0%
- 4. Evaluate feasibility of design ideas, based on factors such as appearance, safety, function, serviceability, budget, production costs/methods, and market characteristics. AI use: 0%
- 5. Present designs and reports to customers or design committees for approval and discuss need for modification. AI use: 0%
- 6. Research production specifications, costs, production materials, and manufacturing methods and provide cost estimates and itemized production requirements. AI use: 0%
Technologies
Requirements
Work context
Worker profile
Median age 41.8 · 640K employed
Under 25: 10% · 25–54: 71% · 55+: 19%
Related
Source coverage
11/11 source families · O*NET 30.2 / OEWS 2024 / ORS 2025 / OOH 2025-08-28 / Projections 2024-34 / CPS 2025 / Anthropic task penetration
Mapping quality
crosswalk_exact · employment series present
Narrative & sources
Industrial designers combine art, business, and engineering to develop the concepts for manufactured products.
Industrial designers work in a variety of industries. Although industrial designers work primarily in offices, they may travel to testing facilities, design centers, clients’ exhibit sites, users’ homes or workplaces, and places where the product is manufactured.
Industrial designers typically need a bachelor's degree to enter the occupation. They also need an electronic portfolio with examples of their design projects.
The median annual wage for industrial designers was $79,450 in May 2024.
Employment of industrial designers is projected to grow 3 percent from 2024 to 2034, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
Published limitations
This page shows the local country layer, not realised individual job outcomes. The global structural baseline is shared across countries; only the local demand and wage layer changes here.
Built from O*NET occupation descriptions, task statements, technology skills, work context, Job Zones, Anthropic task penetration, BLS OEWS wages, BLS projection tables, BLS ORS requirements, BLS OOH narrative content, BLS skills data, and BLS CPS occupation age tables.