Commercial and Industrial Designers
SOC 27-1021 · 2024-2034
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.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $103,591per year
- Projected openings
- 4,320
- Projected change
- +1.9%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Complex Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Operations Analysis
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $135,824 | 30 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $110,709 | 240 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $104,149 | 270 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $98,229 | 330 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $98,144 | 430 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $94,851 | 860 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $86,340 | 20 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $84,824 | 60 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $83,848 | 260 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $83,787 | 80 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $80,046 | 320 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $78,240 | 40 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $64,620
- A quarter earn under
- $78,189
- Half earn under
- $103,591
- Three quarters earn under
- $136,918
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $173,207
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Drafters | $84,820 | 3,040 | -5.1% |
| Fashion Designers | Not reported | 6,620 | -3.7% |
| Industrial Engineers | $128,088 | 24,010 | +11.9% |
Programs that train for this job — 3
Computer Aided Design (CAD) Architectural Certificate of Accomplishment
City College of San Francisco · San Francisco · $1,144
Industrial Design Certificate of Achievement
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $2,671
Industrial Design (IDSGN) Associate in Science Degree
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $4,797