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Design, Media, and Writing

Design, Media, and Writing | Industrial Designer

Industrial Designer

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

An Industrial Designer designs products for companies and creates design ideas for products that are functional and visually appealing. Creates designs for product packaging or exhibits, or contributes graphic design work for industrial design projects. Creates new product designs or works to improve existing products, including consumer or industrial products.

Job Outlook

There were 168 Industrial Designer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 5462 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Industrial Designer industry, which includes the Industrial Designer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Industrial Designer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $67,534.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $56,310.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Industrial Designer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $47,670.

Education and Experience

Posted Industrial Designer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree39.51%
Master's Degree11.22%
Doctoral Degree3.55%
Other6.7%

Posted Industrial Designer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years24.49%
3 to 5 years43.7%
6 to 8 years14.5%
9+ years17.3%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Industrial Designer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Communication (50.2%)
  • Sales (22.92%)
  • Research (22.13%)
  • Self-Motivation (21.02%)
  • Prioritization (20.03%)
  • Innovation (19.43%)
  • Detail Oriented (16.86%)
  • Leadership (16.73%)
  • Goal-Oriented (15.4%)
  • Honesty (15.1%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Luxion KeyShot (9.46%)
  • Industrial Design (32.74%)
  • Product Design (25.72%)
  • New Product Development (24.44%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Product Knowledge (20.28%)
  • 3D Modeling (18.23%)
  • Adobe Photoshop (13.83%)
  • Adobe InDesign (5.46%)
  • Autodesk Revit (9.05%)
  • Computer-Aided Design (19.72%)
  • Adobe Illustrator (13.26%)
  • Adobe Creative Suite (10.83%)
  • User Research (7.83%)
  • SolidWorks (CAD) (13.78%)
  • Marketing (14.33%)
  • Manufacturing Processes (10.64%)
  • AutoCAD (13.57%)
  • Construction (12.39%)
  • Prototyping (19.91%)
  • Rendering (9.57%)
  • Selling Techniques (19.31%)
  • Order Fulfillment (18.82%)
  • Price Markdowns (18.72%)
  • Project Management (12.77%)
  • Merchandising (22.55%)
  • Rhinoceros 3D (6.52%)
  • User Experience (UX) (9.29%)
  • Sketching (10.92%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Industrial Designer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Industrial Design Intern
  • BIM Modeler
  • Product Design Lead
  • Mechanical Piping Designer
  • Design Researcher
  • Lighting Designer
  • Exterior Designer
  • Food Champion
  • Product Development Assistant

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Industrial Designer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • Nordstrom (799)
  • CDM Smith (212)
  • Ford (175)
  • Sterling Engineering (152)
  • Taco Bell (132)
  • Meta (94)
  • Plastipak (74)
  • Capital One (48)
  • GPAC (41)
  • Kohler (31)

North Carolina

  • Nordstrom (11)
  • North Carolina State University (8)
  • CDM Smith (7)
  • Actalent (4)
  • Lowe's (4)
  • Appalachian State University (4)
  • Darran Furniture Limited (3)
  • Ford (3)
  • Affiliated Engineers (3)
  • Qualified Staffing (3)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!