Chicago, IL (population: 2,878,948) has thirty-seven art and design schools within its city limits. Loyola University Chicago, the highest ranked school in the city with an art and design program, has a total student population of 15,879. It is the 144th highest ranked school in the USA and the 3rd highest in the state of Illinois (#1 is Northwestern University). To learn more about art and design programs in Chicago, ratemyprofessors.com has reviews of art and design professors at Loyola University Chicago such as Matt Groves, Christian Rieben, Thomas Rowlands, and Diane Santinga.
Art and Design students from Chicago schools who go on to become designers, ad designers, advertising designers, commercial designers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 8,900 people working as fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $50,630. Also, Electrical and electronics drafters make on average $54,800 per year and there are about 30,590 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Metropolitan area alone, there are 870 employed electrical and electronics drafters earning an average salary of $68,530. Fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators in this area earn $42,370/yr and there are 280 employed.
Chicago lies in Cook county, which is one of the 49 counties in Illinois. Overall, the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Metropolitan area has 3,669,800 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $24/hr average worker wage, and a $48,910 average annual salary. Thus, about 0 out of every 1000 jobs in Chicago are held by fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators, and 0/1000 are held by electrical and electronics drafters.
Of the 37 art and design schools in Chicago, only 9 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, School of the Art Institute of Chicago comes out as the most expensive ($38,965/yr) for art and design students, with Rosel School of Cosmetology as the lowest, reported at only $4,320/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Chicago |
| Berwyn | IL | 49,477 | 1 | 23.6937 | 4 | 5.7 miles |
| Oak Park | IL | 49,270 | 1 | 1.32863 | 0 | 6.6 miles |
| River Forest | IL | - | 2 | 45.0836 | 173 | 8.0 miles |
| River Grove | IL | - | 1 | 11.7006 | 67 | 10.0 miles |
| Blue Island | IL | - | 2 | 31.6013 | 8 | 12.6 miles |
| Palos Heights | IL | - | 1 | 26.9291 | 61 | 13.3 miles |
| Skokie | IL | 66,692 | 6 | 22.9614 | 40 | 14.2 miles |
| Evanston | IL | 78,672 | 5 | 24.133 | 202 | 14.5 miles |
| Villa Park | IL | - | 2 | 31.4324 | 7 | 16.3 miles |
| Oak Forest | IL | - | 1 | 38.4537 | 3 | 16.7 miles |
| South Holland | IL | - | 1 | 10.1002 | 61 | 17.0 miles |
| Addison | IL | - | 1 | 11.9746 | 2 | 17.1 miles |
| Lombard | IL | 43,240 | 3 | 11.1886 | 2 | 17.1 miles |
| Des Plaines | IL | 57,512 | 1 | 11.0092 | 69 | 17.3 miles |
| Calumet City | IL | - | 1 | 19.3758 | 27 | 17.4 miles |
| Downers Grove | IL | 49,475 | 1 | 0.403237 | 10 | 17.7 miles |
| Glenview | IL | 46,461 | 0 | - | 0 | 18.1 miles |
| Hammond | IN | 75,871 | 5 | 27.9021 | 191 | 18.1 miles |
| Orland Park | IL | 55,957 | 1 | 26.0399 | 11 | 18.2 miles |
| Tinley Park | IL | 60,149 | 0 | - | 0 | 19.7 miles |
| Glen Ellyn | IL | - | 1 | 13.8242 | 100 | 20.1 miles |
| Woodridge | IL | - | 1 | 16.3637 | 24 | 20.2 miles |
| Lisle | IL | - | 2 | 24.7595 | 107 | 20.5 miles |
| Mount Prospect | IL | 52,994 | 2 | 36.9644 | 21 | 20.8 miles |
| Glendale Heights | IL | - | 1 | 27.7281 | 3 | 21.3 miles |
| Bolingbrook | IL | 72,318 | 0 | - | 0 | 22.8 miles |
| Arlington Heights | IL | 73,268 | 1 | 24.4091 | 3 | 23.2 miles |
| Chicago Heights | IL | - | 1 | 9.7858 | 55 | 23.2 miles |
| Carol Stream | IL | 40,639 | 0 | - | 0 | 23.8 miles |
| Gary | IN | 94,891 | 2 | 28.0598 | 98 | 24.2 miles |