Newark, NJ (population: 279,278) has four art and design schools within its city limits. Rutgers University-Newark, the highest ranked school in the city with an art and design program, has a total student population of 11,501. It is the 248th highest ranked school in the USA and the 8th highest in the state of New Jersey (#1 is Rutgers University-New Brunswick).
Art and Design students from Newark 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.
Newark lies in Essex county, which is one of the 11 counties in New Jersey. Overall, the Newark-Union-PA Metropolitan area has 974,700 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1.6% unemployment rate, $25.36/hr average worker wage, and a $52,760 average annual salary.
Of the 4 art and design schools in Newark, only 2 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, New Community Workforce Development Center comes out as the most expensive ($18,864/yr) for art and design students, with Essex County College as the lowest, reported at only $3,641/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Newark |
| South Orange | NJ | - | 1 | 63.933 | 113 | 5.2 miles |
| Bayonne | NJ | 57,362 | 0 | - | 0 | 5.2 miles |
| Union | NJ | 56,324 | 6 | 24.8766 | 160 | 5.4 miles |
| Jersey City | NJ | 242,594 | 10 | 25.9195 | 190 | 5.8 miles |
| Bloomfield | NJ | 48,995 | 2 | 17.5636 | 34 | 6.3 miles |
| West Orange | NJ | 49,330 | 0 | - | 0 | 6.8 miles |
| Kenilworth | NJ | - | 2 | 30.2484 | 7 | 7.0 miles |
| Hoboken | NJ | 41,307 | 1 | 72.0499 | 47 | 7.5 miles |
| Montclair | NJ | - | 3 | 25.8703 | 100 | 7.6 miles |
| North Bergen | NJ | 59,771 | 0 | - | 0 | 8.8 miles |
| Livingston | NJ | - | 3 | 17.1946 | 56 | 9.2 miles |
| Staten Island | NY | - | 3 | 40.1655 | 127 | 9.5 miles |
| Clifton | NJ | 78,248 | 4 | 27.5248 | 46 | 9.7 miles |
| Passaic | NJ | 67,055 | 0 | - | 0 | 9.9 miles |
| West New York | NJ | 47,282 | 1 | 33.6373 | 6 | 10.5 miles |
| Long Island City | NY | - | 4 | 18.9499 | 59 | 11.7 miles |
| West Paterson | NJ | - | 1 | 20.7455 | 20 | 11.8 miles |
| Brooklyn | NY | - | 46 | 21.7861 | 571 | 12.5 miles |
| New York City | NY | 8,459,026 | 86 | 26.2632 | 1,528 | 12.5 miles |
| Iselin | NJ | - | 1 | 22.9572 | 8 | 12.8 miles |
| Paterson | NJ | 145,162 | 2 | 18.1967 | 29 | 13.2 miles |
| Hackensack | NJ | 42,824 | 4 | 27.098 | 27 | 13.3 miles |
| Ridgewood | NY | - | 1 | 34.5795 | 2 | 13.9 miles |
| Perth Amboy | NJ | 49,138 | 1 | 20.4079 | 6 | 14.8 miles |
| Plainfield | NJ | 45,854 | 4 | 21.9493 | 28 | 14.8 miles |
| Jackson Heights | NY | - | 1 | 28.2916 | 7 | 15.1 miles |
| Rego Park | NY | - | 1 | 27.7974 | 9 | 16.1 miles |
| Paramus | NJ | - | 3 | 22.7173 | 64 | 16.3 miles |
| Parsippany | NJ | - | 1 | 29.0107 | 9 | 16.5 miles |
| Edison | NJ | 100,524 | 4 | 19.0338 | 62 | 16.8 miles |