Providence, RI (population: 170,868) has six art and design schools within its city limits. Brown University, the highest ranked school in the city with an art and design program, has a total student population of 8,574. It is the 9th highest ranked school in the USA and the highest in the state of Rhode Island.
Art and Design students from Providence 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 Providence-Fall River-Warwick-MA area alone, there are 170 employed electrical and electronics drafters earning an average salary of $56,620. Fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators in this area earn $48,860/yr and there are 40 employed.
Providence lies in Providence county, which is one of the 2 counties in Rhode Island. Overall, the Providence-Fall River-Warwick-MA area has 544,170 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.7% unemployment rate, $20.96/hr average worker wage, and a $43,600 average annual salary. Thus, about 0.071 out of every 1000 jobs in Providence are held by fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators, and 0.321/1000 are held by electrical and electronics drafters.
Of the 6 art and design schools in Providence, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Rhode Island School of Design comes out as the most expensive ($35,991/yr) for art and design students, with Rhode Island College as the lowest, reported at only $7,178/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Providence |
| East Providence | RI | 48,249 | 1 | 29.3002 | 11 | 3.4 miles |
| Pawtucket | RI | 71,155 | 3 | 14.7207 | 9 | 4.3 miles |
| Cranston | RI | 79,642 | 2 | 23.0973 | 5 | 4.6 miles |
| Warwick | RI | 83,651 | 3 | 19.9034 | 130 | 8.3 miles |
| Smithfield | RI | - | 2 | 41.9902 | 100 | 9.7 miles |
| Attleboro | MA | 42,840 | 0 | - | 0 | 9.8 miles |
| North Attleborough | MA | 43,307 | 0 | - | 0 | 11.4 miles |
| Woonsocket | RI | 42,967 | 0 | - | 0 | 13.1 miles |
| Fall River | MA | 90,721 | 4 | 21.7318 | 82 | 17.7 miles |
| Taunton | MA | 55,679 | 1 | 23.0007 | 3 | 17.9 miles |
| Danielson | CT | - | 1 | 10.6065 | 27 | 24.1 miles |
| North Dartmouth | MA | - | 2 | 13.916 | 82 | 26.4 miles |
| Brockton | MA | 92,742 | 6 | 30.966 | 101 | 26.9 miles |
| New Bedford | MA | 90,869 | 2 | 34.0999 | 5 | 27.1 miles |
| Needham | MA | - | 1 | 85.1852 | 4 | 33.5 miles |
| Wellesley | MA | - | 2 | 79.2832 | 74 | 33.6 miles |
| Framingham | MA | 64,549 | 2 | 43.2155 | 61 | 33.9 miles |
| Milton | MA | - | 2 | 30.0286 | 66 | 34.8 miles |
| Weymouth | MA | 55,115 | 0 | - | 0 | 36.2 miles |
| Worcester | MA | 174,854 | 11 | 28.6428 | 380 | 37.0 miles |
| Brookline | MA | 55,248 | 4 | 18.3285 | 60 | 37.5 miles |
| Chestnut Hill | MA | - | 2 | 53.2355 | 134 | 37.6 miles |
| Brighton | MA | - | 3 | 22.1394 | 9 | 39.1 miles |
| Norwich | CT | - | 1 | 9.14921 | 49 | 39.6 miles |
| Watertown | MA | - | 4 | 19.8045 | 105 | 40.0 miles |
| Waltham | MA | 60,722 | 3 | 63.6138 | 127 | 40.5 miles |
| Boston | MA | 610,407 | 34 | 31.8192 | 1,194 | 41.4 miles |
| Cambridge | MA | 108,135 | 7 | 39.5149 | 268 | 41.7 miles |
| Somerville | MA | 75,604 | 1 | 21.9743 | 9 | 42.7 miles |
| Chelsea | MA | 44,282 | 1 | 26.6747 | 5 | 44.8 miles |