Memphis, TN (population: 662,989) has nine art and design schools within its city limits. Rhodes College, the highest ranked school in the city with an art and design program, has a total student population of 1,673. It is the 123rd highest ranked school in the USA and the 2nd highest in the state of Tennessee (#1 is Vanderbilt University).
Art and Design students from Memphis 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.
Memphis lies in Shelby county, which is one of the 26 counties in Tennessee. Overall, the Memphis-MS-AR area has 605,630 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1.2% unemployment rate, $18.93/hr average worker wage, and a $39,380 average annual salary.
Of the 9 art and design schools in Memphis, none have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Rhodes College comes out as the most expensive ($25,801/yr) for art and design students, with Tennessee Technology Center at Memphis as the lowest, reported at only $10,620/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Memphis |
| Southaven | MS | 47,625 | 1 | 27.9087 | 11 | 9.7 miles |
| Bartlett | TN | 47,744 | 0 | - | 0 | 12.3 miles |
| Senatobia | MS | - | 1 | 17.4796 | 114 | 34.1 miles |
| Jonesboro | AR | 66,734 | 1 | 24.4204 | 8 | 62.3 miles |
| State University | AR | - | 1 | 57.8251 | 135 | 63.1 miles |