Fresno, CA (population: 490,930) has three art schools within its city limits. Fresno Pacific University, the highest ranked school in the city with an art program, has a total student population of 2,668. It is the 326th highest ranked school in the USA and the 24th highest in the state of California (#1 is University of California-Los Angeles).
Art students from Fresno schools who go on to become artists, animators, animation designers, animation artists, 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, Craft artists make on average $33,070 per year and there are about 5,380 of them employed in the US today.
Fresno lies in Fresno county, which is one of the 57 counties in California. Overall, the Fresno area has 323,470 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $19/hr average worker wage, and a $40,460 average annual salary.
Of the 3 art schools in Fresno, only 2 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Fresno Pacific University comes out as the most expensive ($17,068/yr) for art students, with California State University-Fresno as the lowest, reported at only $5,579/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Fresno |
| Hanford | CA | 51,853 | 0 | - | 0 | 32.1 miles |
| Visalia | CA | 127,444 | 7 | 18.6498 | 161 | 40.6 miles |
| Merced | CA | 78,579 | 3 | 29.789 | 150 | 52.4 miles |
| Porterville | CA | 53,185 | 1 | 11.8615 | 42 | 65.3 miles |
| Ceres | CA | 43,443 | 0 | - | 0 | 85.9 miles |
| Sonora | CA | - | 1 | 10.5858 | 57 | 89.4 miles |
| Modesto | CA | 203,882 | 4 | 24.9737 | 137 | 89.9 miles |
| Salida | CA | - | 2 | 26.0837 | 19 | 95.8 miles |