Fresno, CA (population: 490,930) has three CAD schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. Modesto Junior College, the highest ranked school in this group with a CAD program, has a total student population of 18,410. It is the 4950th highest ranked school in the USA and the 475th highest in the state of California (#1 is University of California-Los Angeles).
CAD students from Fresno schools who go on to become drafters, architects, computer aided designers, project architects, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 18,290 people working as drafters alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $48,210. Also, Architectural and civil drafters make on average $47,710 per year and there are about 105,320 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 CAD schools with a 100-mile radius of Fresno, only 2 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, ITT Technical Institute-Clovis comes out as the most expensive ($21,014/yr) for CAD students, with Merced College as the lowest, reported at only $4,519/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 |