Albuquerque, NM (population: 535,923) has three CAD schools within its city limits. ITT Technical Institute-Albuquerque, the highest ranked school in the city with a CAD program, has a total student population of 722. It is the 3800th highest ranked school in the USA and the 15th highest in the state of New Mexico (#1 is New Mexico State University-Main Campus).
CAD students from Albuquerque 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.
Albuquerque lies in Bernalillo county, which is one of the 23 counties in New Mexico. Overall, the Albuquerque area has 381,870 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.6% unemployment rate, $19.31/hr average worker wage, and a $40,170 average annual salary.
Of the 3 CAD schools in Albuquerque, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, ITT Technical Institute-Albuquerque comes out as the most expensive ($22,907/yr) for CAD students, with Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute as the lowest, reported at only $4,195/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Albuquerque |
| Albuequerque | NM | - | 1 | 4.18669 | 13 | 3.0 miles |
| Rio Rancho | NM | 85,837 | 1 | 10.6625 | 12 | 10.6 miles |
| Santa Fe | NM | 74,019 | 6 | 20.0822 | 127 | 54.1 miles |
| Grants | NM | - | 1 | 9.85236 | 40 | 69.7 miles |