Honolulu, HI (population: 375,134) has fifteen fashion merchandising schools within a 2500-mile radius of its city center. California College of the Arts, the highest ranked school in this group with a fashion merchandising program, has a total student population of 1,828. It is the 3265th highest ranked school in the USA and the 312th highest in the state of California (#1 is University of California-Los Angeles).
Fashion Merchandising students from Honolulu schools who go on to become fashion merchandisers, fashion designers, fashion models, fashion marketers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 61,280 people working as merchandise displayers and window trimmers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $28,480. Also, Commercial and industrial designers make on average $61,400 per year and there are about 29,170 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Honolulu area alone, there are 40 employed commercial and industrial designers earning an average salary of $51,840. Merchandise displayers and window trimmers in this area earn $27,590/yr and there are 550 employed.
Honolulu lies in Honolulu county, which is one of the 4 counties in Hawaii. Overall, the Honolulu area has 430,700 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $21/hr average worker wage, and a $43,760 average annual salary. Thus, about 1 out of every 1000 jobs in Honolulu are held by merchandise displayers and window trimmers, and 0/1000 are held by commercial and industrial designers.
Of the 15 fashion merchandising schools with a 2500-mile radius of Honolulu, only 8 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, The Art Institute of California–Sunnyvale comes out as the most expensive ($32,611/yr) for fashion merchandising students, with City College of San Francisco as the lowest, reported at only $4,129/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Honolulu |
| Kaneohe | HI | - | 1 | 8.23652 | 2 | 6.2 miles |
| Pearl City | HI | - | 2 | 22.3389 | 25 | 12.4 miles |