Omaha, NE (population: 449,283) has thirty-three fashion merchandising schools within a 500-mile radius of its city center. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, the highest ranked school in this group with a fashion merchandising program, has a total student population of 51,659. It is the 31st highest ranked school in the USA and the highest in the state of Minnesota.
Fashion Merchandising students from Omaha 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 Omaha-Council Bluffs-IA area alone, there are 40 employed commercial and industrial designers earning an average salary of $44,130. Merchandise displayers and window trimmers in this area earn $26,750/yr and there are 120 employed.
Omaha lies in Douglas county, which is one of the 40 counties in Nebraska. Overall, the Omaha-Council Bluffs-IA area has 452,130 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.8% unemployment rate, $19.23/hr average worker wage, and a $40,000 average annual salary. Thus, about 0.259 out of every 1000 jobs in Omaha are held by merchandise displayers and window trimmers, and 0.082/1000 are held by commercial and industrial designers.
Of the 33 fashion merchandising schools with a 500-mile radius of Omaha, only 11 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, School of the Art Institute of Chicago comes out as the most expensive ($38,965/yr) for fashion merchandising students, with Joliet Junior College as the lowest, reported at only $4,130/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Omaha |
| Papillion | NE | - | 1 | 19.7538 | 14 | 7.5 miles |
| Council Bluffs | IA | 59,918 | 3 | 15.2545 | 57 | 7.9 miles |
| Lincoln | NE | 257,612 | 13 | 28.3679 | 496 | 46.7 miles |
| Peru | NE | - | 1 | 16.7679 | 31 | 56.2 miles |
| Crete | NE | - | 1 | 28.8976 | 48 | 66.3 miles |
| Sioux City | IA | 83,250 | 6 | 24.3659 | 219 | 88.0 miles |