Memphis, TN (population: 662,989) has four fashion merchandising schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. Harding University, the highest ranked school in this group with a fashion merchandising program, has a total student population of 6,484. It is the 224th highest ranked school in the USA and the highest in the state of Arkansas.
Fashion Merchandising students from Memphis 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 Memphis-MS-AR area alone, there are 80 employed commercial and industrial designers earning an average salary of $51,550. Merchandise displayers and window trimmers in this area earn $28,260/yr and there are 200 employed.
Memphis lies in Shelby county, which is one of the 26 counties in Tennessee. Overall, the Memphis-MS-AR area has 605,630 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1.2% unemployment rate, $18.93/hr average worker wage, and a $39,380 average annual salary. Thus, about 0.331 out of every 1000 jobs in Memphis are held by merchandise displayers and window trimmers, and 0.128/1000 are held by commercial and industrial designers.
Of the 4 fashion merchandising schools with a 100-mile radius of Memphis, none have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Lambuth University comes out as the most expensive ($15,377/yr) for fashion merchandising students, with Northeast Mississippi Community College as the lowest, reported at only $6,099/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Memphis |
| Southaven | MS | 47,625 | 1 | 27.9087 | 11 | 9.7 miles |
| Bartlett | TN | 47,744 | 0 | - | 0 | 12.3 miles |
| Senatobia | MS | - | 1 | 17.4796 | 114 | 34.1 miles |
| Jonesboro | AR | 66,734 | 1 | 24.4204 | 8 | 62.3 miles |
| State University | AR | - | 1 | 57.8251 | 135 | 63.1 miles |