Seattle, WA (population: 614,214) has three fashion merchandising schools within its city limits. The Art Institute of Seattle, the highest ranked school in the city with a fashion merchandising program, has a total student population of 2,282. It is the 2958th highest ranked school in the USA and the 56th highest in the state of Washington (#1 is University of Washington-Seattle Campus).
Fashion Merchandising students from Seattle 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 Seattle-Bellevue-Everett Metropolitan area alone, there are 600 employed commercial and industrial designers earning an average salary of $63,690. Merchandise displayers and window trimmers in this area earn $33,350/yr and there are 580 employed.
Seattle lies in King county, which is one of the 24 counties in Washington. Overall, the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett Metropolitan area has 1,404,710 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.7% unemployment rate, $25.60/hr average worker wage, and a $53,240 average annual salary. Thus, about 0.411 out of every 1000 jobs in Seattle are held by merchandise displayers and window trimmers, and 0.425/1000 are held by commercial and industrial designers.
Of the 3 fashion merchandising schools in Seattle, none have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, The Art Institute of Seattle comes out as the most expensive ($28,174/yr) for fashion merchandising students, with Seattle Central Community College as the lowest, reported at only $7,598/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Seattle |
| Kirkland | WA | 48,153 | 2 | 17.9541 | 117 | 8.5 miles |
| Bellevue | WA | 128,225 | 4 | 10.794 | 140 | 9.0 miles |
| Tukwila | WA | - | 1 | 9.30665 | 25 | 10.9 miles |
| Bothell | WA | - | 2 | 28.3486 | 26 | 11.9 miles |
| Renton | WA | 66,884 | 4 | 19.959 | 76 | 12.0 miles |
| Lynnwood | WA | - | 1 | 17.534 | 76 | 14.0 miles |
| Edmonds | WA | 40,568 | 0 | - | 0 | 14.6 miles |
| Kent | WA | 84,987 | 1 | 34.1348 | 6 | 16.7 miles |
| Federal Way | WA | 84,659 | 2 | 22.1387 | 18 | 21.4 miles |
| Everett | WA | 99,092 | 6 | 27.2101 | 95 | 24.5 miles |
| Tacoma | WA | 200,855 | 9 | 34.3764 | 293 | 26.1 miles |
| Fife | WA | - | 1 | 33.1119 | 4 | 26.3 miles |
| Puyallup | WA | - | 1 | 10.872 | 24 | 30.2 miles |
| South Hill | WA | 63,243 | 0 | - | 0 | 33.4 miles |
| Olympia | WA | 46,257 | 2 | 20.9056 | 57 | 47.4 miles |
| Bellingham | WA | 82,173 | 5 | 30.4386 | 275 | 77.7 miles |
| Aberdeen | WA | - | 3 | 19.6431 | 151 | 82.0 miles |