San Francisco, CA (population: 817,411) has one industrial design school within its city limits. Academy of Art University has a total student population of 15,413. It is the 4639th highest ranked school in the USA and the 434th highest in the state of California (#1 is University of California-Los Angeles). To learn more about industrial design programs in San Francisco, ratemyprofessors.com has reviews of industrial design professors at Academy of Art University such as Shafiq Ahmadi, Lewis Bangham, David Curiel, Moore Dylan, Susan Kralovec, and John Francis Marsh.
Industrial Design students from San Francisco schools who go on to become industrial designers, commercial designers, architecture designers, designers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 65,460 people working as industrial engineering technicians alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $49,030. Also, Graphic designers make on average $47,820 per year and there are about 200,870 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City Metropolitan area alone, there are 3,390 employed graphic designers earning an average salary of $74,660. Industrial engineering technicians in this area earn $51,180/yr and there are 250 employed.
San Francisco lies in San Francisco county, which is one of the 57 counties in California. Overall, the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City Metropolitan area has 982,930 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $30/hr average worker wage, and a $61,940 average annual salary. Thus, about 0 out of every 1000 jobs in San Francisco are held by industrial engineering technicians, and 3/1000 are held by graphic designers.
After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Academy of Art University ends up costing a student $25,960/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from San Francisco |
| South San Francisco | CA | 64,345 | 0 | - | 0 | 7.8 miles |
| Alameda | CA | 71,628 | 3 | 11.6549 | 62 | 10.4 miles |
| Berkeley | CA | 102,237 | 13 | 2.98519 | 59 | 12.0 miles |
| Oakland | CA | 412,612 | 12 | 26.3295 | 321 | 12.6 miles |
| San Mateo | CA | 93,990 | 1 | 15.1982 | 101 | 16.4 miles |
| San Leandro | CA | 78,904 | 1 | 29.9223 | 11 | 16.9 miles |
| Hayward | CA | 145,517 | 6 | 17.5402 | 239 | 21.5 miles |
| Castro Valley | CA | 65,952 | 0 | - | 0 | 21.7 miles |
| Walnut Creek | CA | 64,055 | 0 | - | 0 | 24.1 miles |
| Vallejo | CA | 114,029 | 1 | 31.5233 | 11 | 25.7 miles |
| Union City | CA | 76,462 | 1 | 13.7752 | 0 | 26.3 miles |
| Concord | CA | 122,338 | 7 | 21.1076 | 136 | 28.2 miles |
| Fremont | CA | 207,431 | 5 | 26.457 | 262 | 29.7 miles |
| Dublin | CA | 46,208 | 3 | 13.8145 | 117 | 29.7 miles |
| Sunnyvale | CA | 135,564 | 4 | 17.5213 | 21 | 34.9 miles |
| Pittsburg | CA | 67,613 | 2 | 20.7913 | 157 | 35.1 miles |
| Napa | CA | 75,759 | 1 | 15.1485 | 56 | 37.6 miles |
| Santa Clara | CA | 112,889 | 4 | 29.9373 | 188 | 38.2 miles |
| Antioch | CA | 102,439 | 2 | 25.0238 | 14 | 38.6 miles |
| Milpitas | CA | 69,900 | 1 | 18.2292 | 19 | 38.7 miles |
| Fairfield | CA | 104,184 | 9 | 23.8893 | 386 | 40.0 miles |
| San Jose | CA | 977,893 | 9 | 20.6572 | 297 | 46.3 miles |
| Santa Cruz | CA | 57,690 | 2 | 37.6705 | 80 | 59.8 miles |
| Stockton | CA | 291,422 | 7 | 28.794 | 278 | 63.8 miles |
| Laguna | CA | 60,976 | 0 | - | 0 | 71.9 miles |
| Woodland | CA | 56,758 | 0 | - | 0 | 73.0 miles |
| West Sacramento | CA | 50,542 | 1 | 29.8049 | 4 | 73.4 miles |
| Salida | CA | - | 2 | 26.0837 | 19 | 74.8 miles |
| Sacramento | CA | 475,452 | 20 | 22.3687 | 626 | 76.8 miles |
| Modesto | CA | 203,882 | 4 | 24.9737 | 137 | 80.2 miles |