Jacksonville, FL (population: 822,401) has sixty-seven industrial design schools within a 500-mile radius of its city center. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the highest ranked school in this group with an industrial design program, has a total student population of 30,870. It is the 61st highest ranked school in the USA and one of the highest in the state .
Industrial Design students from Jacksonville 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 Jacksonville area alone, there are 900 employed graphic designers earning an average salary of $41,740. Industrial engineering technicians in this area earn $52,600/yr and there are 120 employed.
Jacksonville lies in Duval county, which is one of the 49 counties in Florida. Overall, the Jacksonville area has 581,450 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $19/hr average worker wage, and a $39,460 average annual salary. Thus, about 0 out of every 1000 jobs in Jacksonville are held by industrial engineering technicians, and 2/1000 are held by graphic designers.
Of the 67 industrial design schools with a 500-mile radius of Jacksonville, only 17 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Lincoln College of Technology comes out as the most expensive ($37,275/yr) for industrial design students, with J F Ingram State Technical College as the lowest, reported at only $57/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Jacksonville |
| Orange Park | FL | - | 3 | 22.5405 | 26 | 11.7 miles |
| Saint Augustine | FL | - | 2 | 46.0117 | 74 | 36.6 miles |
| Palm Coast | FL | 76,000 | 0 | - | 0 | 59.1 miles |
| Gainesville | FL | 116,277 | 8 | 23.682 | 358 | 61.2 miles |
| Waycross | GA | - | 2 | 12.3956 | 59 | 73.7 miles |
| Ocala | FL | 57,520 | 3 | 20.3525 | 108 | 83.8 miles |
| Daytona Beach | FL | 63,815 | 4 | 31.0595 | 184 | 86.9 miles |
| South Daytona | FL | - | 1 | 30.9321 | 7 | 89.6 miles |
| Deland | FL | - | 2 | 24.7322 | 98 | 92.6 miles |