Milwaukee, WI (population: 606,508) has two industrial design schools within its city limits. Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, the highest ranked school in the city with an industrial design program, has a total student population of 681. It is the 2588th highest ranked school in the USA and the 39th highest in the state of Wisconsin (#1 is University of Wisconsin-Madison). To learn more about industrial design programs in Milwaukee, ratemyprofessors.com has reviews of industrial design professors at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design such as Francis Balistreri, Philip Belair, Tom David, Thomas Maguire, Pascal Malassign?, and Ellen Vincent.
Industrial Design students from Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis area alone, there are 1,540 employed graphic designers earning an average salary of $44,390. Industrial engineering technicians in this area earn $49,080/yr and there are 460 employed.
Milwaukee lies in Milwaukee county, which is one of the 34 counties in Wisconsin. Overall, the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis area has 817,060 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1.0% unemployment rate, $21.19/hr average worker wage, and a $44,080 average annual salary. Thus, about 0.568 out of every 1000 jobs in Milwaukee are held by industrial engineering technicians, and 1.882/1000 are held by graphic designers.
Of the 2 industrial design schools in Milwaukee, none have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Milwaukee School of Engineering comes out as the most expensive ($25,200/yr) for industrial design students, with Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design as the lowest, reported at only $24,016/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Milwaukee |
| West Allis | WI | 59,345 | 1 | 16.5935 | 7 | 4.6 miles |
| Brookfield | WI | - | 3 | 7.49122 | 18 | 6.9 miles |
| Greenfield | WI | - | 4 | 24.3685 | 60 | 7.2 miles |
| Mequon | WI | - | 1 | 27.8739 | 102 | 12.2 miles |
| Waukesha | WI | 68,355 | 1 | 31.224 | 60 | 14.1 miles |
| Grafton | WI | - | 1 | 23.6124 | 2 | 18.0 miles |
| Racine | WI | 82,139 | 1 | 0.0127893 | 0 | 24.2 miles |
| Kenosha | WI | 98,714 | 3 | 21.7449 | 204 | 33.8 miles |
| Whitewater | WI | - | 1 | 65.2906 | 73 | 41.7 miles |
| Waukegan | IL | 91,248 | 0 | - | 0 | 48.0 miles |
| Sheboygan | WI | 47,594 | 0 | - | 0 | 49.2 miles |
| Fond du Lac | WI | 42,100 | 2 | 22.0044 | 202 | 54.7 miles |
| Janesville | WI | 63,311 | 2 | 22.9601 | 61 | 59.4 miles |
| Crystal Lake | IL | 42,672 | 3 | 24.3677 | 64 | 60.3 miles |
| Palatine | IL | 67,435 | 1 | 12.7765 | 87 | 65.8 miles |
| Beloit | WI | - | 2 | 31.9387 | 100 | 66.0 miles |
| Arlington Heights | IL | 73,268 | 1 | 24.4091 | 3 | 67.1 miles |
| Glenview | IL | 46,461 | 0 | - | 0 | 68.2 miles |
| West Dundee | IL | - | 1 | 23.2604 | 5 | 68.4 miles |
| Mount Prospect | IL | 52,994 | 2 | 36.9644 | 21 | 68.5 miles |
| Ripon | WI | - | 1 | 32.385 | 53 | 69.4 miles |
| Hoffman Estates | IL | 54,568 | 1 | 19.0736 | 10 | 69.7 miles |
| Evanston | IL | 78,672 | 5 | 24.133 | 202 | 71.3 miles |
| Des Plaines | IL | 57,512 | 1 | 11.0092 | 69 | 71.3 miles |
| Schaumburg | IL | 71,386 | 3 | 11.8364 | 30 | 71.5 miles |
| Skokie | IL | 66,692 | 6 | 22.9614 | 40 | 71.5 miles |
| Madison | WI | 237,838 | 17 | 27.3097 | 685 | 71.8 miles |
| Elgin | IL | 111,179 | 3 | 24.5629 | 139 | 72.4 miles |
| Oshkosh | WI | 63,983 | 2 | 34.1577 | 80 | 72.5 miles |
| Hanover Park | IL | - | 1 | 22.3828 | 2 | 73.9 miles |