Phoenix, AZ (population: 1,635,783) has twenty interactive media design schools within a 500-mile radius of its city center. University of Southern California, the highest ranked school in this group with an interactive media design program, has a total student population of 34,824. It is the 10th highest ranked school in the USA and the 2nd highest in the state of California (#1 is University of California-Los Angeles). To learn more about interactive media design programs in Phoenix, ratemyprofessors.com has reviews of interactive media design professors at University of Southern California such as Sherin Guirguis.
Interactive Media Design students from Phoenix schools who go on to become interactive media designers, media designers, multimedia designers, digital media designers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. Also, Graphic designers make on average $47,820 per year and there are about 200,870 of them employed in the US today.
Phoenix lies in Maricopa county, which is one of the 15 counties in Arizona. Overall, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area has 1,763,410 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $20/hr average worker wage, and a $41,930 average annual salary.
Of the 20 interactive media design schools with a 500-mile radius of Phoenix, only 6 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Platt College-San Diego comes out as the most expensive ($34,413/yr) for interactive media design students, with California State University-Dominguez Hills as the lowest, reported at only $2,451/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Phoenix |
| Glendale | AZ | 255,662 | 10 | 18.0628 | 241 | 8.0 miles |
| Tempe | AZ | 181,658 | 9 | 21.5079 | 137 | 13.1 miles |
| Peoria | AZ | 168,424 | 5 | 16.2489 | 161 | 14.3 miles |
| Scottsdale | AZ | 241,464 | 7 | 18.4016 | 124 | 15.5 miles |
| Avondale | AZ | 89,387 | 5 | 24.8339 | 71 | 16.6 miles |
| Chandler | AZ | 258,122 | 5 | 22.1433 | 88 | 20.2 miles |
| Mesa | AZ | 474,115 | 6 | 20.6791 | 210 | 20.8 miles |
| Gilbert | AZ | 243,090 | 0 | - | 0 | 23.0 miles |
| Surprise | AZ | 104,876 | 0 | - | 0 | 24.5 miles |
| Buckeye | AZ | 61,572 | 0 | - | 0 | 30.8 miles |
| Maricopa | AZ | 53,723 | 0 | - | 0 | 33.2 miles |
| Casa Grande | AZ | 47,388 | 1 | 16.7022 | 3 | 48.8 miles |
| Prescott | AZ | 44,035 | 4 | 31.39 | 279 | 75.2 miles |
| Prescott Valley | AZ | 41,046 | 1 | 8.12951 | 6 | 75.4 miles |