Milwaukee, WI (population: 606,508) has seventeen jewelry schools within a 500-mile radius of its city center. Career and Technology Education Centers of Licking County, the highest ranked school in this group with a jewelry program, has a total student population of 1,484. It is the 928th highest ranked school in the USA and the 46th highest in the state of Ohio (#1 is Ohio State University-Main Campus).
Jewelry students from Milwaukee schools who go on to become jewelers, jewelry designers, jewelry makers, jewelry repairers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 23,410 people working as jewelers and precious stone and metal workers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $36,620. Also, Craft artists make on average $33,070 per year and there are about 5,380 of them employed in the US today.
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.
Of the 17 jewelry schools with a 500-mile radius of Milwaukee, only 4 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Cleveland Institute of Art comes out as the most expensive ($20,775/yr) for jewelry students, with Lake Career and Technical Center as the lowest, reported at only $1,244/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 |