Fashion Designers vs Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators: $81K vs $55K Median Pay

Fashion Designers vs Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators: what changes?

Consider Fashion Designers if you want to design clothing and accessories. Consider Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators if you would rather create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and techniques. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Fashion Designers and Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Fashion Designers

National median pay (2025): $80,960
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 2,500

Know before you choose

BLS projects essentially flat employment (0.1%) through 2035. Annual openings mostly reflect replacement, not a rapidly expanding field.

See the full Fashion Designers brief

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

National median pay (2025): $55,490
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree; More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Use materials such as pens and ink, watercolors, charcoal, oil, or computer software to create artwork.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 2,200

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 2.9% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators brief

How the national numbers differ

Fashion Designers has the edge on median pay

Fashion Designers is at $80,960, compared with $55,490 for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators.

Fashion Designers has the edge on projected growth

Fashion Designers is at 0.1% projected growth, compared with -2.9% projected growth for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators.

Fashion Designers has the edge on annual openings

Fashion Designers is at 2,500 annual openings, compared with 2,200 annual openings for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators.

47.7/ 100

Fashion Designers

34.4/ 100

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Fashion Designers vs Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

Dimension	Fashion Designers	Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
Median pay (2025)	$80,960	$55,490
Pay percentile	73.3 percentile	40.5 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	0.1%	-2.9%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	2,500	2,200
2025 employment	32,700	28,900
How you qualify	Bachelor's degree	Bachelor's degree; More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 3	Job Zone 3
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.	More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Fashion Designers brief Read Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators brief

Fashion Designers vs Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Fashion Designers

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

How the national numbers differ

Fashion Designers has the edge on median pay

Fashion Designers has the edge on projected growth

Fashion Designers has the edge on annual openings

Fashion Designers vs Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

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Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators vs Graphic Designers