Fashion Designers vs Set and Exhibit Designers: $81K vs $75K Median Pay

Fashion Designers vs Set and Exhibit Designers: what changes?

Consider Fashion Designers if you want to design clothing and accessories. Consider Set and Exhibit Designers if you would rather design special exhibits and sets for film, video, television, and theater productions. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Fashion Designers and Set and Exhibit Designers. 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

Set and Exhibit Designers

National median pay (2025): $75,240
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: Develop set designs, based on evaluation of scripts, budgets, research information, and available locations.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 2,200

Know before you choose

Deadline pressure is a recurring condition rather than an occasional emergency.

See the full Set and Exhibit Designers brief

How the national numbers differ

Typical preparation differs.

Fashion Designers: Bachelor's degree Set and Exhibit Designers: Bachelor's degree Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

Fashion Designers has the edge on median pay

Fashion Designers is at $80,960, compared with $75,240 for Set and Exhibit Designers.

Set and Exhibit Designers has the edge on projected growth

Set and Exhibit Designers is at 1.4% projected growth, compared with 0.1% projected growth for Fashion Designers.

Fashion Designers has the edge on annual openings

Fashion Designers is at 2,500 annual openings, compared with 2,200 annual openings for Set and Exhibit Designers.

47.7/ 100

Fashion Designers

40/ 100

Set and Exhibit Designers

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 Set and Exhibit Designers

Dimension	Fashion Designers	Set and Exhibit Designers
Median pay (2025)	$80,960	$75,240
Pay percentile	73.3 percentile	65.1 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	0.1%	1.4%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	2,500	2,200
2025 employment	32,700	31,600
How you qualify	Bachelor's degree	Bachelor's degree
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 3	Job Zone 5
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.	BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

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 Set and Exhibit Designers brief

Fashion Designers vs Set and Exhibit Designers: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Fashion Designers

Set and Exhibit Designers

How the national numbers differ

Typical preparation differs.

Fashion Designers has the edge on median pay

Set and Exhibit Designers has the edge on projected growth

Fashion Designers has the edge on annual openings

Fashion Designers vs Set and Exhibit Designers

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