Step aside New York and L.A., The Atlantic’s CityLab finds that not all design jobs have these two trendy hotspots as their epicenters.
CityLab Editor at Large Richard Florida worked together with occupational data provided by the labor market data and research firm EMSI to identify geographic clusters of the design sector – architects and landscape architects; commercial and industrial designers, graphic designers, fashion designers, interior designer, and others. His analysis included both designers working for firms and self-employed freelancers.
Around 625,000 Americans are employed in the design sector, a decline of about 12,000 since the Great Recession.
The analyst zoomed into specific metro areas (those with more than a million people) and mapped out the number of workers in the design sector, median wages and regional share of designers for the largest 51 U.S. metros.
Florida developed a stat named the location quotient (LQ), which measures the concentration of a given occupation in a metro area to its concentration across the country. Hence, an LQ of 1 indicates the occupation’s share matches the national average, an LQ of 2 is double that, and so on.
Though the concentration of fashion designers expectedly falls on New York first and L.A. second, Florida’s findings indicate four clusters of design fields concentrated in a city other than those two, and here they are:
Detroit – Commercial and Industrial Designers
Commercial and industrial designers that design manufactured products like cars, toys and appliances are centered in the rust belt, with Detroit’s LQ leading at 5.7.
Seattle – Architects
With an LQ of 2.42, Seattle was far above New York, which came in tenth, and Los Angeles, which came in twentieth.
Minneapolis – Graphic Designers
The Twin Cities tops the list of graphic designers with an LQ of 1.7., which Florida thinks is “driven by its long-standing strength as a center for marketing and advertising.”
San Francisco – Self-employed Designers
It’s only natural that San Francisco, the hub of start-ups, would also invite a lot of independent, self-employed designers of all fields. With an LQ of 2.06, the City by the Bay is ahead of Los Angeles and New York, with tech hubs San Jose, San Diego and Austin between them.
Visit CityLab to learn more and view maps of the United States with bubbles showing the concentration of workers in the design sector.
Related Stories
Museums | Mar 5, 2015
A giant, silver loop in Dubai will house the Museum of the Future
The Sheikh of Dubai hopes the $136 million museum will serve as an incubator for ideas and real designs—a global destination for inventors and entrepreneurs.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Mar 5, 2015
New HOK designs for St. Louis NFL stadium unveiled
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has assembled a task force to develop plans for an open-air NFL stadium on the North Riverfront of downtown St. Louis.
Codes and Standards | Mar 5, 2015
Charlotte, N.C., considers rule for gender-neutral public bathrooms
A few other cities, including Philadelphia, Austin, Texas, and Washington D.C., already have gender-neutral bathroom regulations.
Codes and Standards | Mar 5, 2015
FEMA cuts off funding to Indiana after Kokomo continues building stadium in flood zone
FEMA will withhold funding on $5.5 million worth of projects such as building tornado safe rooms in schools.
Reconstruction & Renovation | Mar 5, 2015
Chicago's 7 most endangered properties
Preservation Chicago released its annual list of historic buildings that are at risk of being demolished or falling into decay.
Office Buildings | Mar 5, 2015
Goettsch Partners unveils plans for dual office towers in Warsaw
The Mennica Legacy Tower development is divided into a 35-story tower located on the south east side of the site and a 10-story building on the west side.
Hotel Facilities | Mar 4, 2015
Hotel construction pipeline reaches six-year high
After a three-year bottoming formation, the pipeline for hotel construction has posted five consecutive quarters of double-digit year-over-year growth.
BIM and Information Technology | Mar 4, 2015
Why China's CCTV building needed a WiFi retrofit
It took a year-long retrofit to get WiFi transmission issues solved at China's iconic skyscraper.
High-rise Construction | Mar 4, 2015
Must see: Egypt planning 656-foot pyramid skyscraper in Cairo
Zayed Crystal Spark Tower will stand 200 meters tall and will be just a short distance from the pyramids of Giza.
Transit Facilities | Mar 4, 2015
5+design looks to mountains for Chinese transport hub design
The complex, Diamond Hill, will feature sloping rooflines and a mountain-like silhouette inspired by traditional Chinese landscape paintings.