Degree to Occupation Map
Occupations related to a design and visual communications degree
NCES and BLS publish a crosswalk relating instructional programs to occupations. This page lists every occupation that crosswalk relates to design and visual communications, with the BLS typical entry education, 2025 median wage and projected growth for each, and links to the RoleSprint page covering the role where one exists.
What occupations does the official crosswalk relate to a design and visual communications degree?
The CIP 2020-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk published by NCES and BLS relates 10 CIP 2020 programs in design and visual communications to 11 occupations. That maps a field of study to lines of work; it is not a statement that a design and visual communications degree qualifies someone for any of them, and the crosswalk carries no figure for how many graduates enter each. Across the 11 with a published 2025 BLS wage the median is $80,960, ranging from $44,660 for Photographers to $114,850 for Art Directors. BLS typical entry-level education splits 1 at high school diploma or equivalent, 8 at bachelor's degree, 1 at master's degree, 1 at doctoral or professional degree: 9 at or below a bachelor's degree and 2 above it. Video Game Designers is projected to grow fastest at +6% over 2025-35. The highest-paid are Art Directors ($114,850), Video Game Designers ($104,000) and Special Effects Artists and Animators ($102,030).
- Related occupations
- 11, from 10 CIP 2020 programs in design and visual communications (a further 4 related occupations have no BLS or O*NET row on this site and are not listed)
- What the mapping means
- NCES states only that it "crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes". It relates a program to an occupation. It does not establish qualification, hiring, or how many graduates take that path.
- BLS typical entry-level education
- High school diploma or equivalent: 1; Bachelor's degree: 8; Master's degree: 1; Doctoral or professional degree: 1
- Median wage across these occupations
- $80,960 (2025); 11 of 11 have a published BLS wage
- Next step
- 4 of the 11 occupations have a dedicated RoleSprint page covering what the role requires and how the work is performed.
Source and method
2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics, and BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Verified 2026-09-06. Program-to-occupation relationships are reproduced from the NCES/BLS crosswalk exactly as published; RoleSprint groups CIP programs into the field of study a person would search for and lists the union of their related occupations, showing every member CIP code. Wage, typical entry education and outlook are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 for the matching SOC code. Working-condition figures are O*NET 30.3 means. No relationship strength, employment share or qualification judgement is published, because no source supplies one.
What this list is, and what it is not
The crosswalk's own description of itself is one sentence: “This file crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes in ascending order by CIP Code.” It relates a field of study to lines of work.
It does not say a design and visual communications degree qualifies anyone for these occupations, that graduates usually enter them, or what share do: the crosswalk publishes no such figure. The wage and education columns come from a separate source, BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, and describe the occupation rather than the degree. Typical entry education is what BLS observes most often among people already doing the work; it is not a rule about who may be hired.
The 11 related occupations
Ordered by BLS median wage, highest first. 11 of 11 have a published wage.
| Occupation | BLS typical entry-level education | Median wage | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
Art Directors SOC 27-1011 Contact with others 4.5 · Time pressure 4.8 · Sitting 4.8 · Outdoors, all weather 1.2 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $114,850 2025 median | +4.2% 2025-35 · 12.2 openings/yr |
Video Game Designers SOC 15-1255 Contact with others 4.0 · Time pressure 4.0 · Sitting 4.8 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $104,000 2025 median | +6% 2025-35 · 8.3 openings/yr |
Special Effects Artists and Animators SOC 27-1014 Contact with others 4.1 · Time pressure 4.5 · Sitting 4.6 · Outdoors, all weather 1.6 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $102,030 2025 median | -0.3% 2025-35 · 4.2 openings/yr |
Architecture Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1031 Contact with others 4.3 · Time pressure 3.5 · Sitting 3.4 · Outdoors, all weather 2.0 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $96,870 2025 median | +2.6% 2025-35 · 0.7 openings/yr |
Commercial and Industrial Designers SOC 27-1021 Contact with others 4.4 · Time pressure 4.0 · Sitting 4.4 · Outdoors, all weather 1.5 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $83,910 2025 median | +2.4% 2025-35 · 2.8 openings/yr |
Fashion Designers SOC 27-1022 Contact with others 4.0 · Time pressure 4.1 · Sitting 4.0 · Outdoors, all weather 1.6 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $80,960 2025 median | +0.1% 2025-35 · 2.5 openings/yr |
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1121 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 3.4 · Sitting 2.9 · Outdoors, all weather 1.3 of 5 | Master's degree Above bachelor's | $78,620 2025 median | +2.2% 2025-35 · 8 openings/yr |
Set and Exhibit Designers SOC 27-1027 Contact with others 4.0 · Time pressure 4.2 · Sitting 3.7 · Outdoors, all weather 2.0 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $75,240 2025 median | +1.4% 2025-35 · 2.2 openings/yr |
Interior Designers SOC 27-1025 Contact with others 4.5 · Time pressure 4.2 · Sitting 4.1 · Outdoors, all weather 1.8 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $67,190 2025 median | +2.7% 2025-35 · 7.7 openings/yr |
Graphic Designers SOC 27-1024 Contact with others 4.3 · Time pressure 4.7 · Sitting 4.8 · Outdoors, all weather 1.4 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $62,960 2025 median | -1.7% 2025-35 · 16 openings/yr |
Photographers SOC 27-4021 Contact with others 4.5 · Time pressure 3.9 · Sitting 3.3 · Outdoors, all weather 3.3 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $44,660 2025 median | -0.7% 2025-35 · 10.7 openings/yr |
The crosswalk relates 4 further occupations to this field (25-1199, 27-1019, 27-1029, 99-9999) for which BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 publishes no line item on this site. They are counted here rather than listed, because there would be nothing to show beside the name.
BLS typical entry-level education for these occupations
9 of the 11 have a BLS typical entry-level education at or below a bachelor's degree; 2 are above it. "Typical" is BLS's word: it describes the workers already in the occupation.
- High school diploma or equivalent
- 1
- Bachelor's degree
- 8
- Master's degree
- 1
- Doctoral or professional degree
- 1
This is BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2's description of the education most workers in each occupation typically hold when they enter it. It is not a list of requirements, and it says nothing about licences, certifications or experience, which BLS records separately and this page does not show.
Which programs this covers
“Design and visual communications” groups 10 CIP 2020 instructional programs. The occupation list above is the union of everything the crosswalk relates to them.
- 50.0401 Design and Visual Communications, General
- 50.0402 Commercial and Advertising Art
- 50.0404 Industrial and Product Design
- 50.0406 Commercial Photography
- 50.0407 Fashion/Apparel Design
- 50.0408 Interior Design
- 50.0409 Graphic Design
- 50.0410 Illustration
- 50.0411 Game and Interactive Media Design
- 50.0499 Design and Applied Arts, Other
Grouping is RoleSprint's, and it is printed here so it can be checked. CIP's own grain is finer than the phrase anyone searches; the alternative is one page per code, which would put near-identical lists in front of the same question. How this map is built.
Working out which of these is realistic
A related occupation is a starting point, not a verdict. Three different questions decide whether one is worth pursuing, and each has its own page.
Program-to-occupation relationships from the 2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage, typical entry education and outlook from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Working-condition figures from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA and RoleSprint has modified some of this information.
What to do next
A crosswalk relates a field of study to lines of work. Whether one specific opening is worth your time depends on what you can actually show, which is a different question and the one RoleSprint answers.