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Exterior designer vs interior designer

The differences between exterior designers and interior designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an exterior designer and an interior designer. Additionally, an exterior designer has an average salary of $93,819, which is higher than the $52,482 average annual salary of an interior designer.

The top three skills for an exterior designer include CAD, design concepts and photoshop. The most important skills for an interior designer are revit, space planning, and sketch.

Exterior designer vs interior designer overview

Exterior DesignerInterior Designer
Yearly salary$93,819$52,482
Hourly rate$45.11$25.23
Growth rate-1%
Number of jobs43,80748,020
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4442
Years of experience44

Exterior designer vs interior designer salary

Exterior designers and interior designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Exterior DesignerInterior Designer
Average salary$93,819$52,482
Salary rangeBetween $58,000 And $150,000Between $35,000 And $78,000
Highest paying CitySacramento, CASacramento, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNorth Dakota
Best paying companyTeslaGerman International School New York
Best paying industryAutomotiveConstruction

Differences between exterior designer and interior designer education

There are a few differences between an exterior designer and an interior designer in terms of educational background:

Exterior DesignerInterior Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorBusinessInterior Design
Most common collegeCornell UniversityCornell University

Exterior designer vs interior designer demographics

Here are the differences between exterior designers' and interior designers' demographics:

Exterior DesignerInterior Designer
Average age4442
Gender ratioMale, 72.1% Female, 27.9%Male, 21.0% Female, 79.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 0.4% Unknown, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 5.8% Asian, 5.2% White, 85.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 1.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 4.6% White, 82.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage13%23%

Differences between exterior designer and interior designer duties and responsibilities

Exterior designer example responsibilities.

  • Develop customized user interaction models using object-orient prototyping.
  • Issue mass production drawings for various parts and vehicles.
  • Assist with cost and weight reports for the Acura MDX.
  • Create structural concepts, base on style data and underbody negotiation, and develop them into mass production parts.
  • Optimize production processes reducing unnecessary part cost without losing functionality and performance by designing new shapes or alterations for manufacturing.

Interior designer example responsibilities.

  • Establish and manage firm's account on NYC DOB website; fulfill office duties and manage office.
  • Lead the development of BIM modeling content for the architecture team as a direct report to the executive and lead architects.
  • Project management, interior design, transition planning, and furniture specification for military healthcare projects.
  • Participate on leer certified projects.
  • Put together client invoices in QuickBooks.
  • Design email using HTML and inline CSS/CSS3.
  • Show more

Exterior designer vs interior designer skills

Common exterior designer skills
  • CAD, 51%
  • Design Concepts, 28%
  • Photoshop, 17%
  • Design Presentations, 4%
Common interior designer skills
  • Revit, 12%
  • Space Planning, 8%
  • Sketch, 6%
  • Design Concepts, 6%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • FF, 5%

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