There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a stage set designer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $30.79 an hour? That's $64,034 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 8,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Stage Set Designer Do

There are certain skills that many stage set designers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, artistic ability and communication skills.

How To Become a Stage Set Designer

If you're interested in becoming a stage set designer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 71.6% of stage set designers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.8% of stage set designers have master's degrees. Even though most stage set designers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Average Salary for a Stage Set Designer

Stage Set Designers in America make an average salary of $64,034 per year or $31 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $109,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $37,000 per year.
Average Stage Set Designer Salary
$64,034 Yearly
$30.79 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Stage Set Designer

There are several types of stage set designer, including:

Designer

Role:

A career as a designer can go so many different directions. From fashion designers to floral designers or even graphic designers or interior designers, as long as you have an eye for detail and a steady hand you could design whatever you wanted.

The education that is required to become a designer can vary depending on what type of designing you're going to be doing. For example, a floral designer only needs a high school diploma, but a graphic designer may need a Bachelor's degre. It really depends on what direction you want to take your career.
  • Average Salary: $66,347
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Lead Designer

Role:

Firstly, lead designers consult with clients to determine their needs and define design specifications. They work with the design team to plan and implement visual designs and concepts as required by clients. Periodically, they inform clients about the status of the project, including design recommendations and adjustments. Generally, they create prototypes, features, and specifications for the clients. Their duties include overseeing various design projects, research and analysis, and assessing the performance of implemented designing strategies. Also, they maintain the quality and the creativity of design projects.

Applicants are required to have a bachelor's degree in design or a related field. You must have a great design portfolio to showcase your creativity. You must also have experience in a similar role. Key skills include analytical, attention to detail, negotiation, communication, and persuasion skills. Lead designers make an average salary of $88,812 per annum. This ranges between $51,000 to $154,000.

  • Average Salary: $110,001
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Exhibition Designer

Role:

The job of an exhibition designer revolves around designing exhibitions for museums, private businesses, libraries, trade conferences, galleries, and commercial public events. The main responsibility of this job is to create striking displays based on the budgetary, practical, and visual requirements set by the client.

Other than that, an exhibition designer is in charge of communicating with clients regularly, conducting research about the event or venue, calculating quotes, rendering designs, and dealing with suppliers, specialists, and contractors that will help the design come to life.

After the display is constructed, the exhibition designer is in charge of the transportation, assembly, and layout of the display in the venue. They also typically stay at the event to ensure that nothing goes wrong until it's time to dismantle the display.

Most employers favor graduates of exhibition design, art, architecture, or interior design degrees when looking for an exhibition designer. However, individuals without a degree can increase their qualifications by gaining relevant work experience through volunteering or placements.

The salary for an exhibition designer ranges from $30,000 to $96,000 a year. On average, they make around $26 per hour or about $54,000 per year.
  • Average Salary: $62,371
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Stage Set Designer Jobs

Number Of Stage Set Designer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California2,541$78,475
2New York1,025$87,930
3Texas982$71,301
4Washington680$61,251
5Florida623$44,033
6Georgia617$65,870
7Illinois598$71,249
8Virginia592$56,091
9Massachusetts538$59,435
10Pennsylvania530$60,206
11North Carolina444$50,451
12Ohio403$66,820
13Michigan384$79,075
14Oregon363$68,044
15Minnesota332$47,554
16Colorado326$59,568
17Wisconsin312$51,693
18Maryland300$78,119
19New Jersey293$61,535
20Arizona262$58,627
21Indiana227$51,831
22Tennessee205$67,401
23Utah199$68,158
24Missouri195$57,569
25South Carolina174$57,264
26Connecticut165$60,635
27Alabama160$46,593
28Iowa117$66,878
29Kansas112$64,929
30Kentucky112$60,686
31Nebraska95$57,240
32Oklahoma90$68,717
33New Hampshire88$57,484
34Arkansas87$66,827
35Louisiana72$58,805
36Nevada70$63,439
37Maine63$53,796
38New Mexico61$80,379
39Rhode Island56$60,616
40Mississippi53$57,627
41Idaho52$57,729
42Delaware43$58,165
43West Virginia37$66,546
44Montana36$58,906
45South Dakota34$57,096
46Vermont29$52,941
47North Dakota27$55,452
48Alaska22$67,151
49Hawaii17$52,883
50Wyoming15$49,042

Stage Set Designer Education

Stage Set Designer Majors

10.0 %

Stage Set Designer Degrees

Bachelors

71.6 %

Masters

10.8 %

Associate

8.1 %

Top Colleges for Stage Set Designers

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Electrical Engineering
Fine Arts
Theatre

2. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Electrical Engineering
Graphic Design
Fine Arts
Theatre

3. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Electrical Engineering
Fine Arts
Theatre

4. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Electrical Engineering
Graphic Design
Theatre
Fine Arts

5. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Fine Arts
Electrical Engineering
Graphic Design
Theatre

6. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Electrical Engineering
Fine Arts
Graphic Design

7. Yale University

New Haven, CT • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,430

Enrollment

5,963

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Fine Arts
Theatre
Electrical Engineering

8. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Electrical Engineering
Fine Arts
Graphic Design
Theatre

9. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,992

Enrollment

33,495

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Electrical Engineering
Graphic Design
Fine Arts
Theatre

10. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Electrical Engineering
Fine Arts
Graphic Design

Top Skills For a Stage Set Designer

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.0% of stage set designers listed processing data on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and artistic ability are important as well.

Stage Set Designer Demographics

Stage Set Designer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
64%
Female
Female
36%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among stage set designers, 35.8% of them are women, while 64.2% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among stage set designers is White, which makes up 70.6% of all stage set designers.

  • The most common foreign language among stage set designers is Spanish at 38.5%.

Online Courses For Stage Set Designer That You May Like

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1. Data Warehouse Concepts, Design, and Data Integration

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This is the second course in the Data Warehousing for Business Intelligence specialization. Ideally, the courses should be taken in sequence. In this course, you will learn exciting concepts and skills for designing data warehouses and creating data integration workflows. These are fundamental skills for data warehouse developers and administrators. You will have hands-on experience for data warehouse design and use open source products for manipulating pivot tables and creating data...

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2. Design and Build a Data Warehouse for Business Intelligence Implementation

coursera

The capstone course, Design and Build a Data Warehouse for Business Intelligence Implementation, features a real-world case study that integrates your learning across all courses in the specialization. In response to business requirements presented in a case study, you’ll design and build a small data warehouse, create data integration workflows to refresh the warehouse, write SQL statements to support analytical and summary query requirements, and use the MicroStrategy business intelligence...

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3. IBM Data Warehouse Engineer

coursera

This Professional Certificate is intended to help you develop the job-ready skills and portfolio for an entry-level Business Intelligence (BI) or Data Warehousing Engineering position. Throughout the online courses in this program, you will immerse yourself in the in-demand role of a Data Warehouse Engineer and acquire the essential skills you need to work with a range of tools and databases to design, deploy, operationalize and manage Enterprise Data Warehouses (EDW).\n\nBy the end of this...

See More on Coursera
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Top Stage Set Designer Employers

Most Common Employers For Stage Set Designer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Homes.com$103,243$49.641
2Black Box$87,622$42.131
3TAIT$70,617$33.951
4ACT$68,091$32.741
5SUNY Morrisville$67,222$32.321
6Berkshire Theatre Group$66,039$31.751
7Texas Home Management Inc$65,773$31.621
8ASL Services$65,771$31.621
9Garde Arts Center$64,745$31.131
10Southern Illinois University Edwardsville$59,316$28.521