Interior Designers build coordination, service orientation and social perceptiveness skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Landscape Architects (83%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Landscape Architects | 83% | $79,870 | +19% | None |
| 2 | Architectural and Civil Drafters | 77% | $66,150 | −2% | None |
| 3 | Architects, Except Landscape and Naval | 72% | $99,280 | +48% | Graduate degree |
| 4 | Film and Video Editors | 67% | $75,420 | +12% | None |
| 5 | Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance | 67% | $97,150 | +45% | None |
| 6 | Music Directors and Composers | 66% | $73,710 | +10% | None |
| 7 | Video Game Designers | 64% | $104,000Pay for the broader BLS group “Web and Digital Interface Designers” | Not compared | None |
| 8 | Producers and Directors | 64% | $90,360 | +34% | None |
| 9 | Editors | 63% | $77,920 | +16% | None |
| 10 | Talent Directors | 63% | $90,360Pay for the broader BLS group “Producers and Directors” | Not compared | None |
Compared with Interior Designers, median $67,190. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as interior designers (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
83% skill match · $79,870 · +19% pay
Operations Analysis · Quality Control Analysis · Systems Evaluation
77% skill match · $66,150 · −2% pay
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
72% skill match · $99,280 · +48% pay
Quality Control Analysis · Operations Analysis · Systems Evaluation
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Landscape Architects (83% skill match, median $79,870), Architectural and Civil Drafters (77% skill match, median $66,150) and Architects, Except Landscape and Naval (72% skill match, median $99,280), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 16 pay more than interior designers at the median. The biggest increases: Marketing Managers (+148%, $166,790), Purchasing Managers (+120%, $148,080) and Advertising and Promotions Managers (+99%, $133,660).
24 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones. One usually needs a graduate degree: Architects, Except Landscape and Naval.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.