Salary

• In the United States, the average salary of a fashion designer was $74,410 as of May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median salary was $64,260, with designers in the bottom ten percent earning less than $32,320 and those in the top ten percent earning over $130,900 a year. The average income of a fashion merchandiser was $55,480 and the median salary was $48,650, with those in the bottom ten percent earning less than $28,870 and those in the top ten percent earning over $88,830 a year.
  
  

Industry

• The bureau states that most fashion designers worked for apparel, piece goods and notions merchant wholesalers, where as of 2009 they earned an average of $73,150 a year. Others working in the industry of cut and sew apparel manufacturing for the average income of $78,320 a year. Managers of companies and enterprises employed the highest number of fashion merchandisers, offering an average salary of $61,910 annually. Merchandisers working for clothing stores earned an average of $58,790 a year, while those in shoe or jewelry, luggage and leather goods stores earned respective averages of $48,630 and $50,020.
  
  

Location

• For fashion designers, the two states with the highest salary averages in the U.S. were New Hampshire at $85,460 and Maine at $81,540, with Bridgeport, Conn. offering the highest average overall at $87,110. Merchandisers living in the Lake County and Kenosha County areas of Illinois and Wisconsin earned the highest salary average for their profession at $80,540, while New Jersey and New York were the highest paying states overall with salary averages of $67,330 and $65,760.
  
  

Advancement

• Advancement for both fashion designers and merchandisers depends on the type of employer they work for, but typically involves moving up into managerial positions in which they supervise a team of designers or buyers. They may also seek higher wages in more competitive industries. For example, the bureau reports that fashion designers working in motion picture and video industries earned an average salary of $92,850 as of 2009.