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Best Industrial Design Schools Near Harker Heights, TX (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Harker Heights, Texas is home to about 33,595 residents. Median household income is $82,685 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 32.1% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Killeen-Temple, TX metro area, the top-earning industrial design-related role is Architectural and Engineering Managers at a median $158,560 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Closest Industrial Design Schools to Harker Heights
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer industrial design programs near Harker Heights, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Harker Heights city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Harker Heights.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Harker Heights is part of the Killeen-Temple, TX metro area (BLS area code 28660). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Texas statewide.
Occupation
Median Wage
Source
COL-Adjusted (US=100)
Commercial and Industrial Designers
N/A
TX statewide
–
Industrial Engineers
$95,220
Killeen-Temple, TX
$104,523
Graphic Designers
$57,050
Killeen-Temple, TX
$62,623
Mechanical Drafters
$79,380
TX statewide
$87,135
Interior Designers
$65,160
TX statewide
$71,526
Architectural and Engineering Managers
$158,560
Killeen-Temple, TX
$174,050
Set and Exhibit Designers
$56,930
TX statewide
$62,492
Mechanical Engineers
$94,520
Killeen-Temple, TX
$103,754
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
Harker Heights at a Glance
Metric
Value
Source
Population
33,595
Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003)
Median household income
$82,685
Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013)
Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+
32.1%
Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003)
Regional Price Parity (US=100)
91.1 (below U.S. average)
BEA RPP 2024
Other Harker Heights-Area Cities With Industrial Design Programs
What are the highest-paying industrial design roles near Harker Heights?
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying industrial design-related roles near Harker Heights are: Architectural and Engineering Managers ($158,560), Industrial Engineers ($95,220), Mechanical Engineers ($94,520). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Texas statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Should I look at programs in Killeen instead of Harker Heights?
Killeen, TX is 5.1 miles from Harker Heights and has its own set of local industrial design programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Is Harker Heights an affordable place to study industrial design?
Harker Heights’s median household income of $82,685 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Harker Heights while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Texas public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
How do I verify a program is accredited?
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Data verified: September 5, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
