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Best Industrial Design Schools Near Little Elm, TX (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Little Elm, Texas is home to about 51,426 residents. Median household income is $116,036 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 40.6% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metro area, the top-earning industrial design-related role is Architectural and Engineering Managers at a median $172,160 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Closest Industrial Design Schools to Little Elm
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer industrial design programs near Little Elm, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Little Elm 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 Little Elm.
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.
Little Elm is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metro area (BLS area code 19100). 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
$86,920
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$84,306
Industrial Engineers
$105,640
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$102,464
Graphic Designers
$63,780
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$61,862
Mechanical Drafters
$83,200
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$80,698
Interior Designers
$65,160
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$63,201
Architectural and Engineering Managers
$172,160
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$166,984
Set and Exhibit Designers
$56,930
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$55,218
Mechanical Engineers
$105,420
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$102,250
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.
Little Elm at a Glance
Metric
Value
Source
Population
51,426
Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003)
Median household income
$116,036
Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013)
Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+
40.6%
Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003)
Regional Price Parity (US=100)
103.1 (above U.S. average)
BEA RPP 2024
Other Little Elm-Area Cities With Industrial Design Programs
What are the highest-paying industrial design roles near Little Elm?
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying industrial design-related roles near Little Elm are: Architectural and Engineering Managers ($172,160), Industrial Engineers ($105,640), Mechanical Engineers ($105,420). 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 The Colony instead of Little Elm?
The Colony, TX is 6.2 miles from Little Elm 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 Little Elm an affordable place to study industrial design?
Little Elm’s median household income of $116,036 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Little Elm 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.
