A Look At Interior Design’s 2026 Top 100 Giants

Welcome to the 49th annual edition of our Interior Design Giants of Design coverage, in which we survey the most lucrative firms to find out how much they made, how many projects they worked on, what’s trending in various verticals and geographic regions, and how many practitioners they employed (plus what they’re billing and being paid). Together, these data points help us gauge industry health and resilience.

So, what did the 2025 results reveal? At the start of last year, we braced ourselves for volatility, particularly around tariff impacts. We were prepared for the sky to fall. But those predictions did not materialize. Not that tariffs didn’t impact business, but those impacts were mostly seen on a project-by-project basis rather than manifesting as an industry-wide bloodletting. Turns out there were no left turns—just consistency vis-à-vis the previous few years. In fact, some metrics ticked up a little bit, telling the story of slow, gentle progress. Take fee income, which grew 1 percent, to $6.38 billion, continuing a run of record-high tallies despite a forecasted dip. That news is even more amazing when you consider the 100 Giants only passed $5 billion for the first time in 2023. Zoom out further, and the top 200 firms hit $7 billion in combined fees last year, another first. Looking ahead, the Giants are expecting a slight 2 percent drop for 2026.

Top 100 Giants 2026

“blank cells” = did not report data

Project numbers also showed small but steady growth, climbing to 84,397—a 1.4 percent increase. This means firms are still maintaining the high levels from 2023, when volume surged 22 percent YOY. In fact, project volume is up a wowzers 18 percent since 2019. And here’s the real surprise: Giants believe they’re poised to do even more work in 2026. They forecast an increase (of 6 percent) for the first time since COVID, ending a pessimistic streak. Another landmark number worth celebrating: 105,231. That’s how many projects the 100 and Rising Giants together completed in 2025.

As has been the case for the last few years, the slight majority of projects was renovation versus new construction. Some 86 percent of the work is domestic—same as it’s been. The south remains the strongest market, a trend expected to continue, with 93 percent of the 100 Giants anticipating growth in U.S. locations, driven by the Southeast region. Remember what we said earlier about consistency?

International Giants 2026

Note: Firms without a North American office and/or that generate less than 25 percent of their interior design fee income in North America are ranked here instead of in the main listings. This year’s short list of topmost global firms took in a combined $311.3 million in fees.

Meanwhile, the 100 Giants continue to diversify while they await the full recovery of the two most lucrative segments—hospitality and corporate office, down 15 and 18 percent, respectively, since 2019—plus residential (down 5). All three verticals are struggling to a similar degree as last year. Prepandemic, corporate design fees were 40 percent of the overall pie but now comprise only 24 percent, reflected in a dollar value that has been holding steady at around $1.5 billion. There was plenty of fee growth in other verticals, though: Cultural/sports center was up 25 percent YOY (and 134 percent since 2019!), data centers up 23 percent, and government up nearly 8 percent—thought that’s the only segment of this trio comprising more than 10 percent of overall fees. Stay tuned: We’ll dig deeper into individual segments in our July issue, where Giants coverage continues.

On the staffing front, while the total roster of interior design employees is down slightly industry-wide, suggesting further rightsizing after a postpandemic rally, there is a bright spot: Hiring is up at the principal/partner level. And the lower headcount of project managers reported last year is likely an indication of how hard it is to find and hire mid-level designers rather than evidence of any widespread downsizing. Median ID fees earned per employee jumped 12 percent to nearly $300,000, well surpassing pre-COVID levels. Billing rates also rose slightly for principals/partners and for designers, remaining stable for project manager/directors. Median salaries, meanwhile, increased for principals/partners and dipped slightly for the other levels, likely another post-rally correction.

Stay tuned as we unveil more Giants of Design this year, including Rising, Sustainability, Hospitality, and Healthcare Giants.

To recap, while we were expecting more volatility across the board, what emerged instead was resilience. Firms maintained momentum, fees hit record highs, and project pipelines stayed robust even as Giants navigated ongoing sector shifts and staffing adjustments. The industry proved it could weather external pressures without the dramatic swings many anticipated. And while 2026 will likely be no less uncertain, hopefully it’s comforting that stability—and adaptability—is the big takeaway.

Editor’s Note: Take a look at recent coverage of our Top 100 Giants most admired firms of 2026 below. Gensler tops the list, followed by Rockwell Group, and AvroKO. Studio O+A, Perkins&Will, Rapt Studio, Yabu Pushelberg, HOk, and Kelly Wearstler all received the same percentage of votes.

Top Ten Giants by Sector

Ranking is determined by total design-fee earnings across the vertical.

All dollar amounts are in millions.

See the June/July 2026 issue of Interior Design for the full Hospitality, Healthcare, and Sustainability Giants rankings.

Merge Ahead

Consolidation is accelerating, with 100 Giants expanding their reach through a wave of 2025 deals. Among the most notable: Architecture Plus Information and HYL Architecture joined forces with Perkins&Will; Corgan brought on Dyer Brown & Associates; Stantec purchased Page; Ware Malcomb acquired CBRE Design Collective; and CHIL Interior Design and B+H came under SJ Group. These moves signal more than scale. Firms are broadening expertise, strengthening sector footholds, and diversifying services. The influx of new practices on the 100 Giants list further underscores a field in transition. These are all indicators of industry maturity, which tracks with the overall stability we saw in 2025 despite the economic uncertainty. Now, we’re waiting to see whether consolidation will spark long-overdue process innovation, particularly in how design services are structured and delivered.

Senior Living As A Portion Of…

“blank cells” = did not report data

Methodology

The Interior Design Giants of Design annual business survey comprises the largest firms ranked by interior design fees for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2025. The listings are generated from only those surveyed. To be recognized as a top 100, Rising, Healthcare, Hospitality, or Sustainability Giant, you must meet the following criteria: Have at least one office location in North America and generate at least 25 percent of your interior design fee income in North America. Firms that do not meet the criteria are ranked on our International Giants list. Interior design fees include those attributed to:

1. All aspects of a firm’s interior design practice, from strategic planning and programming to design and project management.

2. Fees paid to a firm for work performed by employees and independent contractors who are “full-time staff equivalent.”

Interior design fees do not include revenues paid to a firm and remitted to subcontractors who are not considered full-time staff equivalent. For example, certain firms attract work that is subcontracted to a local firm. The originating firm may collect all the fees and retain a management or generation fee, paying the remainder to the performing firm. The amounts paid to the latter are not included in fees of the collecting firm when determining its ranking. Ties are broken by rank from last year. Where applicable, all percent ages are based on responding Giants, not their total number.

All research conducted by ThinkLab, the research division of SANDOW Design Group.