Also called: Float Builder, Float Designer
Designs and builds giant floats for parades like the Rose Parade or Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
They sketch float designs, engineer moving parts, and oversee crews covering floats with flowers, seeds, or foam. Rose Parade floats must be covered in natural materials. Work peaks in the months before parade day.
Estimate; very few companies.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Art, design, or engineering degree helpful; often learned on the job.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Industrial Design, Sculpture, Theatre Design & Technology.
Growing slowly. Tiny niche.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps with concept sketches; designing and building giant floats with crews is physical, handmade work.
Classes: Art 3-D Design, Woodshop or welding, Engineering.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-1027.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.