Architect Salary Guide
Many factors decide annual salary ranges. These include region, state and city locations, education, level of experience, employer type and specialization.
The United States regions of West and Alaska and Hawaii had median salaries of $104,000, with the Northeast region reporting a median salary of $103,000. The South region was second lowest paying with $90,000 and the Midwest had the lowest median salary of $82,000.
To further break down the United States regions, top-paying states were California at $52,000 to $83,000; Florida, New York and Massachusetts with $48,000 to $75,000; Texas with $46,000 to $73,000; Washington at $48,000 to $70,000; and, Illinois with $44,000 to $67,000.
Cities with the highest annual salary ranges were Los Angeles ($50,000 to $83,000) and San Francisco ($54,000 to $80,000). Washington DC, followed with a salary range of $52,000 to $80,000. In fourth position was Boston at $49,000 to $74,000. New York averaged a salary range of $49,000 to $72,000, while Seattle wages were in the range of $48,000 to $70,000.
Nationally, the median wage in 2009 for a graduating student with a Bachelor of Architecture degree was $41,012. A student holding a Master of Architecture earned, on average, $47,263. Architects with 1 to 4 years of experience earned a salary range of $40,000 to $51,000. Those with 4 to 9 years experience grossed $48,000 to $61,000. Architects in practice for 10 to 19 years earned $58,000 to $78,000 and, after 20 years experience, made $65,000 to $97,000.
Non-profit organizations paid the highest salary range at $46,000 to $108,000. This was closely followed by contract employment at $45,000 to $101,000. The third highest potential salary was through government employment at $46,000 to $86,000. Medium paying positions were with a design architect company at $44,000 to $70,000 annually. Employment in a private firm earned a salary of $43,000 to $65,000. Self-employment offered a wider range of earnings at $40,000 to $76,000. The low end of the salary scale was through employment with educational institutions at $23,000 to $50,000.
Companies offer different salary ranges, quite often dependent on the size of the firm. In 2009, companies or firms with one to 40 employees remunerated architects on a scale of $47,000 to $69,000. Companies employing 50 to 2000 architects offered salaries between $50,000 to $81,000 per annum. Employers with 2,000 to 50,000 employees paid 58,000 to 106,000 and firms with over 50,000 architects compensated $56,000 to $100,000 per annum. As there are few firms with over 2,000 employees, an architect can realistically expect a salary range of $47,000 to $81,000.
Specialization has a bearing on the amount of median salary. A design architect median salary in 2009 was $77,000. Depending on the responsibilities of the design architect, the salaries ranged from $42,000 to $120,000. A landscape architect earned a median salary of $60,000, with salaries ranging from $45,000 to $80,000. The median salary for a naval architect was $75,000, with the possibility of earning up to $100,000. The software architect realized the highest median salary at $100,000.
Bonuses offered as part of employment packages by architecture firms are relevant to calculation of pay scales. The majority of companies offer health and medical benefits. A flexible schedule, important to architects with families, is available at approximately two-thirds of firms. Personal time off may be an alternate to a flexible schedule. Life and disability insurance and investment plans are basic benefits at 66 percent of firms. One-fifth of companies have retirement plans.
Stock options and corporate discounts are offered by one-third of firms. Profit sharing is minimal and proffered by only ten percent of companies. While, virtually all architects pay their own union dues, tuition reimbursement for mandatory continuing education is paid by almost 40 percent of firms. Special perks may include professional dues and meal reimbursement, a mileage expense account and gym membership.
All of these elements need to factored into assessing a likely annual salary. In addition, cost of living expenses should be considered.
