CCollegeMatcher

Architects, Except Landscape and Naval

US occupation · SOC 17-1011

Job titles people report: Architect, Architectural Designer, Design Architect, Planner, Project Architect, Specifications Writer

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$99,280
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$77,960 – $126,550
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
106,770
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+4.3%
At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)
Openings a year (projected)
6,900
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
Bachelor's degree
BLS
  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Plan and design structures, such as private residences, office buildings, theaters, factories, and other structural property.

Main tasks

  • Prepare scale drawings or architectural designs, using computer-aided design or other tools.
  • Plan or design structures such as residences, office buildings, theatres, factories, or other structural properties in accordance with environmental, safety, or other regulations.
  • Meet with clients to review or discuss architectural drawings.
  • Prepare contract documents for building contractors.
  • Develop final construction plans that include aesthetic representations of the structure or details for its construction.
  • Conduct periodic on-site observations of construction work to monitor compliance with plans.
  • Consult with clients to determine functional or spatial requirements of structures.
  • Integrate engineering elements into unified architectural designs.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
Bachelor's degree
Training once hired: internship/residency
O*NET Job Zone 5
Extensive preparation
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
  • Artistic: creating, designing and self-expression

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 4 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Architecture

  • Architecture
  • Architectural Design
  • Environmental Design/Architecture
  • Architectural History and Criticism, General

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Architecture at the Major step.

Where many students take architecture

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk