Architect Starting Salaries

Architecture is a field that attracts both artists and builders, visionaries who want to see their ideas come to life on a large scale. Given the talent and knowledge required to design lasting structures for both commercial and residential industries, people are sometimes surprised to find out that architect salaries are often lower than other careers requiring similar levels of education and training. For most architects, salary is not the first consideration when deciding to pursue this career; a love of architecture and the opportunity to work in a creative field are often more important factors. While architecture may be a labor of love, architects can still expect to earn decent wages, especially after gaining practical experience. For famous architects, salary ranges may be very high, but those who are famous represent a very small number compared to the many architects employed across the country, working at different levels within architecture firms. The average architect's salary probably won't compare to, say, Frank Gehry's annual salary. That said, the chart above shows that, for the typical architect, starting salaries are low, but increase dramatically after just a few years of experience. After 20 years of experience, architect starting salaries will have almost doubled.

Looking at the median architect salary by years of experience also reveals that hands-on experience is possibly a more influential factor than education when it comes to the average architect's salary. This is also indicated in the Architect's Salary by Degree report, which shows that an architect's salary is not necessarily boosted by earning a Master of Architecture degree. Compare Architect Salaries by School Name to see how choosing a certain college or university might impact an architect's salary.

Average Architect's Salary vs. Median Architect's Salary

PayScale's Dr. Salary may not be an expert in architecture, but he can help design your salary research. You may have noticed that PayScale's architect salary data refers to median rather than average salaries. Find out why searching for the median architect's salary will produce better results than looking for the average architect's salary by reading the Ask Dr. Salary post, "Why is Median Better than Mean for a Typical Salary?"