The burst in construction spending over the past several years has been a boon to architectural firms, where as an industry payroll employment has grown by an average of 7,500 positions per year over the past six years. About 4,500 of that annual increase in staffing have been for architectural positions.
Demand for architects is reflected in the increased compensation that firms have been bestowing on hires and employees for recruitment and retention. In its latest Compensation Report, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) finds that average compensation across all architectural staff positions averaged in excess of $92,000 at the beginning of 2019, up more than 6% per year from early 2017 levels.
That increase, though, comes with a stinger: the last times architect salaries reached an increase of 6% per year—1999 and 2008—were either just prior to, or as the economy and the construction sector were entering, national economic downturns.
That being said, average architectural compensation has seen substantial growth beyond mere inflation over the past two decades. In 2019 dollars, average architecture compensation in 1990 was just over $70,000. The 12% increase over the past two years was twice the pace of growth in compensation for all workers in the U.S. economy, and 2.5 times the pace of all professional and related state, according to the Department of Labor’s Employment Cost Index.
Compensation gains for architectural staff have exceeded those for other workers.
The AIA Compensation Report is based on a national survey conducted by AIA and Readex Research earlier this year. Responses from 640 firms with 959 locations are broken down by 28 states, 28 metro areas, and 16 cities. The survey provides in-depth compensation information on 44 positions.
The survey finds wide ranges of compensation by metro and position. For example, the average base pay plus compensation for recent non-licensed graduates was $55,790 nationally. San Jose paid the highest ($65,900) and Pittsburgh the lowest ($45,800). However, the grads hired in San Jose were paying 38.5% of their compensation in rent, whereas in Indianapolis, rent consumed only 16.7% of their paychecks.
Architecture salary trends
Average architect salary increases during the last two years continued to be highest across senior- and executive-level staff. And salaries varied widely by company size. For example, the national average for the CEO/president position was $246,130. For firms with fewer than 10 employees, it was $170,436; for firms with 250 or more employees, $435,930.
The same pattern emerges for the Director of Design position: a $193,460 national average, $132,650 for the smallest firms, $235,200 for the largest. For a senior architectural staffer, the national average was $112,960, for smallest firms $82,170, and for the largest firms $128,660.
Architectural firms have been improving their employee benefits packages.
Many positions, especially more senior architectural staff, continued to see an increase in the share of their salaries that is non-guaranteed (e.g., overtime, commissions, bonuses, incentive pay, profit sharing, retirement benefits paid, and other cash compensation) versus guaranteed (i.e., base pay). Managing principals now have the largest share of their salary as non-guaranteed pay compared with the other architecture/design positions, with the largest percentage point increase from 2017 in the share of non-guaranteed pay from 28% in 2017 to 42% in 2019.
Related content: Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
In general, firms are improving their benefits packages. Ninety-five percent of firms offer medical coverage to their employees, and 91% offer defined contribution retirement savings plans. Seventy percent offer paid time off for exams and other professional development. But only 41% offer paid parental leave.
Many firms report that in 2018 they encouraged diversity in hiring and actively engaged in steps to enrich their firms’ culture and retain employees throughout different life stages. For example, 36% conducted a salary equity assessment by gender and/or race, and 80% indicated that they have specifically hired, promoted, and/or mentored employees with diverse backgrounds.
Related Stories
Sustainability | Sep 18, 2024
3 living buildings made by a living practice
Prompting humans to reexamine our relationship to the environment, architecture creates the opportunity for us to physically experience ideas of beauty, performance, and structure through the distinct lens of place.
3D Printing | Sep 17, 2024
Alquist 3D and Walmart complete one of the nation’s largest free-standing, 3D-printed commercial structures
Walmart has completed one of the largest free-standing, 3D-printed commercial structures in the US. Alquist 3D printed the almost 8,000-sf, 20-foot-high addition to a Walmart store in Athens, Tenn. The expansion, which will be used for online pickup and delivery, is the first time Walmart has applied 3D printing technology at this scale.
Retail Centers | Sep 17, 2024
Thinking outside the big box (store)
For over a decade now, the talk of the mall industry has been largely focused on what developers can do to fill the voids left by a steady number of big box store closures. But what do you do when big box tenants stay put?
Government Buildings | Sep 17, 2024
OSHA’s proposed heat standard published in Federal Register
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published a proposed standard addressing heat illness in outdoor and indoor settings in the Federal Register. The proposed rule would require employers to evaluate workplaces and implement controls to mitigate exposure to heat through engineering and administrative controls, training, effective communication, and other measures.
Codes and Standards | Sep 17, 2024
New California building code encourages, but does not mandate heat pumps
New California homes are more likely to have all-electric appliances starting in 2026 after the state’s energy regulators approved new state building standards. The new building code will encourage installation of heat pumps without actually banning gas heating.
Mass Timber | Sep 17, 2024
Marina del Rey mixed-use development is L.A.’s largest mass timber project
An office-retail project in Marina del Rey is Los Angeles’ largest mass timber project to date. Encompassing about 3 acres, the 42XX campus consists of three low-rise buildings that seamlessly connect with exterior walkways and stairways. The development provides 151,000 sf of office space and 1,500 sf of retail space.
Education Facilities | Sep 16, 2024
Hot classrooms, playgrounds spur K-12 school districts to go beyond AC for cooling
With hotter weather occurring during the school year, school districts are turning to cooling strategies to complement air conditioning. Reflective playgrounds and roads, cool roofs and window films, shade structures and conversion of asphalt surfaces to a natural state are all being tried in various regions of the country.
Office Buildings | Sep 16, 2024
Maximizing office square footage through ‘agile planning’
Lauren Elliott, RID, NCIDQ, Director of Interior Design, Design Collaborative, shares tips for a designing with a popular and flexible workspace model: Agile planning.
3D Printing | Sep 13, 2024
Swiss researchers develop robotic additive manufacturing method that uses earth-based materials—and not cement
Researchers at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, have developed a new robotic additive manufacturing method to help make the construction industry more sustainable. Unlike concrete 3D printing, the process does not require cement.
Libraries | Sep 12, 2024
How space supports programming changes at university libraries
GBBN Associate Sarah Kusuma Rubritz, AIA, uses the University of Pittsburgh's Hillman Library to showcase how libraries are transforming to support students’ needs.
