Have you ever wondered how much architects earn all around the world?
Becoming an architect requires an investment of money and time. Architecture students and fresh grads hope it pays off in the form of a rewarding career that comes with above-average earnings. The job of an architect comes with glamour and prestige, as well as a high salary and a solid job outlook. However, the path to becoming an architect is a long and expensive one and not everyone who wants to become an architect makes it through the multi-year process. Still, if you have the discipline, talent and funds architecture is a financially rewarding career path.
Just like in many other jobs the compensation depends on various factors including mainly geographical location of the practice. Unless the company is one of the “starchitect” studio with clients coming from all around the world, prices and salaries depend highly on the placement of the practice. Hence the region of the country where an architect works has a significant impact on their earnings. We gathered an overview of the highest-paying industries and locations for architects.
WORLD’S RANKING
Where in the world does it pay the most to be an architect?
The chart shows top ten countries with highest income for architecture professionals According to Salary Expert, powered by ERI.
TOP 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE ARCHITECT SALARIES IN THE WORLD
source: https://naibuzz.com/10-countries-with-the-highest-architect-salaries-in-the-world
United Arab Emirates is currently experiencing major growth in construction and real-estate industry hence architects are needed. An entry level salary starts with $4,300 monthly while senior level professional earns $7,687 per month. This places UEA at the top of world’s architecture wages.
Earnings in Hong Kong are slightly lower which places this capital of skyscrapers at the second place. A fresh architectural graduate earns there a monthly income of $3,134 while registered architects with 10 years’ experience have a monthly income of $7,933.
Third and fourth place take United States with yearly average income of $80,490 and Switzerland $78,000 per year.
Singapore for its architects offers annual wage of $70,00 while Ireland $62,000.
As an overview, the average salary for members across all practice sizes in United Kingdom and Canada is $60,000.
In Japan a first class architect with a license from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism carries out business such as design supervision. Their average yearly income is approx. $57,000. The situation looks similar in Australia. According to the Association of Consulting Architects Australia’s survey, the average graduate with 2 years or less experience has a salary of around $43,200 while those with six years of experience made around $63,000.
USA
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finds that the average salary of an architect was $80,750per year, $38.82 per hour in 2019.
The states and districts that pay Architects the highest mean salary are New York ($106,910), District of Columbia ($105,380), Georgia ($104,470), Massachusetts ($102,320), and Minnesota ($99,870).
TOP 5 STATES WITH THE HIGHEST ARCHITECT SALARIES IN USA
Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics
EUROPE
According to ClearEdge3D AEC Industry Salary Survey, in which more than 6,500 executives throughout the industry took part and responded on pay levels, architecture professionals working in Europe earn less than their North American colleagues.
The differences in job compensation across Europe are tremendous. Smallest salaries start form $367 per month in Macedonia and $785 monthly in Poland. While in countries like Switzerland or UK an average architect wage is $7,125 and $5,938.
TOP COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST ARCHITECT SALARIES IN EUROPE
source: Paylab Worldwide Salaries
LATIN AMERICA
The Chilean Chamber of Construction (CChC) noted huge growth country’s construction sector past years. Architects there earn $2,775monthly. The continent notes tremendous differences in job compensations. Second most paid off country Brazil offers to its professionals 1,957$ per month while in Mexico the average salary is below 1000$.
TOP COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST ARCHITECT SALARIES IN LATIN AMERICA
source: Salary Expert Powered by ERI
Africa
As the legacy of the Cold War fades and Western preeminence gradually becomes a thing of the past, population booms in Asia followed by the growth of a vast non-western middle class have seriously challenged the local perception of the world.
The highest paid jobs for architects offers South Africa with its monthly salary of $1,184. Second highest monthly salary is paid in Botswana 768$. Starting from that amount wages in other African countries decrease proportionally: Morocco $423, Algeria $291.
TOP COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST ARCHITECT SALARIES IN AFRICA
source: jobsandsalaryabroad.com
Western Asia
As it was anticipated in the main chart, United Arab Emirates is currently at the top of world’s architecture wages.Average salary reaches there $4,500-5,000. Western Asia, in general, experience boom for construction industry. There’s high demand on construction workers as well as architecture professionals. So Saudi Arabia and Qatar offer competitive wages for best architects. End of the ranking closed Oman and Kuwait with compensation of approx. $3,000.
TOP COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST ARCHITECT SALARIES IN WEST ASIA
source: Salary Expert Powered by ERI
ASIA AND FAR EAST
Asian countries have strong work ethics. Places like Japan or Hong Kong require a lot of devotion to the company. Crazy working hours pay off because Hong Kong with its average monthly salary of $5,100 or Japan with wages of approx. $4,600 are one of few places where hard work is that much compensated.
Singapore, has a work culture made up of a unique mix of Asian and Western cultural influences and still offers promising wages of around $3,500 following South Korea ($3,200). China and Malaysia are closing the chart with salaries circulated around $1,500.
TOP COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST ARCHITECT SALARIES IN ASIA AND FAR EAST
source: Salary Expert Powered by ERI
Australia and Oceania
Salary and wage information for architects is compiled regularly by analysis of Australian jobs advertised in major publications.The average salary for a Design Architect in Australia is $3,200. A senior Architect earns here $63,200-85,000 annually. New Zealand government website offers a clear insight into architects’ salaries. It shows a wage of $4,200-5,500 for an experienced architect with an average of $2,500.
ARCHITECT SALARIES IN AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA
source: Salary Expert Powered by ERI
The global overview
Architects’ salaries are fairly high, but what do the future job prospects look like for architects? The American Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predict 7% of grow for architect in a given job between 2014 and 2024. The field of architecture isn’t shrinking, but it’s not growing at faster-than-average rates either.
While the amount of information about architect salaries in specific countries and cities is abundant, there are many discrepancies between different sourced when it comes to country-to-country comparisons.
Having a global overview of architect salaries is hard to get because of the many variables that go into the equation including cost of living, working hours, benefits and much more.
Having said that, we would like to invite you to comment down below about salaries in your country. Tell us how much an average junior architect in your country earns in comparison to senior architect! We would love to see these numbers.