8 Factors that Affect an Architect’s Salary

Overall, an architect’s salary level has various factors playing a role, and architects must consider these factors when determining their earning potential.

The salary of an architect can vary widely depending on several factors, such as their experience, location, and the type of work they are engaged in. While some architects may earn lower salaries, there are several reasons why this may be the case:

1. Supply and Demand: There are more architects than available positions, which can drive down salaries.
2. Industry Competition: The architecture industry is highly competitive, and firms may be willing to hire less experienced architects at lower salaries.
3. Project Budgets: Clients may have limited budgets for architectural services, which can result in lower fees for architects.
4. Time and Effort: Architecture is a time-intensive profession that requires years of education and training. It can take a long time for an architect to become established and earn higher salaries.
5. Public Perception: The public may not fully appreciate the value of architectural services, which can limit the amount that clients are willing to pay for them.
6. Economic Factors: Economic downturns can also affect the demand for architectural services, reducing salaries in the field.
7. Company Policies: No two firms’ compensation packages are alike. Choose a firm that wants to retain its employees over the long term and find a firm with good business acumen.
8. Firm Size: Sole proprietors with one or two employees will deploy a different compensation package.  

While architects certainly require artistic abilities to create beautiful and functional buildings, the success of an architectural practice also depends on its business acumen. Architecture firms must manage finances, attract clients, and navigate the legal and regulatory landscape like any other business.

Many successful architects are also skilled businesspeople. They understand how to market their services, manage finances, negotiate contracts, and navigate the industry’s complexities. They also have strong leadership and management skills, which are crucial for managing a team of professionals, overseeing multiple projects simultaneously, and building solid relationships with clients and contractors.

It’s worth noting that while artistic ability is a critical component of an architect’s skill set, it is not the only factor that determines their success. Good communication skills, problem-solving ability, attention to detail, and knowledge of technical requirements are also necessary. Additionally, architects must keep up with emerging technologies, sustainable design practices, and changing industry trends to remain competitive. In short, while artistic talent is essential to an architect’s skill set, successful architects must also have business acumen and leadership skills to thrive in their profession.

How the Build Back Better Act could affect freelancers

December 7, 2021 – Freelancers and Independent Contractors Beware: Build Back Better Vows to Impose the PRO Act Which Threatens Your Livelihood

The freedom to work as a freelancer or independent contractor provides flexibility for households and vibrancy to the American economy. It is tailor-made for architecture and design practices and freelance architects seeking to fill the peaks and valleys standard in architecture practices.

The PRO Act bans Right to Work laws nationwide. Still, it also imposes the same independent contractor/freelancer-destroying policies of California’s AB5 law, which has destroyed countless lives and driven people out of the Golden State.

Freelancers and independent contractors want to be their bosses. AB5 and the PRO Act dictate they must have a boss. Households need greater flexibility than ever after the changes brought about by COVID in the workplace.

I have been fighting my whole professional career for the right to freelance and become an independent contractor. We need to rally the political wing of AIA.org and ask their Advocacy group to engage and lobby against this provision of the Build Back Better bill.

Act Now Contact Sarah Dodge, AIA, Senior Vice-President of Advocacy & Relationships, and ask her to put the full force of the AIA’s advocacy group behind removing the AB5 provision out of Build Back Better!

[email protected]

Partial hat tip to the Freelancers Union

Green Means Green for Architects

Green means green for architects that make a serious investment in green architecture and sustainability.  When the recession hit in 2007, the housing and real estate markets were hugely impacted. Jobs in architecture became scarce, and architects started getting laid off in droves. Though there’s been an increase since 2010 in positions in this arena, the sector still struggles to maintain a steady increase in available gigs. According to SimplyHired, since July of 2013, there’s been a 24.4% increase in employment in Los Angeles and 34.4% in New York, so things are looking brighter. In fact, the green or sustainable architect is experiencing a major increase in work, with positions in both cities at an all time high because of the growth of the green economy.

There’s really no set rule for who can dub themselves green architects, but the program responsible for verifying green buildings is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). It gives points to projects based on their utilization of sustainable components. However, LEED doesn’t give awards to projects for performance, so there are other available options for certification: the Living Buildings Challenge, Passive House Institute, Green Globes and the government’s Energy Star Program all provide certification based on green standards.

In major metropolises like New York and Los Angeles, the green economy is growing. The public’s demand for green construction is due to its growing awareness of the dangers of climate change. While the green movement is considered “chic,” architects are expanding their views by combating climate change not only with their building designs but by constructing the bigger systems in which they function.

“We think of great design as having four equally important parts: ethical practice, experiential design, thoughtful impact, and excellent delivery. Included in ethical practice is sustainability and the idea that you can’t create great design without it. This translates into our everyday office operations in many big and small ways. The really exciting sustainable operations are yet to come in our new office!”
Irwin Miller, Los Angeles, Principal Design Director, Gensler .

In 2011, the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) listed the mean wage for a green architect as $83,390 – about $30,000 more than a residential architect. The BLS also predicts faster-than-average growth for architects until 2020, with green architects in particularly high demand.

Architecture is about designing structures. Green architecture goes one step further by altering structures so that they can contribute to the well-being of the environment. Some architecture firms are green firms not only because they specialize in this type of building, but because they incorporate the green philosophy into how they operate.

Green Architecture Sites:

Inhabitat
Architecture for Humanity
BLD BLOG

AIA Comp Survey: Minimal Salary Increase

Lingering impact from the Great Recession slows gains in salaries

Over the last several years, most architecture firms have benefited from a general improvement in the economy as well as in the construction sector. Revenue at architecture firms increased almost 11 percent in 2012 from 2011 levels, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures, and firm payrolls have followed suit. But this modest improvement in business conditions has done little to lift compensation levels at firms. Between 2011 and 2013, average total compensation for architecture positions—including base salary, overtime, bonuses, and incentive compensation—increased only slightly over 1 percent per year, barely more than the average increase in compensation between 2008 and 2011, when the construction sector was still in steep decline.

Even this modest 1 percent increase in average architect compensation may overstate the experience of the typical architect during this period. Average compensation depends on the mix, by experience levels, of positions reporting. Since many less experienced architecture positions were eliminated during the downturn, current average compensation may reflect a higher share of more experienced (and more highly compensated) positions. Regardless, while average compensation for architecture positions increased a mere 0.7 percent per year compounded between 2008 and 2011, growth increased to only 1.1 percent per year between 2011 and 2013 (Exhibit 1.1).

Architecture staff compensation tends to be more volatile over the business cycle than compensation for most other occupations. Over the past decade, compensation gains for architecture positions have more than kept pace with compensation across the entire economy. Architecture compensation increased 35 percent between early 2002 and early 2013, compared to just under 32 percent for all professional and related staff (typically defined as white-collar workers such as lawyers, accountants, etc.), and just over 29 percent for all private-sector workers (Exhibit 1.2).

Compensation levels vary by firm size

Historically, large architecture firms have offered higher levels of compensation. These comparisons are more difficult for more senior positions because job responsibilities are difficult to compare across firms of different sizes. However, this disparity exists even for positions with relatively standard job descriptions such as Intern 1 or Architect 1.

At firms with fewer than 10 employees, Intern 1 compensation averaged 10 to 15 percent below national averages. At firms with more than 250 employees, Intern 1 compensation averaged more than 10 percent above the national average. A similar pattern held for Architect 1 positions: about 10 percent below the national average at firms with fewer than 10 employees, and almost 10 percent above the national average at firms with 250 or more employees.

Staff turnover and fringe benefits reflect improvement

Another sign that business conditions have stabilized across the profession is that benefits offered to employees have begun to modestly improve at many firms. While declining between 2008 and 2011 as firm revenues eroded, they rebounded modestly by 2013, with benefits packages averaging 18 percent of base salaries for professional staff. Benefits have bounced back faster at larger firms and remain significantly higher than those offered by smaller firms (Exhibit 1.3).

Recent Related:

AIA Compensation Survey: Architect Compensation Stagnant

Reference:

Purchase the 2013 AIA Compensation Report

New for 2013: Architect Compensation by Metro Area

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US home sales unexpectedly drop 1.6%

The pace of purchased new homes fell to a 313,000 annual pace, the slowest since  October. Though an analyst says there are signs of life in some regions, “we’re  not seeing a broad-based recovery.”

(Bloomberg) – Purchases of new homes in the U.S. unexpectedly fell  in February for a second month, a sign the recovery in the housing market may be  uneven.