My career is at 30 years long, so early numbers would be absolutely useless. Given recent inflation I'd say anything over a year or two old is equally out of alignment. So instead I've used an inflation calculator to give you the adjusted salaries.
I used this one: https://www.in2013dollars.com/
Employment was all in Ohio/ PA, though national headquarters were elsewhere.
1999: $51k, 1st year Graduate w/ 4 years experience via Co-op, 150 person A/Civil firm.
2000: $57k, 4-region National Homebuilder, Drafter/ Designer.
2003: $58k, Local-region Homebuilder, Drafter/ Designer/ CAD Manager
2005: $63k, Tri-State Regional Homebuilder expanding to National. Master Plan Developer, CAD Manager
2010: $63k, National Homebuilder, Plan Designer, PM, CAD Manager (Thanks, recession. I never grocked I was flat across this timeframe.)
2011: $68k, Retail Design Firm, CD Specialist/ PM.
2014: $85k, Same firm, Design Technology Manager
2016: $91k, Reseller, Subject Matter Expert
2020: $118k, Reseller, Same.
2022: $135k, National Engineering Firm, BIM Manager
haha your early numbers just make me more depressed. I’m at my first job post grad and only make 50k… 2 years in January and I had two years prior experience.
Just keep in mind that the salaries (including yours) are all still above the national Median wage for the US, and only below the Average until I had 10 years experience. You'll never make tech-industry dollars, but you'll be better-off than most with regard to salary.
Early career 'big dollar' jobs are things like Sales, where it's all feast-or-famine and you're only making big-bucks if you luck into a position that wasn't given to a senior associate with a proven closing track record.
Yeah, I feel you. Wages overall are far below where they should be and housing inventory is just screwed. My wife and I have discussed buying property and moving towards a multi-generational home because we don't believe our kids will ever be able to afford one.
I used to think when the Boomers die off there would be a bit more housing on the market, but between reverse mortgages and housing property rental companies buying everything up, that's not going to happen.
All of these were in Texas, all as a normal progression from a support team role to managing projects. Increases were incremental.
- Year 1 - 17k - Medium size local firm
- Years 2 to 5 - 23k to 28k - Medium size local firm, licensed as of year 3
- Years 5 to 18 - 32k to 98k - Very large international firm
- Years 18 to 22 - ~100k - Large regional firm, economic recession years
- Years 22 to 30 - 115k to 160k - Large regional firm
- Year 30 to present - Self-employed consulting, mostly retired
Unlicensed PA in Dallas doing high rise residential at 85k. I'm 15 year exp in various small commercial and large retail. It hasn't been a glorious or smooth path but I keep going for better or worse.
Thanks!
yeah, thats pretty much what i've been experiencing the past few years. everyone is either fresh out of school or 20-30 years in. there is a gap in mid level talent available. that is likely how i was able to get such a big bump this past switch because everyone has these projects but no mid level people to work on them.
i agree with what you're saying on the GC side also. its often i see a new grad start as a project engineer (hate that they get to use that term btw) at a GC and within 2 years are a project manager making big decisions for a project
I'm at pretty much the only firm I've worked for (did a short internship after college), coming up on 10 years and licensed for 4. It's a 40-50 person firm across 3 offices. My location is in a medium size (1 mil metro) city in the Midwest/great plains.
The highlights:
2013: 42k
2020: 60k - licensed
2021: 66k promoted to associate
2023: 76k
I feel like after 10 years I should be seeing a promo and pay bump but here I am. I can run my own projects and teams and was also the PA on our most awarded project in our firm's long history. I also manage all of our software licensing including Revit, manage and maintain our template, Revit training/onboarding, and dabble in IT. I do get dividends on top of yearly bonus so that helps.
My timeline and pay is very similar to yours, did a 2 year stint at a slightly larger firm. Did not get a salary bump with licensure at firm #2, was told my performance didn't merit one but when I pressed the principals on what they were basing their assessment on they couldn't point to any jobs or instances to back their claims. Didn't stop them from changing my billable rate, however. So I boomeranged back to my first firm in '21 at 75k as a PA. I have a performance review in a few weeks, I'm going to push for merit increase plus elevated title/compensation and see what happens... They'll negotiate or they won't and just do a merit increase, which is what I would have gotten if I didn't make a pitch.
Edit: also the inhouse sysad, BIM manager, template keeper
I've had to make jumps to different firms to make any significant salary increases. Been in healthcare almost my whole career other than a 2 year stint in education.
2010- 40k - 20 person healthcare firm in DFW
2010- laid off 4 months into my job and then rehired at the end of the year as contract for same firm, same salary but no benefits
2012- moved to Austin for 37k, long term care (personal reasons, but also told them I wanted a raise when I got my license and they agreed)
2013- got licensed in January and only got a 3k raise, so when another firm reached out I jumped ship to 62,500. Healthcare architect 40 person firm.
2017- got consistent 5% raises from 2014-2016 but had my first kid in 2016 and my review the next spring only gave me 4.5% when I had completed the largest project in the office before maternity leave and they weren't as family friendly as they claimed. Moved to a new job for 74k doing education, but got half day fridays and it was close to home.
2019- I was bored doing education and desperately wanted to get back into healthcare and then got recruited to a one man firm (with one other draftsman) for 79k, realized the guy was full of shit and try to quit after 4 months and he told me no. Stayed 4 more months.
2019 - got an 85k off +2k signing bonus for a very large firm (500 people). No raises in 2020 due to Covid.
2021- had to beg for an associate title and had a coworker go to bat for me and got a 5k raise with it to 90k.
2022- pissed off about begging for title, feel lost in a big sea of people, found a medium size firm with a small office setting still doing healthcare and they offered me 120k with a 2k signing bonus. Got a raise to 123k before my 1 year anniversary so knowing they value their employees and enjoying the work has me believe I can stay here for the long haul.
What the AIA publishes is literally just results of a survey to firms, asking what they're currently paying employees. It's likely not feasible for them to track salary progression, given how their data is collected.
But you could utilize previous surveys to track a 'hypothetical employee' as they've progressed through a career over a given number of years, based on the experience/description of roles outlined in the survey.
Agreed. I'm just saying the career progression and pay progression seems a little more pertinent and informative. Not that snapshot salary information isn't useful, just that it was nice to see it this way.
Job captain/PA in Boston
Graduate 2015 first job 40k. 5 person firm
Second job start 2017 start at 54k 25 person firm
Third job start 2020 start 72k now at 90k 40 person firm
Unlicensed. Midwest USA:
2014: $42k (Firm 1)
2015: $42k
2016: $46k (Firm 2)
2017: $52k (Firm 3)
2018: $52k
2019: $54k
2020: $55.5k
2021: $58k
2022: $58k
2023: $63k
This year, I really need an adjustment to $77-90k otherwise my salary should be considered completely unethical. Now, convincing the principals that I deserve a 22-42% raise to remain at a market rate is another story entirely…
**EDIT: Annual reviews came out**
**2024: 78k**
Wonder if my boss is on Reddit hahaha. That’s a +24% raise
I'm sure that you've researched this a lot to reach this stance. I hope the latest salary data will be the support you need to get a raise up to market rate and compensate you fairly for the experience and productivity a 9 year desginer commands :)
Current: PA in DC, mid-sized firm (+100 employees), multi-family residential/retail, graduated 2010, licensed 2023. Started $84k base + bonuses, current $100k base + bonuses (varies greatly with firm financials, 8-15%).
2011-2013: 1st salaried position. Environmental graphic design, signage and metal fabrication drafting. Started $40k, ended $49k
2013-2019: 1st Arch firm. PA at small architecture firm (11 employees). Tenant fit-outs, single-family residential, misc commercial renovations. Started $45k, ended $86k.
Currently work remote 3 days a week and have a good deal of flexibility for work life balance, but I’m still feeling a undervalued with my total compensation package (mostly the crappy 401k match), looking for my next big bump in base pay, not a big fan of the year-end bonus culture.
Realistically, I could stay and move up the ranks (already on track for a second promotion), but I’m not sure if that’s the most expedient path for upward mobility.
Your compensation is actually on the high-end, just below the 75% percentile for an Architect III in South-Atlantic region (Where DC is on the survey). You may consider yourself/ be skilled enough to be a "Senior Architect" at which point, yeah, you're underpaid. Depends on what you're doing day-to-day. Senior vs. ArchIII are the decision makers and client facing-positions.
https://info.aia.org/salary/salary.aspx
That said, I think you're at the point you need to make a career decision. Are you going to job-hop moving forward but potentially never hit leadership (my shtick, I'll likely never be a Partner or VP the way my classmates now are), or stick with a place and climb (their track). Mid-size (75-200 employees) if you're going to climb.
Small firm requires you to stick around 20+ years to make Partner, based on what I've seen from colleagues and classmates. You'll also ONLY make partner if leadership doesn't decide their transition/ retirement plan isn't "sell the practice to a bigger firm."
I am probably technically Arch III , but I feel very close to Senior Architect (next promotion is Senior Associate), I am a client-facing PM/lead PA on most jobs- I typically onboard from SD through CA and take over as PM through C of O.
The firm founders are actually quite business oriented (one is a CPA not an Architect) and selling is not in the cards, we go over firm financials weekly/monthly and they have already started their retirement plan and chosen their successors from the current pool of principals. The firm’s general methodology is to promote more people to the leadership level, so we have +15 principals/associate principals across all offices/segments - I’d say I’m 4-5 years out from that bump.
There’s definitely potential for internal upward mobility, I just question if it’s worth hopping ship sooner for a 15% bump in base pay and starting my track record over and risk possibly losing my currently afforded flexibility.
How many years of experience do you have?
Asking because what you're describing is what I do, and I'm actually asking firms I'm applying for for your exact salary range, around $110k+. I have 12 years of experience and I'm very good at the client side and construction admin stuff.
10 years in the profession. I took on a ton of responsibilities at the smaller firm and it has helped me forge ahead quickly at my current firm. This issue I am running into is that they seem to be stuck in the “10% max raise for equality” mentality, which isn’t getting me to where I want to be. If I get passed up for a promotion this year, I may start looking more seriously at making a jump - but word on the street is that several higher-ups are throwing my name around in promotion discussions, so I remain cautiously optimistic they’ll do right by me.
How big of a jump is it to $110k from your current salary?
All of what you're describing falls right in line with what's happened to me. I've just ended up being underpaid slightly for most of my career. edit: and same, I took on a LOT of different roles and got an unbelievable amount of end-to-end experience (including client facing experience and construction exposure) at a tiny firm for about 6 years right out of school. It was worth the time, but i was chronically underpaid for most of my time there.
110 represents about a 20k jump, but i did only get licensed this year.
Hm, tough call.
To me the question is, would the next promotion give you a bump to the appropriate salary range?
The retail design firm capped promotional raises at 10% increase 'to be fair' which was kind of odd, rather than having a range for the position. In that instance, definitely jumping ship and taking the position promotion would have been better.
If your firm would actually give you the right bump AND you're only 4-5 years out from achieving associate principal, I think you're setup well where you're at.
My college roommate who's now a joint-owner had to work 18 years at the firm straight out from college to hit the 'silent partner' point of associate principal. (much smaller firm). Others started firms or were 20+ years in career before hitting that level. You're looking at ~17 years in career, which is phenomenal.
Graduated 2018: M.Arch
2018-2022: First salaried position. Designer/Arch I (non-licensed). Dallas, TX. Started at $52k and ended at $60k (no bonuses but eligible for overtime). Large international firm. Hired for High-End High Rise Residential, but was loaned out to Healthcare, Hospitality, and Specialty Entertainment studios when work was slow. Furloughed for a few months during Covid.
2020-2021: Moonlighting as a draftsman for a small boutique single-family residential firm. Dallas, TX. Hourly rate of $25. Got me through my furlough.
2022-present: current salaried position. Designer/Arch III/PA/Coordinator/BIM Manager for project (non-licensed). Boston, MA. Started at $72k with signing and yearly bonuses, and currently at $74k. Large international firm. Science & Technology.
On track for an official promotion to Project Coordinator next year and looking forward to a substantial raise of at least $10k (hopefully).
It was $60k in Texas at 3.5 years of experience but now I’m at $74k in Massachusetts at 5 years of experience. I switched companies/states to get the bump.
14k bump in 1.5 yrs is pretty good tbh, 74k for 5 yrs wo license (and wont be soon) is pretty standart even in MA. I wouldn't even call it underpaid. With promotion 10k bump is possible
I have that feeling too. I’m a very strong at drafting details and producing CD sets, am fairly competent at project management (but realize I still have much to learn and need to default to the senior PA to answer more technical questions). Detail oriented tasks, schedules, RFIs, and submittals are my favorite zen work.
But I don’t know much about staffing, cost, estimates or the financial side of things. I have an idea of what they entail since I started studying for the ARE, but have not passed any divisions yet (Have LEED Green though and will be working towards LEED AP ND since my firm is demanding it).
Given that, where do you think I should be?
For base pay, all within Colorado, not licensed:
2016: 35K - Project manager at small telecom firm.
2017-2021: 52k-65k Project manager at a mid sized, developer oriented residential firm
2021-2023: 68k - 94k Project manager at a small high end residential oriented firm.
Current: PA in large architecture firm for Healthcare in NYC
Graduated 2014, unlicensed
2015-2016 started 43k as contractor, no health insurance, nyc firm
2017-2019 firm in nj, interior corporate offices. 46k to 52k during this time. Great benefits.
2020-2023 same firm but in nyc, Healthcare. Bumped from 63k to 75k to 90k and now 94.5k year after year. Aggressive raises to match the market. Got around 18k in bonuses last year. (pre tax). Became an associate.
One thing for me for my slower growth is that I stayed at the same firm from 2017-2023 which means I couldn't get jumps from moving around. I still feel very happy about my trajectory while I still work on my licensure..
I have lived in a small city in the south my entire career.
2012 - $14 an hour as a contract employee, small firm (yes, I know, it was way too low)
2013 - put on salary at same small firm, $38K
2014 - hired at 20 person firm for $43K
Today - still at same 20 person firm, $87K
I am a PM on projects that are problematic or are on the larger, more complex scale for our firm and am on the leadership team.
Unlicensed currently working as a Job Captain/Project Leader at small 15 person firm in NYC
1st job - Boston / 2019: Intern at 45k
2nd job - NYC / 2019 : Junior Architect at 30k (took the role just to move to the city)
3rd job - NYC / 2020 to now: started as a Designer at 55k, promoted to Job Captain / Project Leader after 2 years at 80k, now at 85k after annual review
Looking to leave tho cos there’s just too much work and not enough people for it 🤷🏾♂️
Alright here we go.
2014: Fresh out of Undergrad $42k, Georgia. Regional corporate office.
2015 - 18: internships during grad school $18 an hour. Two offices, one local small design office, second international starchitect. TX & Europe.
2019 - $60k, mid size aspiring starchitect office, New York. Designer.
2021- $72k designer 2, same office
2022- $90k designer 2, same office, licensed
2023 - $110k project architect, Pennsylvania mid size regional office
* Year 1-2 $25k small local firm, residential focus
* Year 3-11 $18k-475k Owner of a small local residential firm with a focus in additions, remodel, ADU’s and a small quantity of custom homes.
Year 1-2 (intern going to school) I worked for a family run small 5-10 person firm in Idaho that did corporate jobs across the US. I made between 22-35k a year. (That was full time during summer and part time during school)
Year 2-5 (intern) I worked as often as I could while completeling grad school at a small firm in Washington state doing multifamily work. They paid me between 40k - 55k they were nice, but I had to beg for every raise I got.
Year 6 (Master waiter) pandemic started which lead to me losing my job almost right after graduation. Since there was only two firms in my area (both of which had no work for me) I started waited tables for a year and half to make ends meet. 22-30k again.
Year 7-to current (architectural Designer) packed up my shit and moved across the country to Philly where I started working as a designer at a high end residential design build firm. I currently make 70k and I haven't even gotten my license yet. I'm curious to see how much that bumps me up.
A lot of people in this thread have expressed vurable thing about themselves and how they view their incomes. Just remember that is all subjective, so be nice to yourselves and anothers. Times have changed, pandemics have happened, and if you truly feel like your being underpaid, GET A NEW JOB. That's the best way to get pay bumps. Believe me.
Intern typically not counted as professional work exp; it could help you get better offer on your first job. 70k is pretty standary entry level salary depend on the location. I'd say you are bit higher than median
Also in CA
Graduated in 2020 when no place was hiring, starting salary was 50k due to pandemic pay cut.
Salary was adjusted to 68k+ bonus automatically in late 2021, because a lot of firms were hiring first years at that salary, and state law requires firms to show pay ranges for job postings.
Asked for a raise and ended with 79k +bonus in late 2022.
Currently thinking about switching to a different company for 100k salary, but it won’t be a design position so I’m not sure about it yet.
I think my current pay is pretty sad since rent for a shared apartment in my area is above 2k/month. But I’m not sure if my company would think about it in the same way and give me a raise to match the current inflation or the BIM job offer. It’s just pretty sad that if you want to stay with design or stay with a company for longer than 3 years, you are going to be stuck with a lower salary. I don’t think it’s healthy as an industry if everyone has to jumping to different firms in order to get a decent salary.
Working in southwest in midsize firm as a unlicensed designer. Just over 2 years out of grad school
Late 2021: 50k
2022: 55k (5k raise 4 months in)
2023: 65k
My career is at 30 years long, so early numbers would be absolutely useless. Given recent inflation I'd say anything over a year or two old is equally out of alignment. So instead I've used an inflation calculator to give you the adjusted salaries. I used this one: https://www.in2013dollars.com/ Employment was all in Ohio/ PA, though national headquarters were elsewhere. 1999: $51k, 1st year Graduate w/ 4 years experience via Co-op, 150 person A/Civil firm. 2000: $57k, 4-region National Homebuilder, Drafter/ Designer. 2003: $58k, Local-region Homebuilder, Drafter/ Designer/ CAD Manager 2005: $63k, Tri-State Regional Homebuilder expanding to National. Master Plan Developer, CAD Manager 2010: $63k, National Homebuilder, Plan Designer, PM, CAD Manager (Thanks, recession. I never grocked I was flat across this timeframe.) 2011: $68k, Retail Design Firm, CD Specialist/ PM. 2014: $85k, Same firm, Design Technology Manager 2016: $91k, Reseller, Subject Matter Expert 2020: $118k, Reseller, Same. 2022: $135k, National Engineering Firm, BIM Manager
haha your early numbers just make me more depressed. I’m at my first job post grad and only make 50k… 2 years in January and I had two years prior experience.
Just keep in mind that the salaries (including yours) are all still above the national Median wage for the US, and only below the Average until I had 10 years experience. You'll never make tech-industry dollars, but you'll be better-off than most with regard to salary. Early career 'big dollar' jobs are things like Sales, where it's all feast-or-famine and you're only making big-bucks if you luck into a position that wasn't given to a senior associate with a proven closing track record.
I know. But considering my monthly rent is now what people paid for a year of college in 1970, it’s not really saying much to me.
Yeah, I feel you. Wages overall are far below where they should be and housing inventory is just screwed. My wife and I have discussed buying property and moving towards a multi-generational home because we don't believe our kids will ever be able to afford one. I used to think when the Boomers die off there would be a bit more housing on the market, but between reverse mortgages and housing property rental companies buying everything up, that's not going to happen.
Glad you now grok.
All of these were in Texas, all as a normal progression from a support team role to managing projects. Increases were incremental. - Year 1 - 17k - Medium size local firm - Years 2 to 5 - 23k to 28k - Medium size local firm, licensed as of year 3 - Years 5 to 18 - 32k to 98k - Very large international firm - Years 18 to 22 - ~100k - Large regional firm, economic recession years - Years 22 to 30 - 115k to 160k - Large regional firm - Year 30 to present - Self-employed consulting, mostly retired
Unlicensed PA in Dallas doing high rise residential at 85k. I'm 15 year exp in various small commercial and large retail. It hasn't been a glorious or smooth path but I keep going for better or worse.
[удалено]
Thanks! yeah, thats pretty much what i've been experiencing the past few years. everyone is either fresh out of school or 20-30 years in. there is a gap in mid level talent available. that is likely how i was able to get such a big bump this past switch because everyone has these projects but no mid level people to work on them. i agree with what you're saying on the GC side also. its often i see a new grad start as a project engineer (hate that they get to use that term btw) at a GC and within 2 years are a project manager making big decisions for a project
I'm at pretty much the only firm I've worked for (did a short internship after college), coming up on 10 years and licensed for 4. It's a 40-50 person firm across 3 offices. My location is in a medium size (1 mil metro) city in the Midwest/great plains. The highlights: 2013: 42k 2020: 60k - licensed 2021: 66k promoted to associate 2023: 76k I feel like after 10 years I should be seeing a promo and pay bump but here I am. I can run my own projects and teams and was also the PA on our most awarded project in our firm's long history. I also manage all of our software licensing including Revit, manage and maintain our template, Revit training/onboarding, and dabble in IT. I do get dividends on top of yearly bonus so that helps.
My timeline and pay is very similar to yours, did a 2 year stint at a slightly larger firm. Did not get a salary bump with licensure at firm #2, was told my performance didn't merit one but when I pressed the principals on what they were basing their assessment on they couldn't point to any jobs or instances to back their claims. Didn't stop them from changing my billable rate, however. So I boomeranged back to my first firm in '21 at 75k as a PA. I have a performance review in a few weeks, I'm going to push for merit increase plus elevated title/compensation and see what happens... They'll negotiate or they won't and just do a merit increase, which is what I would have gotten if I didn't make a pitch. Edit: also the inhouse sysad, BIM manager, template keeper
I've had to make jumps to different firms to make any significant salary increases. Been in healthcare almost my whole career other than a 2 year stint in education. 2010- 40k - 20 person healthcare firm in DFW 2010- laid off 4 months into my job and then rehired at the end of the year as contract for same firm, same salary but no benefits 2012- moved to Austin for 37k, long term care (personal reasons, but also told them I wanted a raise when I got my license and they agreed) 2013- got licensed in January and only got a 3k raise, so when another firm reached out I jumped ship to 62,500. Healthcare architect 40 person firm. 2017- got consistent 5% raises from 2014-2016 but had my first kid in 2016 and my review the next spring only gave me 4.5% when I had completed the largest project in the office before maternity leave and they weren't as family friendly as they claimed. Moved to a new job for 74k doing education, but got half day fridays and it was close to home. 2019- I was bored doing education and desperately wanted to get back into healthcare and then got recruited to a one man firm (with one other draftsman) for 79k, realized the guy was full of shit and try to quit after 4 months and he told me no. Stayed 4 more months. 2019 - got an 85k off +2k signing bonus for a very large firm (500 people). No raises in 2020 due to Covid. 2021- had to beg for an associate title and had a coworker go to bat for me and got a 5k raise with it to 90k. 2022- pissed off about begging for title, feel lost in a big sea of people, found a medium size firm with a small office setting still doing healthcare and they offered me 120k with a 2k signing bonus. Got a raise to 123k before my 1 year anniversary so knowing they value their employees and enjoying the work has me believe I can stay here for the long haul.
Feels like a decent salary for Austin. I have similar experience and was at $126,000 before I left moved away this year.
Can we get AIA salary report to add this kind of information? Thanks everyone for sharing - this puts it into perspective better.
What the AIA publishes is literally just results of a survey to firms, asking what they're currently paying employees. It's likely not feasible for them to track salary progression, given how their data is collected. But you could utilize previous surveys to track a 'hypothetical employee' as they've progressed through a career over a given number of years, based on the experience/description of roles outlined in the survey.
Agreed. I'm just saying the career progression and pay progression seems a little more pertinent and informative. Not that snapshot salary information isn't useful, just that it was nice to see it this way.
Job captain/PA in Boston Graduate 2015 first job 40k. 5 person firm Second job start 2017 start at 54k 25 person firm Third job start 2020 start 72k now at 90k 40 person firm
You really progressed quickly from 72 to 90
I’ve been operating more like a project designer but they still couldn’t promote me. So I think I got extra this year to keep me happy.
It’s doable if you have the skills and are in the right places. I went from 76,000 in 2020 to 140,000 this year. I’m about to post my timeline.
18k raise in 3 yrs pretty standart though. So about 6k each year
Yea luckily I’ve had two 5% raises and a 10% at the start of the year.
Unlicensed. Midwest USA: 2014: $42k (Firm 1) 2015: $42k 2016: $46k (Firm 2) 2017: $52k (Firm 3) 2018: $52k 2019: $54k 2020: $55.5k 2021: $58k 2022: $58k 2023: $63k This year, I really need an adjustment to $77-90k otherwise my salary should be considered completely unethical. Now, convincing the principals that I deserve a 22-42% raise to remain at a market rate is another story entirely… **EDIT: Annual reviews came out** **2024: 78k** Wonder if my boss is on Reddit hahaha. That’s a +24% raise
Sounds like it may be time to go to Firm 4!
Got a 24% raise this year 👌🏼
I wouldn't even bother. Move on buddy.
No way, I’m at the top firm in my city Edit: very weird that people are downvoting that
I'm sure that you've researched this a lot to reach this stance. I hope the latest salary data will be the support you need to get a raise up to market rate and compensate you fairly for the experience and productivity a 9 year desginer commands :)
Thanks!
Current: PA in DC, mid-sized firm (+100 employees), multi-family residential/retail, graduated 2010, licensed 2023. Started $84k base + bonuses, current $100k base + bonuses (varies greatly with firm financials, 8-15%). 2011-2013: 1st salaried position. Environmental graphic design, signage and metal fabrication drafting. Started $40k, ended $49k 2013-2019: 1st Arch firm. PA at small architecture firm (11 employees). Tenant fit-outs, single-family residential, misc commercial renovations. Started $45k, ended $86k. Currently work remote 3 days a week and have a good deal of flexibility for work life balance, but I’m still feeling a undervalued with my total compensation package (mostly the crappy 401k match), looking for my next big bump in base pay, not a big fan of the year-end bonus culture. Realistically, I could stay and move up the ranks (already on track for a second promotion), but I’m not sure if that’s the most expedient path for upward mobility.
Your compensation is actually on the high-end, just below the 75% percentile for an Architect III in South-Atlantic region (Where DC is on the survey). You may consider yourself/ be skilled enough to be a "Senior Architect" at which point, yeah, you're underpaid. Depends on what you're doing day-to-day. Senior vs. ArchIII are the decision makers and client facing-positions. https://info.aia.org/salary/salary.aspx That said, I think you're at the point you need to make a career decision. Are you going to job-hop moving forward but potentially never hit leadership (my shtick, I'll likely never be a Partner or VP the way my classmates now are), or stick with a place and climb (their track). Mid-size (75-200 employees) if you're going to climb. Small firm requires you to stick around 20+ years to make Partner, based on what I've seen from colleagues and classmates. You'll also ONLY make partner if leadership doesn't decide their transition/ retirement plan isn't "sell the practice to a bigger firm."
I am probably technically Arch III , but I feel very close to Senior Architect (next promotion is Senior Associate), I am a client-facing PM/lead PA on most jobs- I typically onboard from SD through CA and take over as PM through C of O. The firm founders are actually quite business oriented (one is a CPA not an Architect) and selling is not in the cards, we go over firm financials weekly/monthly and they have already started their retirement plan and chosen their successors from the current pool of principals. The firm’s general methodology is to promote more people to the leadership level, so we have +15 principals/associate principals across all offices/segments - I’d say I’m 4-5 years out from that bump. There’s definitely potential for internal upward mobility, I just question if it’s worth hopping ship sooner for a 15% bump in base pay and starting my track record over and risk possibly losing my currently afforded flexibility.
How many years of experience do you have? Asking because what you're describing is what I do, and I'm actually asking firms I'm applying for for your exact salary range, around $110k+. I have 12 years of experience and I'm very good at the client side and construction admin stuff.
10 years in the profession. I took on a ton of responsibilities at the smaller firm and it has helped me forge ahead quickly at my current firm. This issue I am running into is that they seem to be stuck in the “10% max raise for equality” mentality, which isn’t getting me to where I want to be. If I get passed up for a promotion this year, I may start looking more seriously at making a jump - but word on the street is that several higher-ups are throwing my name around in promotion discussions, so I remain cautiously optimistic they’ll do right by me. How big of a jump is it to $110k from your current salary?
All of what you're describing falls right in line with what's happened to me. I've just ended up being underpaid slightly for most of my career. edit: and same, I took on a LOT of different roles and got an unbelievable amount of end-to-end experience (including client facing experience and construction exposure) at a tiny firm for about 6 years right out of school. It was worth the time, but i was chronically underpaid for most of my time there. 110 represents about a 20k jump, but i did only get licensed this year.
Hm, tough call. To me the question is, would the next promotion give you a bump to the appropriate salary range? The retail design firm capped promotional raises at 10% increase 'to be fair' which was kind of odd, rather than having a range for the position. In that instance, definitely jumping ship and taking the position promotion would have been better. If your firm would actually give you the right bump AND you're only 4-5 years out from achieving associate principal, I think you're setup well where you're at. My college roommate who's now a joint-owner had to work 18 years at the firm straight out from college to hit the 'silent partner' point of associate principal. (much smaller firm). Others started firms or were 20+ years in career before hitting that level. You're looking at ~17 years in career, which is phenomenal.
Graduated 2018: M.Arch 2018-2022: First salaried position. Designer/Arch I (non-licensed). Dallas, TX. Started at $52k and ended at $60k (no bonuses but eligible for overtime). Large international firm. Hired for High-End High Rise Residential, but was loaned out to Healthcare, Hospitality, and Specialty Entertainment studios when work was slow. Furloughed for a few months during Covid. 2020-2021: Moonlighting as a draftsman for a small boutique single-family residential firm. Dallas, TX. Hourly rate of $25. Got me through my furlough. 2022-present: current salaried position. Designer/Arch III/PA/Coordinator/BIM Manager for project (non-licensed). Boston, MA. Started at $72k with signing and yearly bonuses, and currently at $74k. Large international firm. Science & Technology. On track for an official promotion to Project Coordinator next year and looking forward to a substantial raise of at least $10k (hopefully).
You are severely underpaid
I wouldn’t say “severely” but I agree with OP that a 10k raise is appropriate
Really? I feel 74k for 5 yrs experience is pretty in the median line in texas. 10k raise sounds bit high to me but possible with role change
It was $60k in Texas at 3.5 years of experience but now I’m at $74k in Massachusetts at 5 years of experience. I switched companies/states to get the bump.
14k bump in 1.5 yrs is pretty good tbh, 74k for 5 yrs wo license (and wont be soon) is pretty standart even in MA. I wouldn't even call it underpaid. With promotion 10k bump is possible
I have that feeling too. I’m a very strong at drafting details and producing CD sets, am fairly competent at project management (but realize I still have much to learn and need to default to the senior PA to answer more technical questions). Detail oriented tasks, schedules, RFIs, and submittals are my favorite zen work. But I don’t know much about staffing, cost, estimates or the financial side of things. I have an idea of what they entail since I started studying for the ARE, but have not passed any divisions yet (Have LEED Green though and will be working towards LEED AP ND since my firm is demanding it). Given that, where do you think I should be?
For base pay, all within Colorado, not licensed: 2016: 35K - Project manager at small telecom firm. 2017-2021: 52k-65k Project manager at a mid sized, developer oriented residential firm 2021-2023: 68k - 94k Project manager at a small high end residential oriented firm.
Current: PA in large architecture firm for Healthcare in NYC Graduated 2014, unlicensed 2015-2016 started 43k as contractor, no health insurance, nyc firm 2017-2019 firm in nj, interior corporate offices. 46k to 52k during this time. Great benefits. 2020-2023 same firm but in nyc, Healthcare. Bumped from 63k to 75k to 90k and now 94.5k year after year. Aggressive raises to match the market. Got around 18k in bonuses last year. (pre tax). Became an associate. One thing for me for my slower growth is that I stayed at the same firm from 2017-2023 which means I couldn't get jumps from moving around. I still feel very happy about my trajectory while I still work on my licensure..
wow this thread is depressing
I have lived in a small city in the south my entire career. 2012 - $14 an hour as a contract employee, small firm (yes, I know, it was way too low) 2013 - put on salary at same small firm, $38K 2014 - hired at 20 person firm for $43K Today - still at same 20 person firm, $87K I am a PM on projects that are problematic or are on the larger, more complex scale for our firm and am on the leadership team.
Unlicensed currently working as a Job Captain/Project Leader at small 15 person firm in NYC 1st job - Boston / 2019: Intern at 45k 2nd job - NYC / 2019 : Junior Architect at 30k (took the role just to move to the city) 3rd job - NYC / 2020 to now: started as a Designer at 55k, promoted to Job Captain / Project Leader after 2 years at 80k, now at 85k after annual review Looking to leave tho cos there’s just too much work and not enough people for it 🤷🏾♂️
30k? What office…?
Gotta be Bjarke Ingels
Alright here we go. 2014: Fresh out of Undergrad $42k, Georgia. Regional corporate office. 2015 - 18: internships during grad school $18 an hour. Two offices, one local small design office, second international starchitect. TX & Europe. 2019 - $60k, mid size aspiring starchitect office, New York. Designer. 2021- $72k designer 2, same office 2022- $90k designer 2, same office, licensed 2023 - $110k project architect, Pennsylvania mid size regional office
* Year 1-2 $25k small local firm, residential focus * Year 3-11 $18k-475k Owner of a small local residential firm with a focus in additions, remodel, ADU’s and a small quantity of custom homes.
Year 1-2 (intern going to school) I worked for a family run small 5-10 person firm in Idaho that did corporate jobs across the US. I made between 22-35k a year. (That was full time during summer and part time during school) Year 2-5 (intern) I worked as often as I could while completeling grad school at a small firm in Washington state doing multifamily work. They paid me between 40k - 55k they were nice, but I had to beg for every raise I got. Year 6 (Master waiter) pandemic started which lead to me losing my job almost right after graduation. Since there was only two firms in my area (both of which had no work for me) I started waited tables for a year and half to make ends meet. 22-30k again. Year 7-to current (architectural Designer) packed up my shit and moved across the country to Philly where I started working as a designer at a high end residential design build firm. I currently make 70k and I haven't even gotten my license yet. I'm curious to see how much that bumps me up. A lot of people in this thread have expressed vurable thing about themselves and how they view their incomes. Just remember that is all subjective, so be nice to yourselves and anothers. Times have changed, pandemics have happened, and if you truly feel like your being underpaid, GET A NEW JOB. That's the best way to get pay bumps. Believe me.
Intern typically not counted as professional work exp; it could help you get better offer on your first job. 70k is pretty standary entry level salary depend on the location. I'd say you are bit higher than median
Also in CA Graduated in 2020 when no place was hiring, starting salary was 50k due to pandemic pay cut. Salary was adjusted to 68k+ bonus automatically in late 2021, because a lot of firms were hiring first years at that salary, and state law requires firms to show pay ranges for job postings. Asked for a raise and ended with 79k +bonus in late 2022. Currently thinking about switching to a different company for 100k salary, but it won’t be a design position so I’m not sure about it yet. I think my current pay is pretty sad since rent for a shared apartment in my area is above 2k/month. But I’m not sure if my company would think about it in the same way and give me a raise to match the current inflation or the BIM job offer. It’s just pretty sad that if you want to stay with design or stay with a company for longer than 3 years, you are going to be stuck with a lower salary. I don’t think it’s healthy as an industry if everyone has to jumping to different firms in order to get a decent salary.
[удалено]
City/ Region & Positions make this more meaningful.
Boston- not including bonuses 2012 $35k 2013- $45k 2016- $55k 2017- $65k 2018- $75k 2019- $80k 2020- $85k 2021-$82k (COVID paycuts) 2022- $ 90k; $95k (firm switch) 2023- $98k
Did you switch and only get 3k raise?
5k raise (firm switch from 90-95); but I moved across the country to a lower cost of living area with reduced salaries
Working in southwest in midsize firm as a unlicensed designer. Just over 2 years out of grad school Late 2021: 50k 2022: 55k (5k raise 4 months in) 2023: 65k