architect's salaries focus of new federal report

Architects on average make around $88,000 annually, says a new report just issued by the Washington-based Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Compiled by the bureau’s Occupational Employment Statistics division, the report places New York architects on the top of the salary rankings, making an average of $109,000.
Architect salaries in Utah were ranked the lowest at $67,000.
In the West, both Colorado, with an average architect salary of $73,000, and New Mexico, where the average was $72,000, were ranked in the bottom ten states.
Arizona was ranked slightly highest with an average architect salary of $95,200. But the Grand Canyon State scored higher in a separate category as the state with the biggest increase, at 21 percent, in architect salaries from 2016 to 2017. 
In looking at these numbers, Forbes magazine says everything is context: “It’s not particularly surprising to see states such as Massachusetts, California, Alaska, and New Hampshire rank high because they are also among the top 10 states with the highest median household incomes.”
“However,” the magazine continues, “states like Alabama and West Virginia have median incomes of $46,472 and $44,061 respectively, which are among the lowest in the country; yet architects in these two states earn on average $91,380 a year and $89,200 a year, respectively.”
The New York-based Architect’s Newspaper also urges caution, noting “It’s no secret that even in the highest-ranking states on this list, New York, junior and interns, or up-and-coming designers usually under the age of 30, receive significantly less money until they earn their licensure.”
Even then, adds the publication, “those newly-minted architects aren’t given promotions or raises. It depends on the ethics and goals of the firm in which they work.”
The report additionally notes that there are currently about 103,100 architects working in firms in the U.S.

By Garry Boulard

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