Database Architects salary

SOC 15-1243 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$139,500

per year, nationally

Middle half

$109,370–$169,290

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

67,140

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+8.7%

4,000 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$86,240$204,000

10th: $86,240
25th: $109,370
Median: $139,500
75th: $169,290
90th: $204,000

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: Less than 5 years
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where database architects earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$170,160	110.7	6,210	0.79×
2	Massachusetts	$161,650	105.8	2,690	1.71×
3	Virginia	$160,360	101.1	5,260	2.96×
4	Arizona	$156,100	100.7	1,200	0.86×
5	Colorado	$154,560	103.1	1,950	1.57×
6	Texas	$151,370	97.1	8,270	1.36×
7	District of Columbia	$150,010	109.9	790	2.61×
8	Delaware	$147,800	99.8	—	—
9	Connecticut	$144,460	103.6	1,140	1.55×
10	Illinois	$142,500	100.0	1,590	0.60×
11	New York	$141,350	107.9	3,850	0.92×
12	Rhode Island	$140,320	102.3	160	0.72×
13	Nevada	$140,200	100.0	420	0.63×
14	New Hampshire	$139,990	104.2	120	0.40×
15	Georgia	$139,500	96.3	2,590	1.23×
16	Florida	$138,320	103.4	1,810	0.42×
17	Oregon	$138,250	103.4	730	0.86×
18	Wisconsin	$137,810	94.1	520	0.41×
19	South Dakota	$136,540	88.6	40	0.20×
20	North Carolina	$134,630	94.3	4,070	1.91×
21	Nebraska	$134,320	90.1	610	1.39×
22	Hawaii	$134,040	110.0	60	0.22×
23	Maine	$133,120	97.0	190	0.69×
24	Minnesota	$133,050	98.6	1,240	0.98×
25	Maryland	$132,940	105.0	1,370	1.14×
26	Ohio	$132,910	92.8	1,820	0.76×
27	Indiana	$132,830	93.3	500	0.36×
28	Utah	$131,740	98.9	630	0.84×
29	Michigan	$131,000	96.2	1,390	0.73×
30	South Carolina	$130,000	93.7	1,160	1.16×
31	Kansas	$129,990	90.1	360	0.57×
32	Washington	$128,760	107.0	2,990	1.95×
33	Kentucky	$125,400	90.2	350	0.40×
34	Iowa	$124,040	87.8	240	0.36×
35	Idaho	$121,380	95.5	260	0.69×
36	New Jersey	$120,790	108.8	3,090	1.67×
37	New Mexico	$117,950	92.2	120	0.32×
38	Tennessee	$115,170	91.9	650	0.46×
39	Alaska	$112,500	102.4	70	0.53×
40	Missouri	$110,570	90.8	1,410	1.11×
41	Oklahoma	$110,110	87.8	860	1.17×
42	Montana	$109,990	94.6	—	—
43	North Dakota	$109,430	89.0	60	0.30×
44	Alabama	$105,450	88.8	270	0.29×
45	Arkansas	$104,070	86.9	360	0.63×
46	Mississippi	$98,420	87.0	100	0.20×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where database architects wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for database architects

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$197,960	110.4	1,120	2.29×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$175,860	115.6	1,600	1.56×
3	Reno, NV	$170,390	101.0	80	0.64×
4	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$169,310	106.7	230	0.50×
5	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$168,390	110.5	60	0.44×
6	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$163,590	102.6	1,500	1.20×
7	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$163,350	106.9	170	0.99×
8	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$162,870	108.9	4,740	3.50×
9	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$162,640	105.8	1,360	1.96×
10	Springfield, MA	$161,730	96.1	50	0.57×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$161,650	108.3	2,120	1.82×
12	Bloomington, IL	$161,430	93.5	90	2.26×
13	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$160,480	99.8	—	—
14	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$160,300	100.0	110	0.67×
15	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$159,240	108.8	40	0.43×
16	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL	$157,730	102.4	30	0.23×
17	Flint, MI	$157,100	93.0	30	0.54×
18	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$156,800	111.9	390	0.59×
19	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$156,100	103.3	980	0.95×
20	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$155,740	113.6	1,530	0.57×
21	Madison, WI	$155,160	97.3	170	0.96×
22	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$154,770	103.1	4,320	2.47×
23	Peoria, IL	$154,400	91.2	30	0.44×
24	Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC	$153,240	93.6	—	—
25	Pittsburgh, PA	$152,800	94.7	570	1.18×
26	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$151,210	98.7	150	1.03×
27	Worcester, MA	$150,940	102.5	170	1.13×
28	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	$150,330	100.0	60	0.53×
29	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$148,020	96.9	130	0.36×
30	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$147,490	103.6	1,260	0.65×
31	Lancaster, PA	$146,400	98.3	40	0.38×
32	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$143,540	101.4	270	0.44×
33	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$143,410	105.4	560	1.08×
34	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$142,490	100.3	50	0.44×
35	Idaho Falls, ID	$142,170	94.4	30	0.93×
36	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$142,070	101.8	160	0.51×
37	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$141,770	97.6	560	3.78×
38	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$141,220	103.2	100	0.99×
39	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$141,170	114.2	490	0.40×
40	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$139,960	98.1	1,110	1.98×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where database architects wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Software Developers$135,980
Computer User Support Specialists$61,860
Computer Systems Analysts$105,850
Computer Occupations, All Other$116,580
Network and Computer Systems Administrators$99,130
Information Security Analysts$129,180
Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers$104,300
Computer Network Architects$134,050