Architectural and Civil Drafters salary

SOC 17-3011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$66,150

per year, nationally

Middle half

$55,650–$80,870

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

103,700

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.1%

10,000 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.

$46,260$99,710

10th: $46,260
25th: $55,650
Median: $66,150
75th: $80,870
90th: $99,710

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

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

Where architectural and civil drafters 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	District of Columbia	$97,880	109.9	370	0.80×
2	Massachusetts	$76,990	105.8	2,660	1.10×
3	California	$76,520	110.7	11,400	0.94×
4	Colorado	$76,370	103.1	3,570	1.86×
5	Connecticut	$76,290	103.6	810	0.72×
6	New York	$76,260	107.9	7,380	1.14×
7	Maryland	$75,180	105.0	910	0.49×
8	Georgia	$74,940	96.3	3,970	1.22×
9	Oregon	$74,000	103.4	1,490	1.13×
10	Delaware	$73,040	99.8	290	0.90×
11	Washington	$73,000	107.0	2,530	1.07×
12	Rhode Island	$71,700	102.3	240	0.71×
13	Minnesota	$70,680	98.6	1,930	0.98×
14	Tennessee	$69,220	91.9	1,310	0.60×
15	Nevada	$67,000	100.0	1,100	1.06×
16	Maine	$66,200	97.0	440	1.02×
17	Montana	$65,750	94.6	600	1.75×
18	West Virginia	$65,640	89.5	330	0.70×
19	New Hampshire	$65,300	104.2	400	0.88×
20	Pennsylvania	$64,800	97.6	5,370	1.33×
21	Arizona	$64,750	100.7	2,120	0.98×
22	North Dakota	$64,720	89.0	380	1.34×
23	South Carolina	$64,680	93.7	1,170	0.76×
24	Utah	$64,290	98.9	1,820	1.58×
25	Iowa	$64,220	87.8	980	0.95×
26	Wyoming	$63,730	92.7	200	1.06×
27	Hawaii	$63,510	110.0	610	1.46×
28	Virginia	$63,450	101.1	2,600	0.95×
29	Texas	$63,320	97.1	11,710	1.25×
30	New Jersey	$62,960	108.8	2,280	0.80×
31	Wisconsin	$62,930	94.1	2,200	1.12×
32	North Carolina	$62,750	94.3	2,680	0.81×
33	Florida	$62,640	103.4	7,530	1.14×
34	Arkansas	$62,420	86.9	980	1.12×
35	Kansas	$62,220	90.1	630	0.65×
36	Oklahoma	$62,140	87.8	1,260	1.11×
37	Missouri	$61,940	90.8	2,270	1.16×
38	Idaho	$61,840	95.5	1,010	1.77×
39	Nebraska	$61,550	90.1	850	1.24×
40	Ohio	$61,450	92.8	2,860	0.77×
41	Louisiana	$61,010	88.2	1,040	0.80×
42	Vermont	$61,000	98.0	230	1.12×
43	Kentucky	$60,120	90.2	870	0.65×
44	Indiana	$60,000	93.3	2,240	1.05×
45	Mississippi	$59,920	87.0	330	0.42×
46	Michigan	$58,330	96.2	2,100	0.72×
47	Illinois	$58,240	100.0	1,310	0.32×
48	Alabama	$57,100	88.8	1,010	0.71×
49	South Dakota	$52,470	88.6	460	1.52×
50	New Mexico	$50,230	92.2	690	1.18×

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 architectural and civil drafters wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for architectural and civil drafters

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	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$84,440	106.9	110	0.41×
2	Rochester, MN	$83,780	90.8	60	0.68×
3	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$83,630	99.8	40	0.38×
4	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$82,820	110.4	610	0.81×
5	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$81,130	115.6	1,750	1.11×
6	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$80,040	107.8	150	1.11×
7	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$79,860	105.8	2,120	1.98×
8	Lake Charles, LA	$79,540	85.9	50	0.70×
9	Dalton, GA	$79,410	89.8	40	0.96×
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$79,310	108.3	2,150	1.19×
11	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$78,340	111.9	1,130	1.10×
12	Lexington Park, MD	$78,010	100.8	40	0.75×
13	Chico, CA	$77,850	101.2	70	1.36×
14	Manhattan, KS	$77,810	90.2	40	1.19×
15	Helena, MT	$77,320	95.7	90	2.92×
16	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$77,190	102.7	210	0.51×
17	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$77,170	112.6	6,710	1.06×
18	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$76,950	106.7	850	1.18×
19	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$76,630	113.6	3,890	0.93×
20	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$76,020	108.9	1,610	0.77×
21	Napa, CA	$76,000	112.6	60	1.07×
22	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$75,830	111.1	1,520	1.09×
23	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$75,810	104.5	450	0.49×
24	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$75,750	105.6	50	0.84×
25	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$75,560	105.4	1,180	1.47×
26	Vallejo, CA	$75,460	108.5	70	0.70×
27	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$75,290	103.9	40	1.28×
28	Boulder, CO	$75,200	105.2	190	1.46×
29	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$75,010	96.3	440	0.60×
30	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$74,230	98.1	1,300	1.51×
31	Savannah, GA	$74,190	95.2	110	0.84×
32	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$74,180	100.1	2,170	1.13×
33	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$73,930	108.8	180	1.37×
34	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$73,700	110.5	200	0.92×
35	Pittsfield, MA	$73,130	95.1	40	1.00×
36	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$72,590	100.1	90	1.01×
37	Worcester, MA	$72,310	102.5	160	0.67×
38	Madison, WI	$72,210	97.3	390	1.42×
39	Knoxville, TN	$72,180	92.6	250	0.87×
40	Sheboygan, WI	$72,040	94.0	30	0.85×

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 architectural and civil drafters wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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