olaf is right - lateral move is sometimes the only way to get what you are worth - employers get used to paying you in a range and they get really uncomfortable increasing your salary even though your worth should be continually going up if you are ambitious and making the right moves.
I wonder if some sort of institute of architects exists and, if such a thing exists, might they create and publish a survey of average salaries for architects and designers at various stages in their career?
You can look at average salary reports for general ranges, but there are too many factors to say what your raise might be, or whether you'll even get a raise, in any given years. It depends on: the firm's performance and cash flow, your performance, your coworkers' comparative performances, size of firm, whether the firm likes you and hopes to keep you around, location of firm, economic climate, firm's projected backlog for coming months, whether you brought in any projects, firm's bonus structure (if any),
All I can tell you is my own experience. I've kept a spreadsheet over the years. For the first 10 years my salary went like this:
Year 1at Firm A - average starting salary for the firm size & type in that city.
Year 2: 110% of Year 1, still at Firm A
Year 3: no raise at Firm A - business looking slow. I left and went to Firm B.
Year 4: 121% of Year 3.
Year 5: 115% of Year 4.
Year 6: 119% of Year 5.
Year 7: 91% of Year 6. This is because I accepted a lower salary at Firm C, when I moved to a less urban location with much lower cost of living.
Year 8: no raise at Firm C.
Year 9: 94% of Year 8. Received a raise of about 10% at the start of that year at Firm C, but was laid off in the fall and unemployed for a few months, and started at Firm D near the end of the year.
Year 10: 161% of Year 9, at Firm D.
Year 10 compared to Year 1: 241%
The more recent years since then have been more complicated and have involved much larger variations (mostly up, but some big downs too) because I started my own firm, had a partner for awhile and then didn't, etc.
It's more important to focus on what the individual can do now - and what that competency is worth right now in the marketplace - than what an "average raise" might be.
As I said, it depends on too many factors to say. In the particular firms I was in, in that time period, those were the raises I got. It doesn't mean my coworkers all got the same, or that they would be the same now. Those ten years are prior to the latest recession, so might not have continued in the same pattern if I'd been an employee during recession years. Also you can see that some years I didn't get any raise.
Another way to look at it, is that if you stick to being an employee, your salary is going to plateau at some point. It could be 7 years, it could be 20. Obviously getting to that plateau as fast as possible means more money in your pocket, in the long run. But Bloopox's note above is a good reminder that some years are better or worse than others. In my own case, I took a job for less pay than my previous employer, but 1.5 years later I got a 23% raise.
Trying to plot an exact course is difficult in this business.
You said architect so I assume you're licensed. But for me that was the biggest threshold. Coming out of school my rate was the same until I received my license about 2.5 years after graduation. Then my pay bumped up 20% & my yearly bonus bumped up a few grand. I knew I wouldn't make lateral moves for raises because I liked the firm I was at, so licensure was my fastest ticket to more money.
i've worked it out - over 15 years my cumulative increase averages out to about 8% annually. but it hasn't been smooth at all - most years much less and some years much more. biggest jumps were all from changing jobs.
NS - 15 years. Despite my cherub like face I'm in my early 40's.
Mar 29, 21 4:20 pm ·
·
atelier nobody
632% in 25 years (started as a draftsman with a 2-year AT certificate, not an Arch degree). The last couple years' raises weren't great, but my ESOP contribution this year was 8% (at my age, a bump like that to my retirement is worth more to me than an 8% raise would've been).
241% 8.5ish years out. Biggest raises have come from firm changes, although I did get a pretty decent raise at licensure too. Otherwise, averaged about 5-10% yearly raise good years, 0-3% lean years.
260% in 8 years (base salary only). Probably more like 6 years but no raises for a couple there. Other years it was like 20%. Who knows.
Mar 29, 21 8:12 pm ·
·
tduds
Is the math here that 200% = 2x your original salary (i.e. "I make 200% of what I made before), or that 100% = 2x (i.e. "I got a 100% raise")?
Mar 29, 21 8:54 pm ·
·
tduds
A combination of recession, leaving the industry for a while, grad school, and moving to a lower-cost-of-living region meant that I made the same in 2014 as I did in 2008. Since then I've almost doubled (about 2.25x if you count dividends). Looking at another decent bump in the next year or two as I make some real deliberate job-description shifts.
Has anyone had any success using this to argue for a salary? I tried to use it as a negotiation tool. Once. And I was laughed out of the room, yet everyone always brings it up in conversations like this. If nothing else it's a nice reality check for many of us.
Apr 1, 21 10:55 pm ·
·
bowling_ball
I definitely have. I pointed out that I was underpaid according to the local salary poll. My boss was surprised and gave me a raise on the spot. Which is totally reasonable. If you don't get them to at least think and come back with a reasonable response, it's time to start looking elsewhere. That doesn't mean you'll get everything you want, but it's part of a larger rationale for asking for a raise.
I think whether you'll have success in some firms or with some employers depends on how much they value the AIA survey. My last firm used the survey to benchmark salaries in the firm overall. It kind of made sense for them with multiple offices in multiple areas with varying costs of living. So if you could show them you were underpaid, they paid attention to it for the most part if they felt the description matched your responsibilities and skills.
Apr 2, 21 3:34 am ·
·
RJ87
My employer thinks AIA is a bit of a joke, but thinks their data is helpful. I used their percentiles to ask for a specific dollar amount & told him that I used their number as one of the inputs in coming up with my figure. Because of our bonus structure / the fact that I was on the low end of the experience spectrum for my new bracket, I didn't worry too much about getting into the upper 25% but I was adamant I wouldn't accept below the median. If you're not in a major metropolitan area it works to your favor as the cost of living is lower compared to others in the survey.
Apr 2, 21 9:47 am ·
·
Non Sequitur
We had a bit a office issue 4ish years ago. I believe some staff tried to bring up US salary stats in their yearly review meetings and were turned down. This resulted in ownership to have follow-up meetings with everyone and explain the internal salary ranges & responsibility categories. Very helpful for those unaware that years worked does not always equal top dollar if you're not efficient with your time or actively trying to improve projects/client relations/technical skills, etc. Several staff left within 6 months from these meetings once they new how close they were to the ceiling created by their degree, or their skill set, or their ambitions.
Apr 2, 21 10:18 am ·
·
caramelhighrise
When I brought it up (I wasn't *literally* laughed out of the room, but...) I was told (a) AIA's report doesn't apply because cost of living here is lower, yadda yadda excuse here excuse there but (b) more importantly, the issue revolves around mgmt's set salary brackets. They don't want to pay a lowly architect like me more than a senior position regardless of performance (sounds to me like they should pay their seniors more too if that's the case, but I digress.) I called bullshit because I've been flat out lied to in every review but it didn't seem to matter. Funny how firms use these reports to argue they don't need to pay staff more, but when we use it as leverage for a raise it's suddenly irrelevant.
Firm that I'm at uses the AIA report despite being located in a more rural area. Obviously they perform their own market research however they want to be able to attract qualified people. As such our pay is within 5% of the Denver area.
Apr 2, 21 11:07 am ·
·
natematt
This begs the question, which could really be it's own thread...
How does everyone's compensation stack up to the AIA report for their position in their location?
I am just under the median.
I'm around 5% below the average for the general area. Then again the survey doesn't
have much data for non metro areas similar to where I live.
Apr 2, 21 1:18 pm ·
·
atelier nobody
Because of my somewhat Pynchonian career path (and a few other factors), I have always been a little bit behind people in comparable positions with more traditional education and experience. It also doesn't help that my current position doesn't quite fit any of the AIA's neat categories. I'm satisfied with my current income - more would always be nice, of course, but if it were really important to me I'd be taking more side projects than the one every year or two I do now.
Apr 2, 21 1:38 pm ·
·
caramelhighrise
I'm right on the cusp between two brackets, so considering the lower one which I'm technically in, I'm a hair above the median. But once I cross over the line into the next position, my current salary would be about 20% lower than the median. No way in hell I will get a 20% raise this year, but a 3% raise would get me up to the next tier's lower quartile.
Apr 2, 21 1:54 pm ·
·
RJ87
When I received my license I asked for the median & they agreed. I considered it a bit of a coup considering my age / that I'm under the experience bracketed for that position once I (rightly in my opinion) throw out summer internship hours I used for IDP. I was thankful there was no "Architect 0" title.
Apr 2, 21 2:07 pm ·
·
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Average raise for an architect
Hello ladies and gentlemen, and possibly my enemies.
I'm curious...what is an average raise for an architect with:
1 year experience:
2 years experience:
3 year experience:
etc..
is there a fixed or non fixed percentage?
Thanks?
Depends on several factors.
Does that answer your question?
non fixed percentage based on many factors which change year to year.
My personal range over roughly 10 years has been -20% to +80%. You can expect to fall in this range too.
People say 3% per year but if you're only getting 3% then you're just doing the bare minimum.
in your first 3 years by changing firms you could almost double your salary if you started lower than typical.
if you suck 0
if you are decent depends on the firm
olaf is right - lateral move is sometimes the only way to get what you are worth - employers get used to paying you in a range and they get really uncomfortable increasing your salary even though your worth should be continually going up if you are ambitious and making the right moves.
3-5%.
Change jobs or change position. Only real way to get a raise.
Some places give small increases for certifications.
I wonder if some sort of institute of architects exists and, if such a thing exists, might they create and publish a survey of average salaries for architects and designers at various stages in their career?
^ or better yet: a searching function where one can simply type their question and seek similar and / or previously answered questions.
Kids these, amIright?
You can look at average salary reports for general ranges, but there are too many factors to say what your raise might be, or whether you'll even get a raise, in any given years. It depends on: the firm's performance and cash flow, your performance, your coworkers' comparative performances, size of firm, whether the firm likes you and hopes to keep you around, location of firm, economic climate, firm's projected backlog for coming months, whether you brought in any projects, firm's bonus structure (if any),
All I can tell you is my own experience. I've kept a spreadsheet over the years. For the first 10 years my salary went like this:
Year 1at Firm A - average starting salary for the firm size & type in that city.
Year 2: 110% of Year 1, still at Firm A
Year 3: no raise at Firm A - business looking slow. I left and went to Firm B.
Year 4: 121% of Year 3.
Year 5: 115% of Year 4.
Year 6: 119% of Year 5.
Year 7: 91% of Year 6. This is because I accepted a lower salary at Firm C, when I moved to a less urban location with much lower cost of living.
Year 8: no raise at Firm C.
Year 9: 94% of Year 8. Received a raise of about 10% at the start of that year at Firm C, but was laid off in the fall and unemployed for a few months, and started at Firm D near the end of the year.
Year 10: 161% of Year 9, at Firm D.
Year 10 compared to Year 1: 241%
The more recent years since then have been more complicated and have involved much larger variations (mostly up, but some big downs too) because I started my own firm, had a partner for awhile and then didn't, etc.
I think you're asking the wrong question.
It's more important to focus on what the individual can do now - and what that competency is worth right now in the marketplace - than what an "average raise" might be.
Bloopox,
Thanks for your break down. So it's pretty much 10-20% increase.
As I said, it depends on too many factors to say. In the particular firms I was in, in that time period, those were the raises I got. It doesn't mean my coworkers all got the same, or that they would be the same now. Those ten years are prior to the latest recession, so might not have continued in the same pattern if I'd been an employee during recession years. Also you can see that some years I didn't get any raise.
Another way to look at it, is that if you stick to being an employee, your salary is going to plateau at some point. It could be 7 years, it could be 20. Obviously getting to that plateau as fast as possible means more money in your pocket, in the long run. But Bloopox's note above is a good reminder that some years are better or worse than others. In my own case, I took a job for less pay than my previous employer, but 1.5 years later I got a 23% raise.
Trying to plot an exact course is difficult in this business.
Depending on your skill, zero to being appointed principal.
If you are ok with a 3% raise per year, I dont know how you survive with inflation etc. taken into account
I make 191% what I made when I started, 6 years into my career across two firms.
You said architect so I assume you're licensed. But for me that was the biggest threshold. Coming out of school my rate was the same until I received my license about 2.5 years after graduation. Then my pay bumped up 20% & my yearly bonus bumped up a few grand. I knew I wouldn't make lateral moves for raises because I liked the firm I was at, so licensure was my fastest ticket to more money.
I've gotten raises throughout my entire career from intern up through today as a project manager.
My largest raise was a 15% and was not when I became licensed. Overall since my start in this profession my pay has increased 270%.
270% over how many years? Quick back of soggy coaster calculation tells me I'm at 215% over 11years. I'm expecting to be +\- 240% for 2021.
236% approaching completion of year 12.
My salary has increased 208% since this thread was created.
i've worked it out - over 15 years my cumulative increase averages out to about 8% annually. but it hasn't been smooth at all - most years much less and some years much more. biggest jumps were all from changing jobs.
NS - 15 years. Despite my cherub like face I'm in my early 40's.
632% in 25 years (started as a draftsman with a 2-year AT certificate, not an Arch degree). The last couple years' raises weren't great, but my ESOP contribution this year was 8% (at my age, a bump like that to my retirement is worth more to me than an 8% raise would've been).
I like that it's 632%.
Ooops, miscalculated - only 542% (if current income is 632% of 1996 income, then the increase is 542%).
276% adjusted for inflation.
241% 8.5ish years out. Biggest raises have come from firm changes, although I did get a pretty decent raise at licensure too. Otherwise, averaged about 5-10% yearly raise good years, 0-3% lean years.
260% in 8 years (base salary only). Probably more like 6 years but no raises for a couple there. Other years it was like 20%. Who knows.
Is the math here that 200% = 2x your original salary (i.e. "I make 200% of what I made before), or that 100% = 2x (i.e. "I got a 100% raise")?
A combination of recession, leaving the industry for a while, grad school, and moving to a lower-cost-of-living region meant that I made the same in 2014 as I did in 2008. Since then I've almost doubled (about 2.25x if you count dividends). Looking at another decent bump in the next year or two as I make some real deliberate job-description shifts.
Ive used this in the past to back check my salary against local market. Pretty useful tool to get yourself a little context.
Has anyone had any success using this to argue for a salary? I tried to use it as a negotiation tool. Once. And I was laughed out of the room, yet everyone always brings it up in conversations like this. If nothing else it's a nice reality check for many of us.
I definitely have. I pointed out that I was underpaid according to the local salary poll. My boss was surprised and gave me a raise on the spot. Which is totally reasonable. If you don't get them to at least think and come back with a reasonable response, it's time to start looking elsewhere. That doesn't mean you'll get everything you want, but it's part of a larger rationale for asking for a raise.
I haven't needed to in the last couple of years, but I definitely have in the past to good success. I discussed the most recent time in one of my blog posts and follow up comments: https://archinect.com/arch-ellipsis/2017-aia-compensation-report
I think whether you'll have success in some firms or with some employers depends on how much they value the AIA survey. My last firm used the survey to benchmark salaries in the firm overall. It kind of made sense for them with multiple offices in multiple areas with varying costs of living. So if you could show them you were underpaid, they paid attention to it for the most part if they felt the description matched your responsibilities and skills.
My employer thinks AIA is a bit of a joke, but thinks their data is helpful. I used their percentiles to ask for a specific dollar amount & told him that I used their number as one of the inputs in coming up with my figure. Because of our bonus structure / the fact that I was on the low end of the experience spectrum for my new bracket, I didn't worry too much about getting into the upper 25% but I was adamant I wouldn't accept below the median. If you're not in a major metropolitan area it works to your favor as the cost of living is lower compared to others in the survey.
We had a bit a office issue 4ish years ago. I believe some staff tried to bring up US salary stats in their yearly review meetings and were turned down. This resulted in ownership to have follow-up meetings with everyone and explain the internal salary ranges & responsibility categories. Very helpful for those unaware that years worked does not always equal top dollar if you're not efficient with your time or actively trying to improve projects/client relations/technical skills, etc. Several staff left within 6 months from these meetings once they new how close they were to the ceiling created by their degree, or their skill set, or their ambitions.
When I brought it up (I wasn't *literally* laughed out of the room, but...) I was told (a) AIA's report doesn't apply because cost of living here is lower, yadda yadda excuse here excuse there but (b) more importantly, the issue revolves around mgmt's set salary brackets. They don't want to pay a lowly architect like me more than a senior position regardless of performance (sounds to me like they should pay their seniors more too if that's the case, but I digress.) I called bullshit because I've been flat out lied to in every review but it didn't seem to matter. Funny how firms use these reports to argue they don't need to pay staff more, but when we use it as leverage for a raise it's suddenly irrelevant.
Firm that I'm at uses the AIA report despite being located in a more rural area. Obviously they perform their own market research however they want to be able to attract qualified people. As such our pay is within 5% of the Denver area.
This begs the question, which could really be it's own thread... How does everyone's compensation stack up to the AIA report for their position in their location? I am just under the median.
I'm around 5% below the average for the general area. Then again the survey doesn't have much data for non metro areas similar to where I live.
Because of my somewhat Pynchonian career path (and a few other factors), I have always been a little bit behind people in comparable positions with more traditional education and experience. It also doesn't help that my current position doesn't quite fit any of the AIA's neat categories. I'm satisfied with my current income - more would always be nice, of course, but if it were really important to me I'd be taking more side projects than the one every year or two I do now.
I'm right on the cusp between two brackets, so considering the lower one which I'm technically in, I'm a hair above the median. But once I cross over the line into the next position, my current salary would be about 20% lower than the median. No way in hell I will get a 20% raise this year, but a 3% raise would get me up to the next tier's lower quartile.
When I received my license I asked for the median & they agreed. I considered it a bit of a coup considering my age / that I'm under the experience bracketed for that position once I (rightly in my opinion) throw out summer internship hours I used for IDP. I was thankful there was no "Architect 0" title.
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