The 2017 AIA Compensation Report is out. I don't have a copy of the report myself, as I haven't needed to purchase it yet to get a look inside. My office gets it, but the last time I asked HR for it, they wouldn't let me look at it. So, like last time, I'll contact the local AIA to see if I can look at it in their office one of these days after work. Failing that, I'll ask around and see if I have a friend that has access to it. Worse case scenario I'll just pony up the money to pay for it myself. It's expensive, but would pay for itself if I'm able to negotiate a raise. I'm not sure if this was always the case, but I did notice they have a reduced price if you only want to purchase the report for a particular region.

(source)

If you don't care about getting that detailed of a picture of where you might stand compared to others for compensation, you can check out the online salary calculator which has been updated per the 2017 numbers. It provides you with broad information about the region or firm size you select. For some that might be enough. For me it has been better to see the more specific breakdown by city and firm size in the full report rather than the averages available online.

Even then, looking at the averages for my region, I should be making quite a bit more than I am right now. I suspected this, and I've been waiting for this year's numbers to come out before asking for a raise, even after receiving my license. My firm likes to stay close to the numbers in the report as a benchmark and I didn't see any point in having the discussion if the firm was just going to try to hold me to numbers that were out of date.

Anyone else expecting to use this to get a raise?

P.s.: Hat tip to the AIA for changing the position names to get away from calling aspiring architects interns. The online salary calculator lists "emerging professional on the path to licensure [#] (formerly intern [#])" as the new position title. Interestingly enough it seems even the AIA decided not to follow their own position statement where they advocate for the titles "design professional" and "architectural associate" for those formerly known as interns. More on that here and here.

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You keep using that word ...

Jefe, what is a plethora?

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