A shift toward a more diverse and prepared architecture profession has been documented in the latest NCARB by the Numbers report from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. 

The council’s annual survey revealed the total number of licensed practitioners to have grown by 1% to 121,368 in the past year. Another 37,708 are on their way to obtaining licensure. In 2023, there were 3,734 new architects reported to have earned a license, reversing last year’s decline by a total of 6% nationally. 

It now takes candidates an average of 13.3 years to earn a license — slightly longer than the average pre-pandemic frame. This comes after NCARB instated several “pragmatic” changes to the ARE exam.

In terms of a demographic sample, the survey found architecture to have shown broad-ranging improvements in a number of key representational categories, indicating a greater overall diversity along race and gender lines. 

"[The] NCARB has seen consistent growth in gender equity and racial diversity across all candidate stages over the past 5 years. In 2023, 47% of the licensure candidate population identified as a person of color, and 46% were women," the report stated. "Women now make up 48% of the testing population, and typically earn their licenses faster than men —completing requirements a year sooner on average. In 2023, nearly half (43%) of candidates completing the AXP and over a third (35%) of candidates completing the ARE identified as a person of color."

New York finally surpassed California for the largest number of registered architects in the state, with a new total of 21,461. California now has 20,814. South Dakota (76%), Rhode Island, and Montana (both 71%) led the country in terms of the highest licensure exam pass rates. New York (57%) added the largest number of new architects with 578. It was followed by California (526), Texas (294), Massachusetts (181), and Florida (162). 

According to the report, the top four schools attended by architects who were licensed in 2023 were Virginia Tech (2.8%); the University of Oregon (2.6%); the University of Michigan and Cal Poly (both 2.3%). 

The data is derived from NCARB’s annual Survey of Architectural Registration Boards, which provides insights into licensing across the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

To dive deeper into the topic of architectural licensure, follow our ongoing series Archinect In-Depth: Licensure.