Architect
Engineering
Design buildings that are safe, beautiful, and buildable.
Why it matters here: Transit-oriented development is reshaping Montgomery County.
Labor Market — DMV Region
Sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS releases (DMV metro and nationwide) plus MD, VA, and D.C. workforce agencies.
Local cost of living is why DMV pay often differs from the national median.
- DMV & state figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS wage & employment estimates and Employment Projections, with OEWS area pay relatives for the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro, Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia · View source
- Occupation profiles & skills: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) · onetonline.org
All salary figures are published estimates for groups of workers, not offers or guarantees for any individual role.
Education & Career Pathways
Multiple ways to get here — pick the one that fits your life.
Career Progression
How you can grow — with expected salary at each step.
- Entry-level ArchitectLearning the role, supervised work, building core skills.$79,570
- Architect (experienced)Independent work, mentoring newer team members.$101,710
- Senior / Lead ArchitectOwning projects, specialization, higher responsibility.$129,710
- Manager or specialist trackSupervising a team or moving into a high-demand specialty.$155,652
Skills Required
What you'll actually do — and how you'll be judged.
Design studio plus site visits, weekday hours, deadline pushes
Where you work
A studio with large monitors, model materials and pinned-up drawings, plus construction site visits.
Hours and schedule
Weekday hours with long stretches before deadlines — competition submissions and permit sets in particular.
Pace and pressure
Phase-driven, from concept through construction documents, with crunch at each handoff.
Who you work with
You coordinate engineers, consultants, contractors and clients, and everyone reviews your drawings.
Physical demands
Desk work, plus site walks in PPE on active construction.
What people wear
Smart casual in studio, professional for clients, boots and hard hat on site.
Remote reality
Hybrid; studio collaboration and site visits pull people in.
Workplace culture: what's normal here
- Design critique is a studio tradition carried from school into practice.
- Code and accessibility compliance shape the design from the first sketch.
- Licensure and stamping carry personal legal responsibility.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — Work Environment, with regional detail for the DMV.
Official data behind this career
Federal statistics for DMV Region, translated into plain language.
Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metro area
Source: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP03, DP02, DP05)
- The DMV functions as one labor market: workers routinely cross state lines to get to work.
- The largest employment destinations are D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County.
Top places these workers go to work
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — BEA regional GDP and personal income, most recent published year
Private-sector payroll data from ADP. It is a supplemental near-real-time indicator and does not replace BLS government employment statistics.
Source: ADP National Employment Report — Most recent monthly ADP National Employment Report
- 1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OOH, OEWS, Employment Projections, CES) — Primary source for occupation wages, outlook, projected openings, education and training.
- 2U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey — Primary source for income, educational attainment, labor force and demographic context by place.
- 3Census LEHD (LODES / OnTheMap) — Primary source for where workers live versus where they work, and local workforce flows.
- 4U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Primary source for regional GDP, industry contribution, compensation and personal income.
- 5ADP National Employment Report — Supplemental near-real-time private-sector employment and pay indicator. Not a replacement for BLS.
Figures describe groups of workers, not any one person. Where an official figure is not published for a category, this page says “Data unavailable for this category.” rather than estimating.
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