Side-by-side distribution
Architect
$175,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 26.7%
- Live roles
- 10,538
Construction Manager
$128,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 36.4%
- Live roles
- 2,511
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Technical Architect, Product Management (AWS/Azure)
3P Systems Architect
Director, Solution Architect, AI-Native Engineering
Interconnect and Compute Architect
Datacenter Liquid Cooling Architect
Performance Architect, CPU Cluster
Field Executive Architect
Fabric SOC Architect
Performance Modeling Architect
Lead Architect, Top Strategic Accounts
Highest-paying jobs
General Manager & Site Head (SEA)
Senior Construction Manager
Engineering Manager, Site Reliability Engineering
Senior Manager, Site Reliability Engineering - Infrastructure Platform
Global Real Estate Construction Manager
VP, Regional Underwriting Manager Southeast (Construction)
Manager, Site Reliability Engineering
Real Estate Development - Senior Manager/Manager, Construction Project Management
Principal Construction Project Manager, Maritime (East Coast)
Senior Manager, Site Reliability Engineering (Federal)
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$142,450 | 101 |
Accenture
|
$180,350 | 86 |
Databricks
|
$213,750 | 74 |
Northrop Grumman
|
$169,700 | 56 |
|
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$244,500 | 52 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$163,700 | 49 |
GDIT
|
$195,000 | 44 |
McKesson
|
$142,450 | 42 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
HITT Contracting
|
$114,400 | 46 |
Cumming Group
|
$144,183 | 42 |
House Buyers of America
|
$105,000 | 37 |
| PA Parsons | $175,150 | 34 |
| TW Tidal Wave Auto Spa | $100,000 | 24 |
EC Electric
|
$147,500 | 18 |
STV
|
$143,658 | 16 |
| MC Michels Corporation | $140,000 | 15 |
Architect salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $202,000 | 237 |
| Seattle | $189,685 | 134 |
| New York | $187,500 | 378 |
| Austin | $186,200 | 158 |
| Los Angeles | $180,350 | 121 |
| Chicago | $180,350 | 221 |
| Boston | $180,350 | 183 |
| Denver | $180,350 | 140 |
| Atlanta | $180,350 | 156 |
| London | $180,048 | 31 |
Construction Manager salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $193,500 | 22 |
| Atlanta | $151,800 | 14 |
| Austin | $150,159 | 18 |
| Los Angeles | $140,233 | 23 |
| Seattle | $139,500 | 20 |
| Chicago | $138,750 | 31 |
| New York | $135,000 | 53 |
| Denver | $125,500 | 29 |
| Boston | $124,225 | 14 |
| Toronto | $112,273 | 4 |
Architect vs Construction Manager: which pays more?
The median for Architect is $175,000 per year (typically $142,400–$206,500), versus $128,000 for Construction Manager ($103,604–$160,000). That puts Architect about 37% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Architect and Construction Manager are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.