Side-by-side distribution
Architect
$175,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 26.5%
- Live roles
- 10,778
HVAC Technician
$33.30/hr
per hour · USD
- Disclosing
- 50.4%
- Live roles
- 1,057
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Technical Architect, Product Management (AWS/Azure)
3P Systems Architect
Performance Architect, CPU Cluster
Interconnect and Compute Architect
Field Executive Architect
Datacenter Liquid Cooling Architect
Performance Modeling Architect
Slack VP, Product Design (Individual Contributor; Principal Architect)
Lead Architect, Top Strategic Accounts
Hardware Systems Architect
Highest-paying jobs
HVAC Selling Technician
HVAC Service Technician
HVAC Service Technician $2k Sign on Bonus
HVAC - Mechanical 1099 Contractor - Maintenance Technician
HVAC - Mechanical 1099 Contractor - Maintenance Technician
HVAC - Mechanical 1099 Contractor - Maintenance Technician
HVAC - Mechanical 1099 Contractor - Maintenance Technician
HVAC - Mechanical 1099 Contractor - Maintenance Technician
HVAC - Mechanical 1099 Contractor - Maintenance Technician
HVAC - Mechanical 1099 Contractor - Maintenance Technician
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Accenture
|
$180,350 | 93 |
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$142,450 | 92 |
Databricks
|
$213,750 | 78 |
Northrop Grumman
|
$171,750 | 56 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$166,850 | 55 |
|
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$243,500 | 54 |
| SA Salesforce | $198,050 | 47 |
McKesson
|
$142,450 | 42 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Sunbelt Rentals
|
$57,918 | 69 |
| DA Daikin Applied | $78,036 | 60 |
| JC Johnson Controls | $71,760 | 38 |
| SI Sila | $72,800 | 27 |
Carrier
|
$74,880 | 24 |
Cushman & Wakefield
|
$76,960 | 21 |
Comfort Systems USA
|
$75,920 | 20 |
Ace Hardware
|
$62,400 | 19 |
Architect salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $202,000 | 257 |
| Seattle | $194,100 | 144 |
| Austin | $189,279 | 171 |
| New York | $187,500 | 395 |
| Los Angeles | $180,350 | 117 |
| Chicago | $180,350 | 248 |
| Boston | $180,350 | 183 |
| Denver | $180,350 | 152 |
| Atlanta | $180,350 | 170 |
| London | $175,387 | 30 |
Architect vs HVAC Technician: which pays more?
The median for Architect is $175,000 per year (typically $142,450–$207,950), versus $33.30/hr for HVAC Technician ($27.85/hr–$40.00/hr). That puts Architect about 153% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Architect and HVAC Technician 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.