Side-by-side distribution
Architect
$180,350
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.1%
- Live roles
- 3,241
Painter
$29.00/hr
per hour · USD
- Disclosing
- 23.2%
- Live roles
- 125
Highest-paying jobs
Lead Systems Software Architect
Data Center Standards Architect
Principal Technical Architect, Product Management (AWS/Azure)
3P Systems Architect
Principal Solutions Architect, Public Sector Federal
Data Center Infrastructure Architect
Hardware Platform Security Architect
Director, Solution Architect, AI-Native Engineering
Sr. Performance Modeling Architect
Interconnect and Compute Architect
Highest-paying jobs
Refinish Technician / Auto Painter
Refinish Technician / Auto Painter
Refinish Technician / Auto Body Painter
Refinish Tech / Auto Painter
Refinish Technician / Auto Painter
Refinish Technician / Auto Painter
Refinish Technician / Auto Body Painter
Refinish Technician / Auto Body Painter
Auto Body Painter (Scarborough Center)
Background Painter - Disney Television Animation
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$142,450 | 125 |
Databricks
|
$213,750 | 82 |
Accenture
|
$180,350 | 62 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$174,600 | 50 |
Northrop Grumman
|
$153,500 | 49 |
| SA Salesforce | $198,050 | 42 |
GDIT
|
$194,295 | 36 |
Leidos
|
$157,406 | 36 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Caliber Collision
|
$41,600 | 34 |
|
The Boyd Group
|
$110,000 | 16 |
Carvana
|
$63,440 | 14 |
Oshkosh Corporation
|
$50,274 | 12 |
| GE Generac | $41,288 | 9 |
Amentum
|
$71,261 | 7 |
Mears Group
|
$44,149 | 6 |
Pyramid Global Hospitality
|
$41,080 | 4 |
Architect salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $199,800 | 216 |
| Seattle | $194,500 | 119 |
| Austin | $191,800 | 149 |
| Los Angeles | $189,750 | 106 |
| New York | $185,000 | 345 |
| Chicago | $180,350 | 218 |
| Boston | $180,350 | 166 |
| Atlanta | $180,350 | 142 |
| Denver | $175,100 | 124 |
| London | $174,844 | 25 |
Painter salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | $56,160 | 5 |
Architect vs Painter: which pays more?
The median for Architect is $180,350 per year (typically $150,000–$213,750), versus $29.00/hr for Painter ($23.00/hr–$31.50/hr). That puts Architect about 199% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Architect and Painter 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.