Side-by-side distribution
Architect
$175,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 26.8%
- Live roles
- 10,545
Painter
$24.00/hr
per hour · USD
- Disclosing
- 37.6%
- Live roles
- 510
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Technical Architect, Product Management (AWS/Azure)
3P Systems Architect
Director, Solution Architect, AI-Native Engineering
Field Executive Architect
Performance Modeling Architect
Interconnect and Compute Architect
Performance Architect, CPU Cluster
Datacenter Liquid Cooling Architect
Lead Architect, Top Strategic Accounts
Hardware Systems Architect
Highest-paying jobs
Refinish Technician / Auto Painter
Refinish Technician / Auto Body Painter
Experienced Matte Painter
Collision / Body Shop Painter
Painter - Facilities - Full Time 8 Hour Variable Shift (Non Union)
Aircraft Painter 2/3
Painter
Sr Body Shop Painter
Painter
Automotive Painter
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$162,000 | 102 |
Accenture
|
$180,350 | 86 |
Databricks
|
$213,750 | 74 |
|
Northrop Grumman
|
$169,700 | 57 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$165,275 | 54 |
|
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$244,500 | 53 |
McKesson
|
$142,450 | 44 |
GDIT
|
$195,000 | 43 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Caliber Collision
|
$41,600 | 37 |
Carvana
|
$60,320 | 18 |
| GE Generac | $41,288 | 8 |
Amentum
|
$57,574 | 7 |
Oshkosh Corporation
|
$50,274 | 7 |
| CH Circle Health Group | $44,086 | 5 |
|
The Boyd Group
|
$82,770 | 4 |
| GI Groome Industrial Service Group | $47,320 | 4 |
Architect salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $201,125 | 238 |
| London | $190,024 | 34 |
| Seattle | $187,922 | 129 |
| New York | $186,750 | 380 |
| Austin | $185,000 | 161 |
| Los Angeles | $180,350 | 114 |
| Chicago | $180,350 | 222 |
| Boston | $180,350 | 183 |
| Denver | $180,350 | 141 |
| Atlanta | $180,350 | 155 |
Painter salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | $69,950 | 3 |
Architect vs Painter: which pays more?
The median for Architect is $175,000 per year (typically $142,400–$206,725), versus $24.00/hr for Painter ($21.36/hr–$27.75/hr). That puts Architect about 251% 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.