Side-by-side distribution
Architect
$175,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 26.7%
- Live roles
- 10,538
Plumber
$34.19/hr
per hour · USD
- Disclosing
- 47.9%
- Live roles
- 351
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Technical Architect, Product Management (AWS/Azure)
3P Systems Architect
Director, Solution Architect, AI-Native Engineering
Performance Modeling Architect
Interconnect and Compute Architect
Datacenter Liquid Cooling Architect
Field Executive Architect
Fabric SOC Architect
Performance Architect, CPU Cluster
Lead Architect, Top Strategic Accounts
Highest-paying jobs
1099 Master Plumber
1099 Master Plumber
Residential Plumber
1099 Master Plumber
1099 Master Plumber
Residential Service Plumber
1099 Master Plumber
Legacy - Licensed Residential Plumber
Residential Service Plumber
Service Plumber
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Renuity
|
$135,200 | 13 |
Mears Group
|
$50,674 | 11 |
| SI Sila | $72,800 | 9 |
Amentum
|
$65,520 | 7 |
|
Ace Hardware
|
$76,290 | 6 |
Superior Contracting & Maintenance
|
$117,000 | 5 |
| GV GE Vernova | $60,570 | 5 |
Comfort Systems USA
|
$67,080 | 4 |
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 |
Plumber salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | $83,606 | 5 |
| London | $52,597 | 4 |
Architect vs Plumber: which pays more?
The median for Architect is $175,000 per year (typically $142,400–$206,500), versus $34.19/hr for Plumber ($27.50/hr–$40.86/hr). That puts Architect about 146% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Architect and Plumber 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.