Highest-paying Cities for Architectural and Civil Drafters

The top 100 highest paying cities for architectural and civil drafters (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment of architectural and civil drafters in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $79,940, New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana is the highest paying city for architectural and civil drafters. It is followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California (average annual salary $78,780). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2023 [1]. For more salary information of architectural and civil drafters in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Architectural and Civil Drafters

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana	$79,940	$49,020	280
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$78,780	$45,720	2,080
3	Anchorage, Alaska	$77,730	$49,030	80
4	Northwestern Connecticut nonmetropolitan area, Connecticut	$76,000	$40,830	30
5	Worcester, Massachusetts	$75,410	$44,540	130
6	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	$74,070	$46,480	250
7	Vallejo-Fairfield, California	$73,200	$48,090	60
8	Framingham, Massachusetts	$73,020	$46,200	100
9	Monroe, Louisiana	$72,800	$46,540	30
10	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$72,690	$50,240	1,790
11	Reno-Sparks, Nevada	$72,160	$50,530	220
12	Nantucket Island and Marthas Vineyard nonmetropolitan area, Massachusetts	$71,580	$54,160	30
13	Merced, California	$71,180	$38,040	40
14	Northern Utah nonmetropolitan area, Utah	$70,330	$43,660	60
15	Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, New Hampshire	$70,100	$35,480	120
16	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California	$68,290	$47,920	1,630
17	Jackson, Michigan	$68,260	$37,460	n/a
18	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$67,080	$45,280	540
19	West Colorado nonmetropolitan area, Colorado	$66,660	$40,990	70
20	Baltimore-Towson, Maryland	$66,430	$43,700	650
21	Colorado Springs, Colorado	$66,220	$47,180	240
22	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$65,300	$55,580	270
23	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut	$65,240	$48,620	230
24	Napa, California	$65,160	$40,400	40
25	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$65,010	$43,330	2,040
26	Grand Junction, Colorado	$65,000	$41,100	60
27	Northcentral Colorado nonmetropolitan area, Colorado	$64,730	$50,010	140
28	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$64,710	$40,280	850
29	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California	$64,480	$40,640	230
30	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$64,330	$44,290	6,890
31	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$64,220	$49,620	1,600
32	Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa	$64,220	$47,450	400
33	Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Washington	$64,200	$47,720	70
34	Western Washington nonmetropolitan area, Washington	$63,940	$48,740	40
35	Rochester, Minnesota	$63,890	$45,860	80
36	Boulder, Colorado	$63,700	$49,080	150
37	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$63,540	$38,130	1,150
38	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington	$63,520	$47,300	950
39	Salem, Oregon	$63,390	$45,090	150
40	Ithaca, New York	$63,380	$48,740	30
41	New Bedford, Massachusetts	$63,360	$42,570	40
42	Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont	$63,150	$41,600	60
43	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	$63,110	$47,680	170
44	Stockton, California	$63,060	$36,830	110
45	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tennessee	$63,000	$44,070	930
46	Appleton, Wisconsin	$62,950	$45,720	100
47	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$62,770	$47,800	1,280
48	Tacoma, Washington	$62,740	$43,180	150
49	Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada	$62,550	$36,420	840
50	Rockford, Illinois	$62,330	$36,880	50
51	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$62,280	$50,000	1,640
52	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$62,090	$48,250	4,430
53	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California	$62,020	$37,510	140
54	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin	$61,640	$40,990	690
55	Modesto, California	$61,540	$35,980	160
56	Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina	$61,510	$42,590	680
57	Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey	$61,480	$44,450	170
58	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas	$61,440	$39,000	1,590
59	Greeley, Colorado	$61,420	$49,650	60
60	Bend, Oregon	$61,380	$40,240	60
61	Salinas, California	$61,370	$38,380	70
62	Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$61,360	$41,600	30
63	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington	$61,280	$48,920	30
64	Janesville, Wisconsin	$61,280	$46,870	40
65	North Central West Virginia nonmetropolitan area, West Virginia	$61,190	$37,440	60
66	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California	$61,180	$36,410	810
67	Urban Honolulu, Hawaii	$61,170	$39,670	290
68	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia	$61,170	$36,460	2,290
69	Fond du Lac, Wisconsin	$61,130	$46,670	40
70	St Louis, Missouri	$61,110	$42,840	920
71	Chico, California	$60,950	$36,180	40
72	Lafayette, Louisiana	$60,830	$41,460	40
73	Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin	$60,820	$38,530	60
74	Duluth, Wisconsin	$60,820	$44,180	140
75	Southern Ohio nonmetropolitan area, Ohio	$60,810	$43,510	40
76	Tulsa, Oklahoma	$60,720	$36,330	560
77	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California	$60,720	$37,270	70
78	Columbus, Ohio	$60,720	$38,280	560
79	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$60,680	$38,000	210
80	Lake County-Kenosha County, Wisconsin	$60,660	$43,610	50
81	New Haven, Connecticut	$60,630	$46,230	160
82	Toledo, Ohio	$60,620	$40,990	180
83	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL-IN-WI Area), Illinois	$60,600	$39,150	2,550
84	Hawaii-Maui-Kauai nonmetropolitan area, Hawaii	$60,590	$49,320	60
85	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$60,550	$39,500	1,480
86	Charleston, West Virginia	$60,540	$38,460	50
87	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa	$60,530	$43,400	110
88	Medford, Oregon	$60,450	$38,600	40
89	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine	$60,410	$46,760	170
90	Memphis, Tennessee	$60,400	$43,610	280
91	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania	$60,390	$37,200	170
92	Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio	$60,310	$36,810	520
93	Canton-Massillon, Ohio	$60,300	$40,340	100
94	Syracuse, New York	$60,260	$40,360	230
95	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California	$60,260	$37,870	3,970
96	Dayton, Ohio	$60,250	$39,000	240
97	Augusta-Richmond County, South Carolina	$60,160	$37,440	140
98	Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina	$60,150	$43,010	160
99	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, Washington	$60,100	$46,830	40
100	Bremerton-Silverdale, Washington	$60,100	$48,130	60

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for architectural and civil drafters.