Architect

What is reasonable compensation for a architect?

An architect who owns their firm through an S corporation has to pay themselves a wage for the design labor they personally deliver, concept design, drawings, client presentations, and coordination with engineers and contractors through a project, separate from whatever the firm earns as profit once projects close out. Reasonable compensation is that labor wage, and a Reasonable Compensation Study documents where it sits using the IRS factors as they apply to a licensed, project-based design practice.

Training and licensure set a firm floor here, and years of experience across project types add real value on top of that baseline. Duties devoted to the business matter heavily: an owner who is personally leading design on every project, producing drawings, and sitting through client meetings and permitting reviews is doing markedly more direct labor than one who has built a design staff and shifted primarily into principal-level review, business development, and firm management.

Time and effort in an architecture practice stretches across long project timelines, from early concept work through construction administration, and a Study accounts for that full arc rather than only counting hours during the most visible design phase. How the owner's time splits between active project work and the slower stretches between engagements also factors in, since architectural work is rarely evenly paced across the year.

What the firm pays design staff, project architects, and support personnel, compared with what the owner takes as distributions, is central to the analysis. The typical staffing model for an architecture firm, one or more licensed architects supported by design staff and sometimes junior designers, shapes how a Reviewer at the firm evaluates whether the owner's documented design duties and hours support the wage claimed against what comparable firms pay for similar work.

National wage band: architect

Annual wages for employed architects in the United States, by percentile.
PercentileAnnual wage
10th percentile$62,300
25th percentile$77,960
Median$99,280
75th percentile$126,550
90th percentile$161,420

BLS OEWS · May 2025National wages for employed people in this occupation by percentile, from the BLS OEWS May 2025 release. An owner's reasonable compensation is derived through the IRS factors, not read off the median.

Start with your own numbers

The table above is the market view of what employed architects earn. The calculator starts from your role, your state and your hours, and shows how a Study would frame the question for your S corporation.

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Questions architects ask about reasonable compensation

What is reasonable compensation for an architect who owns their own firm?
It is the wage a comparable, licensed architect would need to be paid to do the design, drawing, and project coordination work the owner personally performs, kept separate from the profit the firm earns overall. A Reasonable Compensation Study documents the owner's licensure, the project types they lead directly, and how much design work they do personally versus through staff, then compares that against market pay for similar architectural labor before a Reviewer signs off.
Does project type change what an architecture firm owner should be paid?
Project type and complexity shift the comparable role a Study measures the owner against, since different building types and project scales carry different market rates and different demands on the owner's direct involvement. An owner leading complex, highly technical projects is compared against a different wage than one focused on smaller, more routine work, and the factors reflect that difference in training, experience, and project complexity directly.
How does construction administration count toward an architect owner's reasonable salary?
Time and effort looks at the owner's labor across the full project arc, not only the concept and drawing phases that are most visible to a client. Site visits, contractor coordination, and construction administration are real, often time-consuming work an owner performs well after the drawings are finished, and a Study accounts for that later-stage effort alongside early design work when documenting how much time the owner actually devotes to a project.
How does having design staff change what an architecture firm owner should be paid?
Once a firm employs project architects or designers, the owner's role often shifts toward principal-level design review, client relationships, and the most complex technical decisions rather than producing every drawing personally, which changes the comparable role a Study measures against. What the firm pays that design staff sets a market reference point, and the owner's compensation needs to reflect both any direct design work they still do and the responsibility of leading the firm.
Does permitting and regulatory coordination count toward an architect owner's reasonable salary?
Yes, since time and effort covers the full range of labor a project requires, not only the design and drawing work a client sees directly. Coordinating with permitting offices, addressing plan review comments, and keeping a project compliant with local codes is real, often time-consuming labor an owner performs personally on many projects. A Study accounts for that regulatory coordination alongside design work when documenting the owner's total effort devoted to the practice.

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