There are certain well-respected professions out there that folks expect to be high paying. Pursuit of these careers can be costly and labor intensive, taking years of college and plenty of blood, sweat, and tears. But oftentimes, when it comes down to getting a job, or going into business for themselves, aspirants are let down by the pay. Architecture is, unfortunately one of these professions.
We can’t all become Frank Lloyd Wright, so many architects find themselves designing everyday buildings—the edifices that make up the places where most people work and live. They enter the workforce with huge college debts, sometimes up to $80,000, yet may spend their first year making no more than $34,000. As senior architects, they may only make around $70,000. So where’s the payoff?
Architecture is the type of profession one simply must enter for the love of it. There is no way around that. Although architects are highly respected, their work does not pay well and, in a recession, their jobs are some of the first to go. This doesn’t mean architecture isn’t for you, it is only to say: go into the profession with your eyes open to the reality.