Architect salary in California
A real-employer view of Architect pay, clustered from DOL OFLC certified filings. Variants like Senior, Lead, and II/III titles fold into this cluster — the wage range below reflects all of them.
Architect in California: actual employer-disclosed pay
Public records from 64 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $93,000. Every figure below is an actual offered salary an employer attested to under federal law.
By DOL wage level
DOL classifies every offer into one of four wage levels based on the role's experience and skill requirements.
| Level | Filings | Median offer |
|---|---|---|
| Level I — entry | 31 | $87,000 |
| Level II — qualified | 14 | $99,002 |
| Level III — experienced | 5 | $140,580 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 3 | $160,000 |
Top employers filing for this role
Companies with the most certified filings for Architect in California. Median offer is across all of that employer's filings. Click a company for its full H-1B salary breakdown.
| Employer | Most-filed title | Filings | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| SmithGroup, Inc., subsidiary of SmithGroup Co., Inc. | Architect (non-licensed) | 15 | $90,000 |
| Cannon Design, Inc. | Architect III | 4 | $108,800 |
| CO Architects | Architect I | 4 | $83,300 |
| HDR Architecture, Inc. | Architect | 4 | $111,114 |
| M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates, Inc. | Architect | 4 | $101,050 |
| Tesla, Inc. | Sr Architect | 3 | $140,580 |
| Bevyhouse LLC | Architect | 2 | $93,000 |
| Corgan Associates, Inc. | Architect | 2 | $95,000 |
| Open Office INC | Principal Architect | 2 | $160,000 |
| Alo LLC | Architect (Store Design) | 1 | $130,000 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Architect at Karl T. Korth James Sunseri Architects$88,462San FranciscoWage Level IDecided Mar 26, 2026I-200-26078-717018
- Architect 1 at The Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Inc.$88,484Culver CityWage Level IDecided Mar 19, 2026I-200-26071-698415
- Senior Architect at WRNS Studio$148,000San FranciscoWage Level IIIDecided Mar 5, 2026I-200-26057-667103
- Sr Architect at Tesla, Inc.$178,000Palo AltoWage Level IIIDecided Mar 2, 2026I-200-26054-656768
- Architect at Bjarke Ingels Group California Inc$98,004Santa MonicaWage Level IIDecided Feb 10, 2026I-200-26034-616920
- ARCHITECT at ERIC CONSTRUCTION INC.$97,000TEMPLE CITYWage Level IIDecided Dec 29, 2025I-200-25355-500465
- Architect (non-licensed) at SmithGroup, Inc., subsidiary of SmithGroup Co., Inc.$108,000San FranciscoWage Level IDecided Dec 11, 2025I-200-25338-457928
- Architect I at CO Architects$90,100Los AngelesDecided Nov 28, 2025I-200-25324-425462
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification. Disclosed wages reflect what employers attested to pay; actual paid wages may differ. Only certified filings are shown — denied and withdrawn cases are excluded.