Architectural and Civil Drafters · SOC 17-3011

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Architectural and Civil Drafterss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for architectural and civil drafters. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (5 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 285 metro areas

Architectural and Civil Drafters: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$84,440	110	0.3
2	Rochester, MN	$83,780	60	0.5
3	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$83,630	40	0.3
4	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$82,820	610	0.5
5	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$81,130	1,750	0.7
6	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$80,040	150	0.7
7	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$79,860	2,120	1.3
8	Lake Charles, LA	$79,540	50	0.5
9	Dalton, GA	$79,410	40	0.6
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$79,310	2,150	0.8
11	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$78,340	1,130	0.7
12	Lexington Park, MD	$78,010	40	0.5
13	Chico, CA	$77,850	70	0.9
14	Manhattan, KS	$77,810	40	0.8
15	Helena, MT	$77,320	90	1.9
16	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$77,190	210	0.3
17	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$77,170	6,710	0.7
18	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$76,950	850	0.8
19	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$76,630	3,890	0.6
20	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$76,020	1,610	0.5
21	Napa, CA	$76,000	60	0.7
22	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$75,830	1,520	0.7
23	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$75,810	450	0.3
24	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$75,750	50	0.6
25	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$75,560	1,180	1.0

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Architectural and Civil Drafters overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.