An important part of starting a career as an Architectural Designer is choosing a city to work in. Many factors go into this decision, namely job opportunities, including freelance jobs, high salaries, access to a strong Architectural Designer community, and notable architecture within the city. When researching what city to work in, you’ll likely find a few that meet your expectations. If you aren’t sure where to start your research, however, this article can help. Keep reading to find out more about the factors you need to take into consideration when choosing a city to work in along with a list of the best cities in the US for Architectural Designers. 

What is an Architectural Designer?

Architectural Designers transform design concepts into reality. When studying architectural design, students learn how to create functional, sustainable, responsive, and aesthetically pleasing structures. This role requires one to develop technical design skills and soft skills. Architectural Designers must also keep up with industry trends. In recent years, sustainable design has become more popular among home and business owners. Many clients expect new builds to incorporate sustainable designs and energy-efficient systems. An Architectural Designer looking forward knows how to keep up with these trends and advancements in architecture and construction. 

Architectural Designers often work with other professionals involved in architecture and construction. Architects usually lead an architectural design team. They plan and oversee the construction process while also managing contracts. Architectural Designers may also work alongside Interior Designers, who make indoor spaces functional, and BIM Specialists. This role may also require collaborating with engineers, contractors, and clients. The level of teamwork associated with Architectural Designer roles means that individuals working in this field need excellent communication skills.

What Makes a City Good for Architectural Designers?

Architectural Designers can work just about anywhere in the country, but they should consider several major factors before moving to a city and starting a career. In addition to job opportunities, they should also explore the average compensation Architectural Designers receive in a city, how strong the city’s Architectural Designer community is, if freelance opportunities are available, and the city’s notable architecture. 

Job Opportunities

Before moving to a new city and working as an Architectural Designer, you’ll need to explore the city’s job opportunities. Meager opportunities can present problems. You want to move to a city that will allow you to dive right into your career and have potential fallbacks if your first job does not work out. You can check out the opportunities in specific cities or research which cities have a growing demand for Architectural Designers. When doing so, you’ll likely find yourself researching metropolitan cities all around the country. Before committing to a city, make sure that the competition for jobs doesn’t exceed the number of opportunities available. 

High Salaries

Architectural Designer salaries vary city by city. When looking for open positions, you’ll want to check out their salaries and research whether you can reasonably live off that amount in the city where the position is located. Because Architectural Designers are in such high demand in large cities, you’ll likely find that the cost of living where many of these jobs are located is also quite high. In NYC, for example, the salary for an Architectural Designer ranges from $108,500 to $137,000 while the cost of living is roughly $1,700 for one person before rent. A city like Boise, Idaho, with a population under 300,000, has an average cost of living of around $1,000 for one person before rent, and an average salary of $71,000 per year for an Architectural Designer. 

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Strong Architectural Designer Community

Aspiring Architectural Designers should also find out about the Architectural Designer community in the cities where they’re considering working. A strong community of Architectural Designers is useful for beginners who want to network and may need community support. You’ll also find that cities with strong Architectural Designer communities have more education and career opportunities. Find out about the support network and professional development opportunities by looking online for the community’s presence. You may find a strong community that hosts networking and development events or end up unable to find a support network in the city you’re researching. 

Freelance Opportunities 

Architectural Designers who provide freelance services or are thinking of venturing into freelance work should establish themselves in a city with plenty of freelance opportunities. Although freelance Architectural Designers can work remotely, not all do. If you want to set up an office for your freelance business or work remotely with the option of visiting sites, you’ll want to explore the freelance opportunities available in a city before deciding to work there. You can find out about freelance opportunities by word of mouth or by searching local freelance pages. Some freelance job boards also allow you to take on work near your location. 

Notable Architecture

Architectural Designers and other architecture professionals usually like to live in cities with notable architecture. Living around exciting architecture can inspire you in your professional life. Cities like Boston, New York, Washington DC, Chicago, and New Orleans have landed themselves on many people’s “Must Visit” lists thanks to their great architecture that provides a glimpse at US history and the evolution of the architectural field. It also helps that many of these cities are walkable. Architectural Designers often thrill at the idea of living in a walkable city with amazing structures to see every day. 

Top Cities for Architectural Designers

Ready to figure out what city you want to work in? Check out these top cities for Architectural Designers and what draws professionals to them. 

San Francisco 

San Francisco has numerous architecture firms that you can begin your career with. According to Indeed, Architectural Designers in San Francisco make roughly $84,000 per year on average, 17% higher than the national average. This variation is likely due to San Francisco’s high cost of living. The city also boasts a unique topography of rolling hills and valleys. Professionals will feel inspired by the city’s architectural marvels like the Golden Gate Bridge, Dogpatch (a neighborhood combining historic shipbuilding structures, single-family houses, and semi-repurposed factories), St. Mary’s Cathedral, and San Franciso City Hall. 

New York City

Architectural Designers in NYC make an average salary of $122,500. Like San Francisco, this salary reflects the city’s high cost of living. Living in NYC and working as an Architectural Designer will expose you to well-known modern and contemporary architecture. Famous buildings in the city include the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. NYC has one of the highest number of architecture firms in the country, opening you up to plenty of job opportunities. 

Boston

One of the oldest cities in the US, Boston is home to a rich architectural history. The houses and buildings in Boston provide a visual feast for Architectural Designers interested in historic architecture. You can find work in Boston at a local firm or work on historic preservation projects. Architectural Designers in Boston make an average annual salary of $91,000 according to Glassdoor. If you’re interested in furthering your education, you’ll also be close to two of the world’s most prestigious universities, Harvard and MIT. 

Chicago 

Architectural professionals should know Chicago as the home of the Chicago School, a style of architecture defined by its use of steel-frame buildings that emerged in the 1870s, and the Second Chicago School, a mid-1970s style that exhibits a modernist aesthetic and the use of tube-frame structures. The city has developed a reputation for innovative, experimental buildings and architectural styles. Modern architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe designed prominent buildings in the city, and you can too. Architectural Designers in Chicago make an average annual salary of $76,500, according to ZipRecruiter. 

Seattle 

Seattle boasts a mix of architectural styles. You can move around the city and enjoy the different styles present in the Space Needle and National Nordic Museum. The city is also home to older buildings adorned with terra-cotta, like the Interurban Building and King Street Station. Architectural Designers in Seattle enjoy a high standard of living while earning an average annual salary of $94,500, according to Glassdoor. 

Why Become an Architectural Designer?

Architectural Designers are in high demand in the US because of population growth, aging infrastructure, and a growing trend toward sustainable design. Training to become an Architectural Designer will help you develop the skills needed to pursue this in-demand career. Getting started now can help you quickly enter the field and benefit from the expected demand. The industry is competitive, but you’ll likely find the salary and potential for growth rewarding. 

You should also consider becoming an Architectural Designer if you want to work in a creative field. Architectural Designers can express their creativity through their designs. Although clients usually have ideas in mind that designers need to follow, there is still a lot of room for creativity. Working on project designs will also give you the chance to improve your problem-solving skills and decision-making abilities. 

How to Find an Architectural Designer Job

Are you ready to apply for Architectural Designer jobs? You have a variety of options when looking for open positions. 

Freelance Architectural Designers can look for jobs using popular freelance platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork. These websites allow freelancers to market their skills and portfolios to individuals looking to hire freelancers. Another way that freelance Architectural Designers find design jobs is by word of mouth. After establishing yourself as a competent Architectural Designer and building connections in the field, you can rely on word of mouth to do some marketing for you. 

If you want to pursue a career as an Architectural Designer who works for an architectural firm, you’ll want to look at online job boards. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has an online career center where architectural professionals can look at job postings. Once you make an account, you can upload your resume and browse hundreds of job openings. AIA also offers a free resume evaluation. During the resume evaluation, an expert with AIA will let you know how you can make your resume more competitive. 

Archinect is another site by professionals in the industry. On Archinect’s job board, you can look for junior, intermediate, and senior-level positions. Archinect’s filtering system also allows you to look at jobs based on job type, like part-time or full-time, and will inform you if they company is under diverse ownership.

Other popular job boards used to find Architectural Designer jobs include LinkedIn and Indeed. LinkedIn is a professional social media platform that offers users access to its job board. Tens of millions of people use LinkedIn to look for jobs each week and to network with people in their field. Indeed is one of the most commonly used job boards by people seeking employment in the US. With Indeed, you can upload your resume to make the job application process faster and filter out opportunities based on experience level and required skills.

Learn the Skills to Become an Architectural Designer at Noble Desktop

Interested in developing the skills needed to become an Architectural Designer? Check out these live online classes you can enroll in today. 

Noble Desktop’s AutoCAD Bootcamp will teach you the fundamentals of technical drawing. The 30-hour live online bootcamp covers the creation of 2D drawings using AutoCAD. Lessons range from beginner to intermediate-level skills. You can expect to learn basic drawing and modifying techniques for drafting and technical drawing in the bootcamp’s beginner-level lessons. As part of the bootcamp, you’ll receive access to a 1-on-1 training session with an expert who will answer questions you have about challenging course concepts and provide assistance with your project. After completing the course, you have one year to take advantage of a free retake. Before enrolling in this bootcamp, please be aware that Noble designed the course for PC users. Noble hosts in-person PC-only versions of the bootcamp, but Mac users may attend the live online bootcamp. If using a Mac, be aware that the Mac AutoCAD graphic interface is different from the PC version that the instructor will use.

For a more intensive AutoCAD training experience, enroll in Noble Desktop’s AutoCAD Certification Program. This live online program will prepare you to become an Autodesk Certified Professional. An expert instructor will guide you and your classmates through beginner, intermediate, and advanced-level AutoCAD. In addition to 48 hours of hands-on lessons, you’ll have access to six hours of private tutoring. During your tutoring sessions, you can ask questions about topics of interest and challenging course content. The program fee includes the cost of the certification exam and a retake. If you want to enroll in the program but don’t want to take the exam, let Noble Desktop know and they will instead provide you with an extra hour of tutoring. 

Sign up for Noble’s AutoCAD Masterclass to learn the foundations of AutoCAD along with advanced-level skills. You’ll learn through hands-on lessons that cover the basics of AutoCAD, like opening and creating drawings, exploring the interface, and using fundamental drawing and editing commands. Later lessons covered in the course teach effective working methods and accurate positioning. The course intends to help students gain real-world experience through project-based lessons where you’ll learn to use productivity tools commonly utilized by Architectural Designers. Along with 48 hours of training, Noble includes one 1-on-1 training session where you can ask an expert about challenging course topics. 

VDCI offers accredited classes to help you develop the skills needed to work as an Architectural Designer. In their Introduction to Revit course, you’ll learn about foundational Revit concepts and how they relate to BIM. This hands-on class will help you gain real-world experience as you work on a class project that includes floors, walls, ceilings, stairs, curtain walls, and roof design.

VDCI’s Revit Architecture Professional Program will introduce you to beginner and intermediate-level Revit. During these lessons, you’ll design 3D building models and learn how to explore BIM project management techniques. Three courses within the program cover construction documents. In BIM Construction I, II, and III, you’ll learn how to produce renderings for presentation and documentation. Lessons also cover building topography for projects and cataloging building information using schedules. 

Enroll in VDCI’s BIM Certificate Program to learn how to use Revit to create 3D models of commercial building projects. The 100% online class includes 290 clock hours of comprehensive lessons covering Revit, construction documents, and BIM detailing. You will also have your choice of 60-80 clock hours of electives that will count toward completing your certificate program training, and you will gain relevant work experience while working on a capstone project.