Compared with the local labor market
Architect pay vs. the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area
Across all employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, the median wage for Architects, Except Landscape and Naval — about 4,870 people — is $104,170. Water and Power pays a median base salary of $97,023 for this role, 7% below that figure — about the 42nd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Water and Power sits in the local pay range
$75,640
$80,390
$104,170
$132,190
$164,530
Water and Power median · $97,023
The bar is the range of annual wages for Architects, Except Landscape and Naval across every employer in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Water and Power’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Architects, Except Landscape and Naval — about 106,770 people — is $99,280. Water and Power’s median base salary is 2% below that national figure, about the 47th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$62,300
$77,960
$99,280
$126,550
$161,420
Water and Power median · $97,023
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Water and Power is $138,699, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Architect beyond City of Los Angeles
This role is reported in 17 jurisdictions. In City of Los Angeles, the median of $140,127 ranks #3 of 17. See Architect across all of City of Los Angeles →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Architect roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.