Occupation salary profile

Database Architects

SOC 15-1243 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Design strategies for enterprise databases, data warehouse systems, and multidimensional networks. Set standards for database operations, programming, query processes, and security. Model, design, and construct large relational databases or data warehouses. Create and optimize data models for warehouse infrastructure and workflow. Integrate new systems with existing warehouse structure and refine system performance and functionality. Excludes “Database Administrators” (15-1242).

National median · BLS
$139,500
▲ +2.59% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$137,758
▲ +1.22% YoY · 4,535 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$144,440
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
67,140
Jobs (BLS)
Highest-paying state (cost-adjusted) Loading…
Most jobs Loading…
Highest-paying metro (cost-adjusted) Loading…

Check your salary

Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Database Architects

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 4,535 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$86,240$101,000
25th$109,370$118,102
Median (50th)$139,500$137,758
75th$169,290$160,618
90th — top pay$204,000$190,000
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $137,758 for Database Architects — 1.2% below the BLS national median of $139,500.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

Type in either box; the other updates instantly.

Monthly—
Every 2 weeks—
Weekly—
Daily—
Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Database Architects

BLS projects employment of database architects to grow 9.4% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 3,900 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
69,500 → 76,000
+6,500 jobs
Projected change
+9.4%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
3,900
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus less than 5 years experience
Self-employed
2.1% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $137,758
Change vs prior year +1.22%
After inflation (CPI-U) -1.85%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 477 10.5% $91,050 $102,440 $115,000
Level II 1,733 38.2% $114,379 $123,656 $135,000
Level III 1,007 22.2% $136,386 $149,000 $169,242
Level IV 962 21.2% $157,448 $175,000 $201,106
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Database Architects

The 50 most-filed job titles inside SOC 15-1243, from 4,535 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Data Engineer 1,238 27.3% $113,547 $131,685 $160,000 -2.36%
Data Architect 160 3.53% $118,102 $138,684 $160,000 -0.01%
Manager generic 147 3.24% $142,958 $154,606 $177,816 +10.43%
Database Architect 121 2.67% $116,500 $126,000 $141,419 +1.61%
Data Analyst 103 2.27% $117,603 $129,688 $145,802 +3.75%
Consultant generic 85 1.87% $106,340 $122,949 $145,000 -4.88%
Database Engineer 72 1.59% $126,425 $144,770 $165,194 +16.48%
Software Engineer 70 1.54% $124,000 $153,600 $188,805 +7.97%
Solution Specialist 50 1.1% $106,325 $116,450 $123,250 -8.51%
Lead Data Engineer 50 1.1% $135,360 $149,260 $170,409 -4.06%
Principal Data Engineer 44 0.97% $144,200 $158,822 $184,106 -11.77%
DB Architect 39 0.86% $124,250 $135,363 $142,075 +9.83%
Solution Architect 39 0.86% $134,392 $147,579 $160,300 -14.16%
Data Warehouse Specialist 39 0.86% $96,048 $114,400 $132,548 +9.87%
Data and Analytics Architect 37 0.82% $114,379 $130,000 $142,626 +4.87%
Manager, Data Engineering 30 0.66% $155,007 $168,642 $179,825 +0.99%
Architect generic 29 0.64% $132,129 $148,325 $168,498 -1.36%
Application Architect 28 0.62% $131,264 $142,896 $151,991 -3.08%
Business Systems Analyst 27 0.6% $169,500 $174,000 $200,500 +8.41%
Associate generic 24 0.53% $107,463 $123,583 $138,532 +0.52%
Data Modeler 24 0.53% $103,574 $111,415 $126,457 -11%
Staff Data Engineer 23 0.51% $148,482 $168,096 $194,695 -1.85%
Specialist Master 23 0.51% $160,930 $178,069 $211,023 —
Data Warehouse Engineer 21 0.46% $114,500 $120,619 $153,470 -4.59%
Database Developer 21 0.46% $114,400 $125,000 $133,560 +2.36%
Project Delivery Specialist 20 0.44% $120,969 $125,725 $132,868 -4.06%
Data Warehousing Specialist 19 0.42% $116,551 $119,000 $133,250 +6.33%
Full Stack Data Engineer 18 0.4% $131,763 $135,240 $145,037 -6.13%
Associate Data Engineer 17 0.37% $90,000 $102,440 $116,696 -26.83%
Principal Data Architect 17 0.37% $153,962 $165,000 $195,000 +0%
Azure Data Engineer 16 0.35% $73,100 $105,209 $126,000 +2.14%
Cloud Data Engineer 16 0.35% $116,064 $123,604 $133,750 -7.06%
Data Warehouse Analyst 16 0.35% $108,550 $118,032 $146,700 -1.41%
Technical Architect 15 0.33% $112,640 $135,595 $149,750 -17.32%
Project Delivery Manager 15 0.33% $149,100 $156,526 $165,350 —
Software Engineering 15 0.33% $194,126 $233,500 $263,000 +2.31%
Solutions Architect 15 0.33% $144,276 $158,100 $175,357 +5.91%
Analytics Engineer 14 0.31% $146,100 $165,000 $206,184 -4.07%
Data Scientist 14 0.31% $109,790 $138,729 $175,684 -22.79%
Data Platform Engineer 14 0.31% $125,956 $159,350 $184,999 +19.1%
Data Warehouse Developer 13 0.29% $118,102 $121,500 $128,482 +15.17%
Data Architect & Modeler 12 0.26% $137,000 $140,000 $142,287 —
Assistant Vice President 12 0.26% $130,000 $150,000 $161,750 —
Business Intelligence Developer 12 0.26% $108,600 $130,450 $144,000 +9.66%
Principal Consultant 11 0.24% $125,722 $131,519 $154,820 +4.55%
Engineer generic 11 0.24% $115,887 $127,837 $138,081 -17.84%
Lead Architect 10 0.22% $119,750 $171,159 $202,000 —
Cloud Architect 10 0.22% $111,152 $127,421 $132,419 -3.8%
Technology Consultant 10 0.22% $118,382 $136,020 $171,186 -0.25%
Engineer, Data 10 0.22% $133,225 $145,449 $170,000 -9.48%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Database Architects

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Complex Problem Solving3.9
  • Critical Thinking3.9
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.9
  • Reading Comprehension3.9
  • Systems Analysis3.8
  • Active Listening3.5
  • Speaking3.5
  • Programming3.4
  • Active Learning3.3
  • Systems Evaluation3.3
Top knowledge areas
  • Computers and Electronics4.3
  • Engineering and Technology4.0
  • Design3.7
  • Mathematics3.7
  • English Language3.1
  • Administration and Management2.9
  • Education and Training2.6
  • Customer and Personal Service2.3
Software and technology used
Amazon Web Services AWS softwareApache KafkaApache SparkMicrosoft Azure softwareMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft Power BIMicrosoft PowerPointOracle JavaPythonSnowflakeStructured query language SQLTableauAdobe AcrobatAJAXAmazon DynamoDBAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2Amazon Redshift

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What database architects do

  • Develop and document database architectures.
  • Collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to understand business or industry requirements.
  • Develop database architectural strategies at the modeling, design and implementation stages to address business or industry requirements.
  • Design databases to support business applications, ensuring system scalability, security, performance, and reliability.
  • Develop data models for applications, metadata tables, views or related database structures.
  • Design database applications, such as interfaces, data transfer mechanisms, global temporary tables, data partitions, and function-based indexes to enable efficient access of the generic database structure.
  • Develop methods for integrating different products so they work properly together, such as customizing commercial databases to fit specific needs.
  • Create and enforce database development standards.
Also called
Database AnalystDatabase DeveloperDatabase ProgrammerInformation ArchitectData ArchitectData EngineerData OfficerDatabase ArchitectDatabase ConsultantEnterprise Architect
Specialties within this occupation
  • Data Warehousing Specialists
More job titles for this occupation (61)
ADP Planner (Automatic Data Processing Planner)Analytics ManagerBig Data ArchitectBig Data EngineerCloud ArchitectCloud Infrastructure ArchitectComputer ArchitectData AnalystData Governance AnalystData Integration SpecialistData Integrity SpecialistData Management EngineerData Management IT Specialist (Data Management Information Technology Specialist)Data Management ManagerData Management SpecialistData ManagerData Migration SpecialistData MinerData ModelerData Modeling SpecialistData Privacy OfficerData Quality AnalystData Recovery PlannerData SpecialistData Storage SpecialistData Warehouse AnalystData Warehouse ArchitectData Warehouse DeveloperData Warehouse EngineerData Warehouse ETL Developer (Data Warehouse Extract, Transform, and Load Developer)Data Warehouse ProgrammerData Warehouse Solution ArchitectData Warehouse SpecialistData Warehousing EngineerData Warehousing SpecialistDatabase Computer ConsultantDatabase Design AnalystDatabase DesignerDatabase EngineerDatabase ManagerDatabase ModelerDatabase Software ConsultantDatabase Software Tech (Database Software Technician)Database SpecialistDBMS Specialist (Database Management System Specialist)DeveloperEnterprise Data ArchitectETL Developer (Extract-Transform-Load Developer)ETL Tester (Extract-Transform-Load Tester)Information EngineerInfrastructure ArchitectInternet Database SpecialistIT Data Specialist (Information Technology Data Specialist)Knowledge ArchitectProduct Data SpecialistProvider Data SpecialistPublic Key Infrastructure Analyst (PKI Analyst)Research Data SpecialistServer DeveloperSolutions ArchitectStorage Engineer

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.