California · 2026 pay · 110 people
How much does an architectural associate make in California?
$109,561typical pay for a architectural associate in 2026
$79,992 – $153,218what most people earned
Includes everyone paid during 2026, including part-year workers. Each employer counts with its latest published year (2025 or 2026). Typical pay fell 14.8% from the same employers' year before.
✓ Official data from 4 agencies · Matches each agency's latest release · Show sourcesHide sources
- LA City Controller · controller.lacity.gov ↗
- SF Controller's Office · sf.gov ↗
- LA County Auditor-Controller · lacounty.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
Where architectural associates work
Typical pay at each employer, 2026 (everyone paid).
Pay by level
Levels with 5 or more people.
- Architectural Associate21 people$78,356
- Architectural Associate I32 people$84,673
- Architectural Associate II17 people$125,084
- Architectural Associate 119 people$159,920
- Architectural Associate 217 people$189,715
Highest-paid architectural associates, 2026
- 1Cindy WongArchitectural Associate 2 · San Francisco$412,683
- 2Charles SmithArchitectural Associate 2 · San Francisco$327,314
- 3Samuel ChuiArchitectural Associate 2 · San Francisco$300,776
- 4Michael RossettoArchitectural Associate 2 · San Francisco$288,681
- 5Rafael GutierrezArchitectural Associate 2 · San Francisco$253,253
Common questions
How much does an architectural associate make in California?
The typical architectural associate was paid $109,561 in 2026; most earned between $79,992 and $153,218. This counts all 110 people paid, including part-year workers.
How much of the pay is overtime?
Overtime made up 1.1% of all pay for architectural associates in 2026.
Which job titles are included?
Everyone whose payroll title is Architectural Associate, at any level (for example "Architectural Associate"). Part-time-schedule titles (such as "20 hours") are left out. Senior, supervising and trainee titles have their own pages.
Job titles are written out in full from the payroll's abbreviations (for example "SR CRRECTNL POLC OFCR" → "Senior Correctional Police Officer"). "Typical pay" is the median; "most earned" is the middle half. How we calculate this