What Is the Average Enterprise Architect Salary in the US?

A career as an enterprise architect comes with high salaries, good career prospects, and high job satisfaction. According to Glassdoor’s Best Jobs in America for 2022 report, enterprise architects came out on top when considering these three factors [1]. Today, the job remains in demand, with many companies seeking the specialized skill set these professionals offer and their ability to connect business strategies, risk management, and IT innovation. 

Discover the average enterprise architect’s salary and how to earn the highest wage possible, factoring in your experience level, education, industry, and location. 

What does an enterprise architect do? 

An enterprise architect establishes and maintains a company’s information technology strategy and infrastructure to ensure it effectively meets business goals. Activities include adapting structures, improving processes to maximize efficiency and to ensure they fit the purpose, and maintaining and improving the system's architecture. Enterprise architects are technical experts with a firm grasp of business fundamentals. 

Enterprise architect salary

When considering potential earnings, looking at the average salaries across multiple popular sources can provide a good view of the possibilities. According to data from several reliable job listing websites, the average enterprise architect's base salary is as follows: 

Factors affecting salary

Looking at the average salary is a good start; however, several factors can impact your salary as an enterprise architect. Experience, skills, and education play a part in reaching higher salary levels, but your industry and geographic location are also factors. Let’s take a look in more detail.

Industry

Enterprise architects work across a wide range of industries and are needed wherever an organization or business needs a technology system to support business strategy. Different organizations pay different rates, with some being more lucrative than others. 

To get a feel for the variations you may see according to the sector you work in, check out the following list of the average salary for this job in several industries, according to Zippia [3]:

• Hospitality: $123,283

• Health care: $121,490

• Finance: $117,678

• Technology: $114,821 

• Insurance: $113,627

• Professional: $93,622

Location

Different areas, states, and cities have different pay rates if you’re looking for a role as an enterprise architect. Before applying for roles, it’s worth checking how your geographical location stacks up.

Highest paying states 

According to Zippia, the states with the highest average annual salary for enterprise architects are [3]:

1. California: $127,897

2. South Carolina: $118,665

3. New York: $118,022

4. New Jersey: $118,008

5. North Carolina: $113,782

Highest paying cities

According to Zippia, the cities with the highest average annual salary for enterprise architects include [3]:

• San Jose, CA: $131,263

• Washington, DC: $119,669

• New York, NY: $118,649

• Trenton, NJ: $118,320

• Raleigh, NC: $114,361

Lowest paying states

When thinking about the highest-paid locations to work from, it’s also helpful to know the lowest-paid areas. According to Zippia, these states have the lowest average annual salary for enterprise architect roles [3]:

1. Idaho: $88,588

2. South Dakota: $87,717

3. North Dakota: $86,920

4. Montana: $86,732

5. Alaska: $85,669

Education

A bachelor’s degree is the most common for enterprise architect jobs, with 67 percent having one and 23 percent having a master's [6]. The majority of enterprise architects hold a degree in a subject like computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, or business. 

It’s worth noting that higher-level degrees often lead to increased salaries. The following offers a breakdown of education levels and their associated average annual salaries [6]:

• Associate degree: $106,001

• Bachelor’s degree: $124,314

• Master’s degree: $137,078

• Doctorate: $137,305

Experience 

Increased experience comes with opportunities to advance to higher-paying positions, moving from an entry-level enterprise architect salary to a senior enterprise architect salary. Your salary can also increase as you spend more time in a position. 

According to Payscale, the average annual salary for an enterprise architect at each career stage is as follows [5]:

Skills

Ensuring you have the essential skills for the role plays a big part in securing top positions. Consider developing expertise in workplace skills such as communication, problem-solving, leadership, and negotiation. Additionally, technical skills such as project management, IT, and a solid understanding of the cloud can help enterprise architects, as can an understanding of the cloud and the ability to organize infrastructure.

Some specific skills can contribute to earning higher salaries. Some critical skills and their corresponding average salaries include [5]:

• Strategy development: $159,458

• Enterprise application integration: $154,665

• Enterprise solutions: $153,272

• Cloud computing: $153,989

• System architecture: $148,629

Job outlook

Enterprise architects are in high demand. Companies see the value in enterprise architects, and the role is popular, with plenty of career opportunities. Additionally, many organizations seek these professionals to help bridge their digital transformations, IT implementations, and business strategies. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects similar jobs, such as a computer network architect, to have a 13 percent increase in job opportunities between 2023 and 2033 [7]. 

Enterprise architect career path

To enter this career, you will likely start in entry-level or related roles to gain experience. Such roles include software developer, systems analyst programmer, software engineer, architect, and developer. 

In terms of career progression, you’ll find many roles you may consider after building experience as an enterprise architect. Possible job titles and their associated average annual base salary are as follows:

• Solutions architect: $153,868

• Enterprise architect director: $181,485

• Information technology manager: $121,362

• Vice president of information technology: $193,763

• Integration architect: $142,993

• Software architect: $163,466

• Data warehouse architect: $131,342

• Infrastructure architect: $153,898

Getting started with Coursera

Working as an enterprise architect comes with an excellent salary. However, to maximize your compensation, consider your industry and build up your skills and experience to reach the best-paid opportunities.

Continue learning about enterprise architecture and building your technical skills with an online certificate such as IBM's Introduction to Cloud Computing. You might also check out Google's System Administration and IT Infrastructure Services, part of the Google IT Support Professional Certification. All are available on Coursera.