Computer Network Architect Salary: Pay by State, Percentile and Credential

A computer network architect earns a median of $134,050 a year, based on the May 2025 federal wage survey. That’s $64.45 an hour. Half of all architects earn between $104,620 and $168,200, and the state you work in can shift that number by tens of thousands of dollars.

What Is the Median Salary for a Computer Network Architect?

Two averages describe the pay. The median is $134,050, which means half of architects earn less and half earn more. The mean is $139,580, and it sits higher because a handful of very large salaries pull it up. When you’re judging an offer, use the median.

The hourly figures are $64.45 for the median and $67.11 for the mean. They’re handy if you contract, though contractors pay their own benefits and absorb gaps between jobs.

The federal survey counts 179,740 architects. That’s a large enough group that the national figures are stable, and the state figures below are reliable for the bigger states. Small states have only a few hundred architects, so one employer can move the number.

How Wide Is the Pay Range?

The percentile ladder shows the spread. Read it from the bottom up:

The top tenth earn more than two and a half times what the bottom tenth earn. That’s why salary talk about this job feels contradictory. Someone designing a small office network and someone planning a multi-site network for a large employer can both say they’re architects.

Where you land on the ladder depends on how much of the work you own. BLS lists six duties, from drawing network plans to presenting them to management, deploying them and researching new technology. An architect who handles all six for a large organization is in a different pay bracket from one who mostly documents someone else’s design.

Which States Pay Network Architects the Most?

These are the ten highest state medians. The last column shows the pay of the highest-paid tenth in that state.

South Dakota is the surprise, and it’s a small market with 420 architects, so treat it with care. The pattern elsewhere is familiar. Washington, California, Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts combine large technology, defense and finance employers.

Two states with many architects sit a little lower. Colorado has the most, at 16,380, with a median of $139,230. Texas has 13,650 architects and a median of $133,310.

Which States Pay the Least?

Low pay in a state doesn’t always mean a poor deal, because living costs differ too. Here are the six lowest medians.

Even in Mississippi, where the median is lowest, the top tenth reach $174,600 or more. That ceiling isn’t far from what several larger states pay at the top.

If you’re thinking about relocating for pay, compare the state median with local housing costs before you decide. The federal survey measures wages, not what those wages buy.

What Moves a Network Architect’s Pay?

The federal survey publishes pay by job and location. It doesn’t publish pay by years of experience, degree or certification, so we can’t put a dollar figure on any of them. What we can do is point to the evidence that exists.

Experience is the clearest lever. BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as the entry-level education, which means most architects start somewhere other than the architect seat. The percentile ladder is where that growth shows, with entry roles nearer the bottom and architects with larger scope nearer the top.

Credentials show up as eligibility rules. The ISC2 CISSP asks for five years of full-time experience in two or more of its eight domains, and a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a related field can satisfy up to one year. CompTIA Security+ recommends Network+ and two years of experience in a security or systems administrator role.

Degree level also matters. A bachelor’s degree matches the federal entry description, and a master’s can help if you want a design or management focus. Our online bachelor’s in cybersecurity and online master’s in cybersecurity lists show tuition and delivery side by side.

How Does Architect Pay Compare With Security Analyst Pay?

Information security analysts earn a median of $129,180, and architects earn $134,050. At the bottom, the lowest-paid tenth of analysts earn $75,090 against $79,900 for architects. At the top, the highest-paid tenth earn $199,850 for analysts and $202,680 for architects.

So the two jobs sit close together. Architects come out ahead at every point on the ladder, but the gaps are modest, and an analyst in a high-paying state can out-earn an architect in a low-paying one. Here’s how the medians compare in five states.

In these states the architect median is higher by a wider margin than it is nationally. That’s worth knowing if you’re choosing between the two paths. Our cybersecurity analyst salary page covers the analyst side in full, and the career guide for network architects explains the work.

How Do Architects Compare With Administrators and Managers?

The federal survey lists related jobs that bracket architects. Network and computer systems administrators have a median of $99,130. Our systems administrator salary page explains that role, which runs the networks architects design.

Computer and information systems managers sit above, with a median of $175,140. If you like design but want to lead a team, that’s the next step up in the federal tables.

The ladder is steady. Administrator, then architect, then manager, with a security analyst branching off near the architect level. None of the steps is automatic, and the survey can’t tell you how long each takes. But it shows that architecture is a mid-career role with a clear next rung.

Where Do the Most Architects Work, and What Do They Earn?

Pay and job count don’t always travel together. These are the five states with the most architects, with the state median beside each.

California is the only state that’s both a big market and a top-paying one. Texas has deep demand and a median close to the national figure. If you want many employers within driving distance, these are the states to look at, and the differences in median are the price you pay or the premium you earn.

Why Is the Spread So Wide Inside a Single State?

A state median hides a lot. In Washington, the lowest-paid tenth of architects earn $93,610 or less and the highest-paid tenth earn $224,910 or more. California runs from $97,070 to $224,930. Georgia’s range starts at $51,710 for the lowest tenth and reaches $179,040 for the highest tenth.

Those gaps matter more than the state-to-state differences. A person in a low-paying state who moves up the percentile ladder can out-earn a person who sits near the bottom in a high-paying state. In other words, growing your scope can be worth as much as relocating.

The practical lesson is to aim for the work, not just the zip code. Take projects that put your name on a design, ask to present to management, and keep documentation that proves what you built.

How Do Mean and Median Differ by State?

The mean runs above the median in most states, because high salaries pull it up. BLS ranks the top-paying states by annual mean, and the order is slightly different from the median table. By mean, Washington is highest at $164,930, followed by California at $161,350, New Jersey at $159,330, Maryland at $156,070 and Massachusetts at $151,770.

Use the median when you’re sizing up what a typical architect earns. Use the mean when you’re estimating what a whole team might cost, since it counts every salary. Offers rarely land on either figure exactly, but both help you tell whether a number is high, low or in the middle.

Does an Online Degree Change What You Can Earn?

Employers hire from online and campus programs alike, and the federal survey doesn’t separate them. What you can show matters more than the delivery format. Look for labs, a capstone or an internship, and for course lists that cover networking.

Price differs enormously, so check it. Our cheapest online cybersecurity degrees list sorts programs by total tuition. A lower price doesn’t make a program worse, but you should compare it against what the program teaches.

If a certification is part of your plan, our online cybersecurity degrees with certifications list shows which programs name exam preparation. Thirty-four programs we compare name Security+ preparation and 24 name CISSP preparation.

What Does the Hourly Rate Look Like?

Some architects work on contract or bill by the hour, so the hourly figures matter. The national median is $64.45 an hour and the mean is $67.11. In Washington the median is $80.81 an hour, and in Mississippi it’s $43.75.

An hourly rate and a salary aren’t the same offer. A salaried architect usually gets paid time off and employer benefits, while a contractor covers those costs and plans for gaps between projects. If you’re comparing the two, take the hourly median and ask what the employer’s benefits would add to your salary.

How Should You Read an Offer?

Start with the state median. If the offer is near it, you’re in the middle of the market. If it’s below the 25th percentile for your state, ask what the job involves. It may be a different role under an architect title.

Then look at scope. An architect who designs, presents and deploys is doing the full BLS duty list. Pay should reflect that. Ask who approves your designs and how many sites or users the network covers.

Finally, count the whole package. Some employers pay for certification exams and tuition, and some give on-call or project bonuses. The survey measures wages only, so a strong benefits package can make a lower base worth taking.

What Should You Do Next?

Pick your target state and compare its median with the national figure. Then decide which level of degree fits where you are today. If you have no college credits, an associate degree can get you started. If you hold a bachelor’s degree, look at master’s programs.

Build proof as you go. Our entry-level cybersecurity jobs guide explains how to turn coursework and certifications into a first offer, and the best online cybersecurity degrees list is a good place to compare programs.