Talent Maps / Atlanta / CAD Designers and Drafters

Atlanta CAD Designer and Drafter Talent Map (2026)

What CAD designers and drafters earn in metro Atlanta, the employers and software in demand, real posted pay ranges and where new drafters are trained.

Hiring CAD designers in Atlanta?

A talent map shows where a group of professionals works, what they are paid and who else is trying to hire them. This one covers CAD designers, drafters and CAD technicians in metro Atlanta, across civil, architectural, mechanical and electrical work. Pay figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), plus pay ranges published in 2026 Atlanta job postings. See also our Atlanta civil engineer and architect talent maps, or browse all Atlanta talent maps.

$74,180Median pay for architectural and civil drafters in metro Atlanta, above the $66,150 national medianBLS, May 2025

$87,010Median pay for electrical drafters in metro AtlantaBLS, May 2025

$75,360Median pay for mechanical drafters in metro AtlantaBLS, May 2025

3,370Architectural and civil drafters employed in Georgia, with about 310 openings a yearProjections Central, 2024

2020Year GDOT moved survey and design work to OpenRoads DesignerGeorgia DOT

$141,500Top of the posted range for a data center mechanical designer at Jacobs in AtlantaJob posting, Sept 2026

CAD designer and drafter salaries in Atlanta

Atlanta pays drafters above the national median in every specialty except the catch-all “other” group. Electrical drafters, who support utilities, substations and data centers, earn the most.

Occupation (BLS category)	Atlanta median	Atlanta top 10%	US median
Electrical and electronics drafters	$87,010	$144,730+	$76,870
Mechanical drafters	$75,360	$113,450+	$71,550
Architectural and civil drafters	$74,180	$126,390+	$66,150
Drafters, all other	$62,500	$97,440+	$63,520
Civil engineering technicians	$58,780	$87,510+	$64,950

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine. “CAD technician” and “CAD designer” have no category of their own; BLS counts them as drafters.

Recent Atlanta postings that published pay:

Parsons, Sandy Springs: civil CAD designer and drafter for transportation, $22.93 to $40.14 an hour, using MicroStation and GDOT’s electronic data guidelines.
Accura Engineering and Consulting, Atlanta: survey CAD technician, $30 to $40 an hour.
Jacobs, Atlanta: mechanical designer for data centers, $102,900 to $141,500 a year.
Georgia Tech: Drafter 1 using SolidWorks, $20.68 to $28.12 an hour, security clearance required.

Who employs CAD designers and drafters in Atlanta

Civil and transportation design

Engineering firms working for GDOT and local governments employ the most civil drafters. Firms posting Atlanta drafting roles include Parsons in Sandy Springs, AECOM, Freese and Nichols and Atwell in Marietta.

See our civil engineer talent map for the full list of design firms.

Utilities and power

Georgia Power hires CAD technicians for substation and transmission site work using Civil 3D. Pike Electric in Marietta posts drafting roles, and Georgia Transmission in Tucker runs substation design work.

Building and data center design

Architecture firms, MEP engineering firms and data center designers hire Revit and AutoCAD designers. Jacobs is hiring mechanical designers for data center work in Atlanta.

See our data center engineer talent map.

Manufacturing and research

Manufacturers and research labs hire mechanical drafters and designers who work in SolidWorks and Inventor. Georgia Tech hires drafters for research programs, and employers such as Georgia-Pacific and Commercial Metals sit on Gwinnett Tech’s drafting advisory board.

The software Atlanta employers ask for

OpenRoads Designer and MicroStation. GDOT has supported OpenRoads Designer for production work since July 1, 2020, so transportation drafters working on GDOT projects need it. Parsons also asks for ProjectWise.
Civil 3D. Used by utilities such as Georgia Power and by site and land development firms.
Revit. Standard for architecture, MEP and data center building design.
SolidWorks and Inventor. Standard for mechanical design in manufacturing and research.
AutoCAD. Still the common baseline across every specialty.

The talent pipeline

Chattahoochee Technical College. Architectural and Engineering Drawing Technology at its North Metro campus and online, teaching AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit and Civil 3D.
Gwinnett Technical College. Drafting Technology associate degree, diploma and certificates in Lawrenceville.
Georgia Piedmont Technical College. Drafting Technology diploma and associate degree.
Atlanta Technical College. Drafting Technology program.
Kennesaw State University. Engineering technology degrees in Marietta, with engineering design graphics as a focus area.
Growth. Georgia’s architectural and civil drafting jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2024 to 2034, while mechanical drafting jobs are flat.

What this means if you’re hiring

Hire for the software, not the title. A MicroStation drafter and a Revit designer are not interchangeable. Name the platform in the job post.
Budget above national rates. Atlanta drafters earn more than the national median in most specialties.
Know the GDOT standards. Transportation drafters who already know GDOT’s OpenRoads workspace and plan presentation guidelines are productive from day one.
Grow your own. Technical college drafting graduates can be trained into designers. Our guide on how to hire a CAD designer includes a drawing-set test.

Need CAD designers or drafters in Atlanta?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers and CAD professionals since 2010. Our recruiting teams place CAD designers, drafters and BIM technicians on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 404.474.4571 or see our Atlanta engineering recruiters page.

Hire CAD designers

Frequently asked questions

How much do CAD drafters make in Atlanta?

In metro Atlanta, architectural and civil drafters have a median salary of $74,180, mechanical drafters $75,360 and electrical drafters $87,010, according to May 2025 BLS data.

What CAD software do Atlanta employers use?

Transportation work for GDOT uses OpenRoads Designer and MicroStation. Utilities and site design firms use Civil 3D, architecture and building design firms use Revit, and manufacturers use SolidWorks or Inventor. AutoCAD is common everywhere.

Where can I learn drafting in Atlanta?

Chattahoochee Tech, Gwinnett Tech, Georgia Piedmont Tech and Atlanta Technical College all offer drafting programs.

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