Talent Maps / Dallas-Fort Worth / Architects

Dallas-Fort Worth Architect Talent Map (2026)

What architects earn in Dallas-Fort Worth, how many are licensed in Texas, which firms employ them and the projects and headwinds shaping the market.

Hiring architects in DFW?

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 architects in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro area, home to two of the largest architecture firms in the country. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), licensing figures from the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners and NCARB, and market data from 2026. Our Dallas architectural recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our DFW CAD designer and structural engineer talent maps.

$93,840Median architect pay in Dallas-Fort WorthBLS, May 2025

$152,330+What the top 10% of DFW architects earnBLS, May 2025

15,485Active registered architects in Texas, 9,002 of them living in the stateTBAE, August 2026

670Projected architect job openings a year in Texas through 2034Projections Central

55%Pass rate on the Architect Registration Examination in 2025NCARB

47.2AIA Architecture Billings Index for August 2026, where below 50 means billings are fallingAIA/Deltek

Architect salaries in Dallas-Fort Worth

The median architect in Dallas-Fort Worth earns $93,840 a year, a little below the Texas median of $94,490 and about $5,440 below the national median of $99,280. The 75th percentile, $125,280, is close to national rates, but the top 10% in DFW earn $152,330 or more, about $9,100 below the national figure.

Annual pay percentile	DFW metro	Texas	United States
10th percentile	$63,240	$60,730	$62,300
25th percentile	$78,770	$76,730	$77,960
Median	$93,840	$94,490	$99,280
75th percentile	$125,280	$121,670	$126,550
90th percentile	$152,330	$142,130	$161,420

Architects, except landscape and naval (SOC 17-1011). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine.

Related roles in DFW: landscape architects earn a median of $97,280, more than architects, while interior designers earn $65,160 and architectural and civil drafters $66,890.

How many architects are licensed in Texas

The Texas Board of Architectural Examiners counted 15,485 active registered architects on August 1, 2026, of whom 9,002 live in Texas and 6,483 are registered from out of state. Licensure takes an NAAB-accredited degree, the Architectural Experience Program and all six divisions of the Architect Registration Examination. In 2025 the ARE pass rate was 55%, ranging from 48% for Project Planning and Design to 63% for Project Management, and the median candidate took two years to finish.

Where DFW’s architects work

Headquartered in Dallas

HKS was founded in Dallas in 1939 and has 24 offices. Corgan, headquartered downtown, has more than 1,400 staff in 24 locations and was ranked the No. 1 data center architecture firm by Building Design + Construction in 2025.

GFF, on Nowitzki Way since 1982, has about 100 staff in Dallas, Austin and Fort Worth. Merriman Anderson/Architects is also Dallas-based.

National firms’ Dallas studios

Gensler, Perkins&Will, SmithGroup, Perkins Eastman and Stantec all have Dallas studios. Stantec absorbed Page in August 2025. PGAL, headquartered in Houston, has its DFW office in Addison.

Fort Worth firms

Bennett Partners works from Fort Worth and Dallas. Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford, founded in Fort Worth in 1963, is now part of GHC. Huckabee, founded in Fort Worth in 1967, focuses on K-12 schools.

Regional practices

BOKA Powell has offices in Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin. Dozens of smaller practices serve the metro’s school districts, healthcare systems and developers.

What’s shaping the DFW architecture market

Billings are soft. The AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index was 47.2 in August 2026, its South region 46.1. Below 50 means more firms report falling billings than rising. Inquiries, at 50.8, were slightly positive.
Healthcare. HKS and Perkins&Will are designing Children’s Health and UT Southwestern’s $5 billion, 552-bed pediatric campus in Dallas, due to open in 2031.
Schools. Dallas ISD voters approved a $6.2 billion bond in May 2026, including 26 replacement campuses.
Convention center. Perkins&Will and Populous hold the main design contract for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center rebuild, and Gensler is designing the Memorial Auditorium work.
Airport and offices. Gensler, PGAL and Muller2 are on the design team for DFW Airport’s Terminal F, and Goldman Sachs’ Henning Larsen-designed Dallas campus is due to open in January 2028.
Data centers. DFW’s data center build-out is a steady source of work for firms like Corgan. See our DFW data center talent map.

The talent pipeline

UT Arlington. UTA’s NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture, offered as a three-year and a two-year track, is the only accredited architecture degree in DFW. UTA also has an accredited Master of Landscape Architecture.
Statewide feeders. Texas has eight schools with NAAB-accredited programs, including UT Austin, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
Growth. Texas is projected to grow from 8,680 architect jobs in 2024 to 9,950 in 2034, a 15% increase against 4% nationally, with about 670 openings a year.

What this means if you’re hiring

Sector experience matters most. Healthcare, K-12 and data center work are busy while other sectors slow. Architects with those portfolios are the hardest to hire.
Licensed architects are still scarce. With a 55% ARE pass rate and two years to finish, supporting candidates through the exam is a strong retention tool.
Pay is close to national rates in the middle. Plan on the 75th percentile ($125,280) for licensed project architects.
Recruit from UTA. It is the only accredited program in the metro.

Need architects in Dallas-Fort Worth?

Apollo Technical has recruited for architecture and engineering firms since 2010. Our recruiting teams place architects, project architects and designers on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 214.257.7733 or see our Fort Worth architectural recruiters page.

Hire architects in Dallas

Frequently asked questions

How much do architects make in Dallas-Fort Worth?

The median architect salary in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro is $93,840 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $78,770 and $125,280, and the top 10% earn $152,330 or more.

How many architects are licensed in Texas?

The Texas Board of Architectural Examiners had 15,485 active registered architects as of August 1, 2026, including 9,002 who live in Texas.

What are the largest architecture firms in Dallas?

HKS and Corgan are headquartered in Dallas and are among the largest firms in the country. Gensler, Perkins&Will, Stantec, SmithGroup and Perkins Eastman also have large Dallas studios.

Sources (14)