Skip to content
TryHired.
Role hub · Database Architects

Database Architect: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of database architects earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$139,500
Hourly
$67.07
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Database Architects design strategies for enterprise databases, data warehouse systems, and multidimensional networks. The median pay is $139,500 a year ($67.07 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (76% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$139,500
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
67,140
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation
Most common education
Bachelor's Degree
76% of workers
Key facts

Database Architects at a glance

  • Database architects in the United States earned a median annual wage of $139,500 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for database architects in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of database architects in the United States to grow 9.4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,900 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 67,140 people were employed as database architects in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Database Architects

SalaryDatabase Architect salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

Open →
The work

What database architects do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Develop and document database architectures.
  2. Collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to understand business or industry requirements.
  3. Develop database architectural strategies at the modeling, design and implementation stages to address business or industry requirements.
  4. Design databases to support business applications, ensuring system scalability, security, performance, and reliability.
  5. Develop data models for applications, metadata tables, views or related database structures.
  6. Develop methods for integrating different products so they work properly together, such as customizing commercial databases to fit specific needs.
  7. Create and enforce database development standards.
  8. Document and communicate database schemas, using accepted notations.
Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all database architect jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).

  1. Professional, scientific, and technical services34.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +13.8% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $148,250
  2. Management of companies and enterprises9.1% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $142,890
  3. Insurance carriers and related activities8.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $142,120
  4. Administrative and support services5.7% of all jobs in this occupation · +1.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $143,900
  5. Computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services5.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +27.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $158,410
  6. Credit intermediation and related activities4.4% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.9% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $150,930

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Complex Problem SolvingcoreJudgment and Decision MakingcoreReading ComprehensioncoreCritical ThinkingSystems AnalysisActive ListeningSpeakingProgrammingSystems Evaluation

Knowledge areas: Computers and Electronics, Engineering and Technology, Design, Mathematics, English Language.

Tools and technology

Software database architects use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • SnowflakeData mining softwareIn demand
  • Amazon DynamoDBData base management system softwareHot technology
  • Amazon Web Services AWS CloudFormationCloud-based management softwareHot technology
  • Ansible softwareExpert system softwareHot technology
  • Apache AirflowProcedure management softwareHot technology
  • Apache CassandraData base management system softwareHot technology
  • Apache HadoopData base management system softwareHot technology
  • Apache Subversion SVNFile versioning softwareHot technology
  • Atlassian JIRAContent workflow softwareHot technology
  • Autodesk RevitComputer aided design CAD softwareHot technology
  • ChefConfiguration management softwareHot technology
  • DockerApplication server softwareHot technology

Also called: Data Architect, Data Engineer, Data Officer, Database Analyst, Database Consultant.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.