Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 17-3011.00, #143 of 1,410 by filings
Architectural and Civil Drafters
- Biggest sponsor
- MBH Architects Inc. · 3% of its filings
- Busiest state
- CA · 23% of its filings
- Major group
- Architecture and engineering · SOC 17
Weighing an offer for this job?
Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.
Median wage
$66,592
all PERM $103,272
Filings
346
#143 of 1,410
Approval
94.6%
field 96.8%
Median days
487
10 slower than the field
What it pays
Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.
Median offered wage
$66,592above 48%
Approval rate
94.6%ahead of 35%
Median days to decision
487 daysahead of 13%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
- 5th to 95th
- 25th to 75th
- Median
- 10th and 90th
FY2025
$67,636 median · 174 certified cases
FY2026
$66,113 median · 128 certified cases
- 10th
- $49,587
- +1.2% since FY2025
- Median
- $66,113
- -2.3% since FY2025
- 90th
- $85,000
- +4.4% since FY2025
- 95th
- $89,971
- +0.0% since FY2025
Each row is that fiscal year's certified filings, counted on their own. A percentile is over the year, so a year with far fewer cases behind it is a thinner measurement than one with more.
| Fiscal year | Cases | 5th | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | 95th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 174 | $45,681 | $48,984 | $56,092 | $67,636 | $75,000 | $81,400 | $89,947 |
| FY2026 | 128 | $48,030 | $49,587 | $58,027 | $66,113 | $76,486 | $85,000 | $89,971 |
A median answers whether pay moved. More
Who files it
The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.
Sponsors filing it
- MBH Architects Inc. 12 filings
- Curtain Wall Design & Consulting, Inc. 6 filings
- Payette Associates, Inc. 5 filings
- Lamar Johnson Collaborative, LLC 5 filings
- CetraRuddy Architecture DPC 4 filings
- O'Neil Langan Architects 4 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 36 of 346 filings, 10% of the total.
Firms filing it
- Van Der Hout LLP 13 filings
- FRAGOMEN, DEL REY, BERNSEN & LOEWY, LLP 10 filings
- Immigration Lawyers, P.C. 7 filings
- Yeo Yoon and Associates P.C. 7 filings
- Davis & Associates 6 filings
- Getech Law LLC 6 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 49 of 346 filings, 14% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- California 79
- New York 59
- Florida 54
- Texas 22
- Massachusetts 19
- New Jersey 16
How this is counted
The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 249 of 346 filings.
Where the work is
- New York, NY 37
- Los Angeles, CA 19
- Miami, FL 18
- Alameda, CA 13
- Atlanta, GA 11
- Brooklyn, NY 10
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 108 of 346 filings.
- Every sponsor that files it, by state, approval rate, offered wage and time to a decision
- Every filing for it, PERM, wage requests and H-1B, case by case
Newspapers it advertised in
- 28 cases
Miami Herald
- 26 cases
Los Angeles Times
- 25 cases
New York Post
- 21 cases
San Francisco Chronicle
- 16 cases
The New York Times
- 15 cases
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How this is counted
The newspaper or professional journal named for each case's two print ads, one count per paper per case, however the filer spelled it.
Additional steps it used
- 244 cases
Job search websites
- 194 cases
Local or ethnic newspapers
- 133 cases
The employer's website
- 101 cases
Radio or TV ads
- 48 cases
Employee referral programs
- 34 cases
Campus placement offices
How this is counted
The steps a professional job needs beyond the job order and the ads, by the number of cases that name each.
How long before filing it began
- 0.0%
Under 30 days
- 0.3%
30 to 59 days
- 36%
60 to 89 days
- 25%
90 to 119 days
- 20%
120 to 149 days
- 17%
150 to 180 days
- 0.9%
Over 180 days
How this is counted
Days from the first recruitment step to the filing. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e) puts the job order and ads 30 to 180 days before filing.
Who filled these jobs, FY2016 to FY2023
From DOL's old form; the form in use since mid-2023 doesn't carry them. Top six of each.
Country of citizenship
- Jordan 3
- Dominican Republic 2
- Philippines 2
- Canada 1
- China 1
- India 1
Worker's education
- Bachelor's 6
- Master's 4
Visa held when filed
- H-1B 8
- J-1 1
- L-1 1
Schools
- SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 3
- THE BOSTON ARCHITECTURAL COLLEGE 2
- BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY 1
- SHERIDAN COLLEGE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED LEARNING 1
- UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 1
- UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 1
Fields of study
- ARCHITECTURE 5
- INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE 2
- BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE 1
- CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT 1
- ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING 1
The job itself
What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.
- United States103,700 jobs
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJNew York, Brooklyn
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CALos Angeles
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMiami
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CAAlameda
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAAtlanta
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
- median PERM offer
| Area | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $66,150 | ||||
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $77,170 | $53,893 | $66,518 | $79,123 | $91,749 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $76,630 | $55,910 | $67,496 | $79,061 | $90,646 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $61,720 | $42,536 | $52,978 | $63,440 | $73,882 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $81,130 | $63,086 | $76,128 | $89,149 | $102,190 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $74,180 | $52,374 | $65,915 | $79,456 | $92,997 |
How these figures fit together
BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.
The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More
DOL's levels for this job in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ, year by year
Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.
| Wage year | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $53,893 | $66,518 | $79,123 | $91,749 |
| 2025-26 | $51,480 | $63,773 | $76,045 | $88,338 |
| 2024-25 | $50,003 | $61,006 | $72,010 | $83,013 |
| 2023-24 | $48,984 | $59,197 | $69,430 | $79,643 |
| 2022-23 | $45,302 | $55,536 | $65,770 | $76,003 |
| 2021-22 | $49,982 | $57,824 | $65,645 | $73,486 |
What the job is
Prepare detailed drawings of architectural and structural features of buildings or drawings and topographical relief maps used in civil engineering projects, such as highways, bridges, and public works. Use knowledge of building materials, engineering practices, and mathematics to complete drawings.
- Preparation
- Medium Preparation Needed
- O*NET Job Zone 3
- DOL's education basis
- Associate's degree
- Wage year 2026-27
- Jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +5.2%
- About 9,100 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- Associate's degree
- BLS
Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for rapid growth.
The work, most important first
- Produce drawings, using computer-assisted drafting systems (CAD) or drafting machines, or by hand, using compasses, dividers, protractors, triangles, and other drafting devices.
- Analyze building codes, by-laws, space and site requirements, and other technical documents and reports to determine their effect on architectural designs.
- Draw rough and detailed scale plans for foundations, buildings, and structures, based on preliminary concepts, sketches, engineering calculations, specification sheets, and other data.
- Coordinate structural, electrical, and mechanical designs and determine a method of presentation to graphically represent building plans.
- Explain drawings to production or construction teams and provide adjustments as necessary.
- Obtain and assemble data to complete architectural designs, visiting job sites to compile measurements as necessary.
Titles people use for it
Architectural Designer, Architectural Drafter, CAD Tech (Computer-Aided Design Technician), Draftsman, Architectural Draftsman, CAD Designer (Computer-Aided Design Designer), CADD Drafter (Computer-Aided Drafting and Design Drafter), Civil Drafter.
Related jobs: Mechanical Drafters, Electrical and Electronics Drafters, Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Architectural and Engineering Managers, Civil Engineers.
This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Against other jobs
Where this sits in the ranking
Ranked 143 of 1,410 by volume: 142 filed at least as many filings, and 1,267 filed no more.
- Just above
- Dishwashers 352 filings
- Just below
- Financial Analysts 344 filings
Other architecture and engineering roles
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.
- #139 Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers 364 filings · 6 denied
- #135 Computer Hardware Engineers 383 filings · 4 denied
- #152 Chemical Engineers 318 filings · 6 denied
- #133 Materials Engineers 391 filings · 3 denied
- #130 Robotics Engineers 402 filings · 9 denied
- #179 Validation Engineer 244 filings · 10 denied
The same job on H-1B
2,588 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $62,835 a year; the middle half ran $55,000 to $73,000. By state and year in the salary explorer.
Notes on these numbers
Reading the wage
A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.
What the median is
The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.
What these numbers don't say
4 notes
- The code is the identity
- This one is SOC 17-3011.00. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
- A median isn’t an offer
- It's the middle of all 346 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
- Approval isn’t about the occupation
- The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Architectural and Civil Drafters. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 346 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is MBH Architects Inc.. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.
The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built
Weighing an offer?
Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.
Setting one?
All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.
Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load
O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.
O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.
BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.
BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it