Autocad Drafter Salary

Q: How much does an Autocad Drafter make?

Autocad drafters make $41,984 per year on average, or $20.18 per hour, in the United States. Autocad drafters on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $31,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $55,000. Location impacts how much an autocad drafter can expect to make. Autocad drafters make the most in Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, Texas, and New York.

Updated February 6, 2023

Average Autocad Drafter Salary

$41,984yearly

$20.18 hourly

Entry level Salary

$31,000 yearly

$31,00010%

$41,984Median

$55,00090%

How much does an Autocad Drafter make?

Autocad drafters make $41,984 per year on average, or $20.18 per hour, in the United States. Autocad drafters on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $31,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $55,000.

Location impacts how much an autocad drafter can expect to make. Autocad drafters make the most in Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, Texas, and New York.

Highest Paying States For Autocad Drafters

If both location and money are important to you, then you might want to check out moving to Rhode Island, New Jersey and Maryland, as these three states offer the highest salaries throughout the U.S. for autocad drafters. Quite opposite of that list is the lowest paying states, which are Nevada, Mississippi, and Idaho.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Autocad Drafter average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Wisconsin	$44,676	$21.48	47
2	Texas	$45,885	$22.06	71
3	Rhode Island	$47,119	$22.65	2
4	Tennessee	$42,399	$20.38	21
5	Illinois	$45,244	$21.75	25
6	Maryland	$46,538	$22.37	20
7	Pennsylvania	$41,266	$19.84	49
8	New Jersey	$46,538	$22.37	13
9	Florida	$41,588	$19.99	83
10	North Dakota	$44,282	$21.29	1
11	New York	$45,665	$21.95	21
12	West Virginia	$45,186	$21.72
13	Montana	$41,391	$19.90	4
14	Arizona	$40,047	$19.25	51
15	Indiana	$43,010	$20.68	10
16	District of Columbia	$50,333	$24.20	1
17	Kentucky	$43,390	$20.86	3
18	California	$44,799	$21.54	85
19	Vermont	$44,260	$21.28
20	Delaware	$41,913	$20.15	3
21	Washington	$41,968	$20.18	24
22	South Carolina	$40,702	$19.57	8
23	Missouri	$40,052	$19.26	17
24	New Mexico	$39,435	$18.96	6
25	North Carolina	$40,450	$19.45	17
26	South Dakota	$41,557	$19.98	1
27	Iowa	$38,799	$18.65	12
28	Colorado	$41,072	$19.75	18
29	Massachusetts	$41,927	$20.16	18
30	Minnesota	$38,545	$18.53	28
31	Ohio	$38,582	$18.55	24
32	Georgia	$38,256	$18.39	122
33	Virginia	$40,783	$19.61	23
34	Utah	$38,158	$18.35	8
35	Hawaii	$44,083	$21.19
36	Nebraska	$38,022	$18.28	5
37	Oregon	$38,067	$18.30	30
38	Arkansas	$38,211	$18.37	4
39	Wyoming	$37,401	$17.98	1
40	New Hampshire	$39,639	$19.06
41	Nevada	$36,868	$17.73	8
42	Kansas	$37,283	$17.92	6
43	Oklahoma	$37,319	$17.94	5
44	Connecticut	$39,298	$18.89	5
45	Michigan	$37,282	$17.92	3
46	Alaska	$37,367	$17.96
47	Idaho	$35,638	$17.13	3
48	Alabama	$33,070	$15.90	12
49	Mississippi	$35,742	$17.18	2
50	Louisiana	$35,333	$16.99	3
51	Maine	$34,110	$16.40	2

Highest Paying Cities For Autocad Drafters

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Garfield, NJ	$46,417	$22.32
2	Austin, TX	$46,076	$22.15
3	New York, NY	$45,843	$22.04
4	Chicago, IL	$45,442	$21.85	1
5	San Diego, CA	$45,004	$21.64
6	Madison, WI	$44,651	$21.47	1
7	Clarksville, TN	$42,561	$20.46
8	Orlando, FL	$41,712	$20.05	5
9	Denver, CO	$41,074	$19.75
10	Columbia, SC	$40,768	$19.60
11	Richmond, VA	$40,732	$19.58
12	Greensboro, NC	$40,663	$19.55	1
13	Erie, PA	$40,405	$19.43
14	Tucson, AZ	$40,290	$19.37
15	Saint Louis, MO	$40,184	$19.32

Autocad Drafter Salary by Years of Experience

The salary for an autocad drafter can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. An accountant with 0-2 years of experience earns an average salary of $31,810, a mid-career professional with 3-6 years of experience makes $41,984 a year on average, and a senior level accountant with 7-12 years of experience enjoys an average annual salary of $47,268. Data on how experience level affects total compensation is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of their National Compensation Survey, which is based on factors such as knowledge, complexity, contacts, and environment.

Autocad Drafters Salary Details

Average Autocad Drafter Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is an Autocad Drafter's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$55,000	$4,583	$26
75th Percentile	$48,000	$4,000	$23
Average	$41,984	$3,499	$20
25th Percentile	$36,000	$3,000	$17
10th Percentile	$31,000	$2,583	$15

Highest Paying Types of Autocad Drafters

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Computer Aided Design Designer	$60,150	$5,012	$28.92	92,503
Mechanical Designer	$62,541	$5,212	$30.07	65,748
Architectural Internship	$53,914	$4,493	$25.92	57,981
Architectural Designer	$59,122	$4,927	$28.42	54,358
Structural Designer	$63,273	$5,273	$30.42	51,432
Drafting Internship	$42,284	$3,524	$20.33	51,193

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Autocad Drafters The Most?

The highest paying companies for autocad drafters are GPAC and Jacobs Engineering Group according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like Apple and Carrier report highly competitive wages for autocad drafters.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	GPAC	$50,717	$24.38
2	Jacobs Engineering Group	$49,537	$23.82
3	Apple	$48,856	$23.49
4	Carrier	$48,178	$23.16
5	CMC Motocross	$46,718	$22.46
6	CyberCoders	$46,588	$22.40
7	Black & Veatch	$46,074	$22.15
8	Cash-Wa Distributing	$45,088	$21.68
9	EFCO	$44,562	$21.42	3
10	Cenergy International Services	$44,521	$21.40
11	Olsson	$44,202	$21.25
12	Volt Information Sciences	$44,087	$21.20
13	ManpowerGroup	$42,804	$20.58
14	Morrow	$42,236	$20.31
15	CSW Industrials	$42,173	$20.28
16	Universal Engineering Sciences	$42,169	$20.27
17	Jacobs Enterprises	$42,165	$20.27	9
18	BOWA	$42,137	$20.26
19	Parsons	$42,132	$20.26	11
20	APTIM	$42,121	$20.25

How Much Do Autocad Drafters Make In Different Industries?

Autocad drafter salaries can vary depending on the industry. In fact, our data shows that the government, professional, and construction industries tend to offer much higher salaries for autocad drafters. For example, autocad drafters make a whopping average salary of $45,111 while working in the government industry. Meanwhile, other people in this field are making $43,483 in the professional industry and $43,384 in the construction industry.

Autocad drafters may want to avoid working in the manufacturing industry as it offers the lowest average salary of $40,879.

Highest Paying Industries For Autocad Drafters

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Government	$45,111	$21.69
2	Professional	$43,483	$20.91
3	Construction	$43,384	$20.86
4	Retail	$42,220	$20.30
5	Manufacturing	$40,879	$19.65

High Paying Autocad Drafter Jobs

Autocad Drafter Pay Trends

Average Autocad Drafter Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Autocad Drafter Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$42,000	$20.18	+2.0%
2022	$41,100	$19.78	+2.5%
2021	$40,100	$19.28	+3.7%
2020	$38,600	$18.56	+2.3%
2019	$37,700	$18.13	+1.8%

Recently Added Autocad Drafter Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Selectek, Inc.	Autocad Drafter	Canton, GA	11/28/2022	$44,000
Randstad Us	Autocad Drafter	Raleigh, NC	11/09/2022	$65,000
Randstad Us	Autocad Drafter	Raleigh, NC	11/09/2022	$41,740
Careerbuilder-Us	Autocad Drafter	Tennille, GA	11/09/2022	$100,000
Careerbuilder-Us	Autocad Drafter	Tennille, GA	11/09/2022	$100,000
Actalent	Remote Autocad Drafter	Michigan City, IN	11/08/2022	$52,175
Randstad Us	Autocad Drafter	Annapolis, MD	11/01/2022	$75,000
Impact Staffing	Drafter for Construction/Autocad 2D	Lithia Springs, GA	10/31/2022	$52,175
Gpac	Top Tier Autocad Drafter	Dallas, TX	10/30/2022	$45,000
Novus Group	Autocad Drafter	Pittsburgh, PA	10/27/2022	$43,827

Autocad Drafter Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Autocad Drafters The Most?

Rhode Island pays Autocad Drafters the most in the United States, with an average salary of $50,333 per year, or $24.20 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As An Autocad Drafter?

You know if you are being paid fairly as an Autocad Drafter if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Rhode Island you should be paid close to $47,119 per year.

Have more questions? See all answers to common architecture and engineering questions.

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Updated February 6, 2023