City planner vs architect

The differences between city planners and architects can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a city planner, becoming an architect takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an architect has an average salary of $86,635, which is higher than the $64,562 average annual salary of a city planner.

The top three skills for a city planner include planning commission, GIS and regional planning. The most important skills for an architect are cloud, java, and infrastructure.

City planner vs architect overview

	City Planner	Architect
Yearly salary	$64,562	$86,635
Hourly rate	$31.04	$41.65
Growth rate	4%	3%
Number of jobs	18,747	94,621
Job satisfaction	-	3
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	42	45
Years of experience	2	4

City planner vs architect salary

City planners and architects have different pay scales, as shown below.

	City Planner	Architect
Average salary	$64,562	$86,635
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $88,000	Between $54,000 And $137,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Alaska
Best paying company	Citi	Meta
Best paying industry	Government	Technology

Differences between city planner and architect education

There are a few differences between a city planner and an architect in terms of educational background:

	City Planner	Architect
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Urban Planning	Architecture
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Cornell University

City planner vs architect demographics

Here are the differences between city planners' and architects' demographics:

	City Planner	Architect
Average age	42	45
Gender ratio	Male, 64.7% Female, 35.3%	Male, 76.7% Female, 23.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.5% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 2.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 16.0% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	13%	15%

Differences between city planner and architect duties and responsibilities

City planner example responsibilities.

Guide production planning activities ranging from developing and revising production schedules, forecasting trends and customer demand, and managing logistics.
Utilize planning relate software and GIS applications; and basic statistics and mathematical calculations.
Direct inbound or outbound logistics operations, such as transportation or warehouse activities, safety performance, or logistics quality management.
Construct engaging PowerPoint presentations for clients.

Architect example responsibilities.

Manage Daimler resources for development of RFC programs
Manage overall testing activities withing the group including functinal, system and regression testing.
Manage the company website using HTML and CSS to produce an easily read website that customers can access more intuitively.
Manage GitLab and Jenkins deployment environment to support automate AWS- development software builds.
Lead re-architecture and implementation of cloud solution for enterprise auto-backup of individual computing devices.
Provide insight and manage all technology relate aspects with presentations and communications at Sr. management and CxO level.

City planner vs architect skills

Common city planner skills

Planning Commission, 9%
GIS, 7%
Regional Planning, 6%
City Planning, 6%
Community Development, 5%
City Ordinances, 5%

Common architect skills

Cloud, 10%
Java, 8%
Infrastructure, 7%
Azure, 5%
AWS, 5%
Digital Transformation, 5%

City Planner vs. similar jobs

City Planner related careers

City Planner related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
City Planner
City Planner vs Architect

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs