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The differences between infrastructure architects and principal architects can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a principal architect has an average salary of $133,276, which is higher than the $119,786 average annual salary of an infrastructure architect.
The top three skills for an infrastructure architect include cloud, azure and amazon web services. The most important skills for a principal architect are cloud, infrastructure, and emerging technologies.
| Infrastructure Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Yearly salary | $119,786 | $133,276 |
| Hourly rate | $57.59 | $64.08 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 102,531 | 118,908 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
An infrastructure architect specializes in designing and establishing information systems to optimize business procedures and company operations, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and assessments to identify company needs, evaluate existing systems to determine its strengths and weaknesses, and present recommendations to senior officers or executives. Furthermore, an infrastructure architect must spearhead the integration and innovation of systems and technologies, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
Principal Architects manage all design work at an architecture firm. They ensure that all work is of high professional quality and manage the activity of other design professionals.
Infrastructure architects and principal architects have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Infrastructure Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Average salary | $119,786 | $133,276 |
| Salary range | Between $94,000 And $152,000 | Between $97,000 And $181,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | California |
| Best paying company | Grubhub | |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Technology |
There are a few differences between an infrastructure architect and a principal architect in terms of educational background:
| Infrastructure Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Architecture |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between infrastructure architects' and principal architects' demographics:
| Infrastructure Architect | Principal Architect | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.4% Female, 6.6% | Male, 89.3% Female, 10.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |