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The differences between senior architectural designers and senior designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a senior architectural designer and a senior designer. Additionally, a senior designer has an average salary of $102,058, which is higher than the $74,891 average annual salary of a senior architectural designer.
The top three skills for a senior architectural designer include revit, autocad and design concepts. The most important skills for a senior designer are sketch, graphic design, and human centered design.
| Senior Architectural Designer | Senior Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $74,891 | $102,058 |
| Hourly rate | $36.01 | $49.07 |
| Growth rate | -3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 53,724 | 47,503 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 1 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 45 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A senior architectural designer's responsibilities include designing buildings, providing instructions to a manufacturing team, and using architectural design software to create models. Specifications for designs may be provided by clients or by a company. Senior architectural designers must also ensure that their buildings comply with all legal standards.
Senior designers are typically in charge of realizing design solutions that adhere to the business goals and marketing strategies of an organization. They should be comfortable managing graphics designers and making decisions. They must have extensive knowledge of styles, layout techniques, and graphic design while also managing projects and people effectively. Senior designers have a variety of duties, which include delegating tasks to junior designers, maintaining high-quality standards, and collaborating to improve digital creativity standards.
Senior architectural designers and senior designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Architectural Designer | Senior Designer | |
| Average salary | $74,891 | $102,058 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $101,000 | Between $72,000 And $143,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Washington |
| Best paying company | Western Digital | Lyft |
| Best paying industry | Media | Media |
There are a few differences between a senior architectural designer and a senior designer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Architectural Designer | Senior Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Architecture | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior architectural designers' and senior designers' demographics:
| Senior Architectural Designer | Senior Designer | |
| Average age | 45 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 73.9% Female, 26.1% | Male, 71.0% Female, 29.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 7.0% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 13% |