How much do landscape architects make in 2026?
Landscape architects earn a national median of $79,870 a year ($38.40 an hour) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 for SOC 17-1012, with the bottom 10% near $54,770 and the top 10% at $130,190 across just 19,600 workers. It is a small licensed profession with its own registration route: an accredited degree, documented experience and the Landscape Architect Registration Examination administered through CLARB, with licensure granted by state boards. The public perception of the work as planting design substantially understates it. Contemporary landscape architecture is heavily technical — grading and drainage, stormwater management and green infrastructure, erosion control, accessibility compliance, irrigation and water budgeting, and coordination with civil engineering on site development. That technical content is where the pay premium sits. Landscape architects working on infrastructure, transportation corridors, campus and healthcare sites, and stormwater compliance projects earn above those doing residential and small commercial design, because the work attaches to regulatory requirements and engineering budgets rather than to discretionary spend. Licensure matters in the same way it does in architecture: it permits sealing drawings and taking professional responsibility. Employment is projected to grow 3.5% through 2034 with roughly 1,700 openings a year. → Full landscape architect career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $79,870 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Landscape Architects earn a national median $79,870/yr ($38.40/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-1012); the P10 to P90 range is $54,770 to $130,190.
- The technical content — grading and drainage, stormwater and green infrastructure, erosion control, accessibility, irrigation — is where the pay premium sits, not in planting design.
- Infrastructure, transportation, campus and stormwater compliance work pays above residential and small commercial design, because it attaches to regulatory requirements and engineering budgets.
- Licensure through an accredited degree, documented experience and the CLARB examination permits sealing drawings and is the step-change in responsibility and pay.
US Landscape Architect Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do landscape architects earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 17-1012; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-1012, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a landscape architect earn at each career stage?
Landscape architecture pay follows licensure and technical site engineering capability. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 17-1012.
By State
Which states pay landscape architects the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the national landscape architect median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Licensure and practice acts differ by state, and CLARB certification supports reciprocity in a way comparable to the NCARB Certificate in architecture.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($91,850), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay landscape architects the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. Municipal stormwater and green infrastructure requirements vary sharply by jurisdiction and drive local demand independently of wage levels.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a landscape architect’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does landscape architect pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Landscape Architects sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify landscape architect wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a landscape architect actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Landscape Architect Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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