---
title: "Architectural and Civil Drafter"
description: "Prepare detailed drawings of architectural and structural features of buildings or drawings and topographical relief maps used in civil engineering…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/architectural-and-civil-drafter"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Architectural and Civil Drafter

**Category:** Architecture and Engineering · **SOC code:** 17-3011 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 17-3011.00

Prepare detailed drawings of architectural and structural features of buildings or drawings and topographical relief maps used in civil engineering projects, such as highways, bridges, and public works. Use knowledge of building materials, engineering practices, and mathematics to complete drawings.

Also advertised as: Architectural Designer; Architectural Drafter; Architectural Draftsman; CAD Designer (Computer-Aided Design Designer); CAD Tech (Computer-Aided Design Technician); CADD Drafter (Computer-Aided Drafting and Design Drafter); Civil Drafter; Drafting Technician (Drafting Tech).

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $66,150 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $31.80/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $46,260 to $99,710, with the middle half between $55,650 and $80,870
- **Total US employment:** 103,700
- **Typical entry education:** Associate's
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +5.2% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 9,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 28/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 103,700 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $46,260 |
| 25th | $55,650 |
| 50th (median) | $66,150 |
| 75th | $80,870 |
| 90th | $99,710 |
| Mean (average) | $70,740 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $97,880 | $89,062 | 370 |
| MA | $76,990 | $72,799 | 2,660 |
| CA | $76,520 | $69,111 | 11,400 |
| CO | $76,370 | $74,108 | 3,570 |
| CT | $76,290 | $73,632 | 810 |
| NY | $76,260 | $70,663 | 7,380 |
| MD | $75,180 | $71,628 | 910 |
| GA | $74,940 | $77,825 | 3,970 |
| OR | $74,000 | $71,594 | 1,490 |
| DE | $73,040 | $73,181 | 290 |
| WA | $73,000 | $68,216 | 2,530 |
| RI | $71,700 | $70,102 | 240 |
| MN | $70,680 | $71,668 | 1,930 |
| TN | $69,220 | $75,346 | 1,310 |
| NV | $67,000 | $67,014 | 1,100 |

37 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 52 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/architectural-and-civil-drafter/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/architectural-and-civil-drafter.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 104,100 in the 2025–2035 base year to 109,500 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 5,400 jobs, or +5.2%. Faster than average: 5.2% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 9,100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Associate's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

## What the work involves

- Produce drawings, using computer-assisted drafting systems (CAD) or drafting machines, or by hand, using compasses, dividers, protractors, triangles, and other drafting devices.
- Review rough sketches, drawings, specifications, and other engineering data to ensure that they conform to design concepts.
- Explain drawings to production or construction teams and provide adjustments as necessary.
- Obtain and assemble data to complete architectural designs, visiting job sites to compile measurements as necessary.
- Finish and duplicate drawings and documentation packages according to required mediums and specifications for reproduction, using blueprinting, photography, or other duplicating methods.
- Draw rough and detailed scale plans for foundations, buildings, and structures, based on preliminary concepts, sketches, engineering calculations, specification sheets, and other data.
- Supervise and train other technologists, technicians, and drafters.
- Supervise or conduct field surveys, inspections, or technical investigations to obtain data required to revise construction drawings.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Design — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Building and Construction — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C), Artistic (A).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 5.54 |
| C — Conventional | 4.89 |
| A — Artistic | 4.48 |
| I — Investigative | 4.23 |
| S — Social | 1.55 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.53 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 81.3 |
| INTJ | 80.8 |
| ISTP | 80.8 |
| INTP | 68.4 |
| ISFJ | 62.5 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ, INTJ, ISTP.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Mechanical Drafter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechanical-drafter) — median $71,550
- [Electrical and Electronics Drafter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-drafter) — median $76,870
- [Civil Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/civil-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $64,950
- [Mechanical Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechanical-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $74,510
- [Architectural and Engineering Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/architectural-and-engineering-manager) — median $171,270
- [Civil Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/civil-engineer) — median $100,840
- [Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/architect) — median $99,280
- [Layout Worker, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/layout-worker-metal-and-plastic) — median $63,870
- [Surveying and Mapping Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/surveying-and-mapping-technician) — median $54,240
- [Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $78,190

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/architectural-and-civil-drafter