Solutions Architect Salary: Your 2026 Guide

Key takeaways

• Solutions architect salary data from Glassdoor reveals that you could make a median total salary of $228,000 per year [1].

• AWS solutions architect salary data from Payscale shows an average base salary of $131,000 per year [2].

• According to Glassdoor’s senior solutions architect salary data, you could earn a median total of $230,000 with experience [1].

A solutions architect's salary is different based on factors such as education, certifications, experience, and location. Explore solutions architect salary details and how various factors can affect your earnings.

If you’re ready to begin pursuing this career, enroll in the AWS Cloud Solutions Architect Professional Certificate. In as little as two months, you can learn about scalability, cloud security, cloud infrastructure, data architecture, data lakes, and more.

What is a solutions architect?

As a solutions architect, you’ll evaluate a company or organization’s needs and determine how information technology (IT) can support these needs with software, hardware, or infrastructure. You’ll also act as the liaison between IT operations and the rest of the organization, ensuring alignment exists in developing and implementing technical solutions.

In this role, you may perform a wide range of technical and non-technical tasks, including the following:

• Developing cloud infrastructure

• Implementing microservices for e-commerce

• Installing data, network, and system security

• Leading brainstorming sessions

• Identifying improvement opportunities

• Building and migrating software and services

• Communicating with clients and stakeholders

What does a solutions architect do?

While working for businesses across industries, a solutions architect collaborates with their team to identify effective strategies for solving problems using computer software. In this role, you may also need to determine what the business will require in the future and plan how to integrate these changes into the system. Other duties may include aligning solutions with the commercial environment, fulfilling stakeholder needs, accounting for project limitations, and choosing the appropriate technology stack.

How much does a solutions architect make?

Since solutions architects have many responsibilities, the position typically comes with an above-average salary. Average salaries, according to several job sites, range from $116,327 to $152,648 [3, 4, 5, 1]:

Glassdoor salary information represents the median total pay as of August 2026. This figure includes base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation.

Factors that impact solutions architect salary

Your salary as a solutions architect can vary based on several factors, including education, experience, location, and industry. Explore these variables below.

Education

Most organizations' minimum solutions architect qualifications include a bachelor’s degree in computer and information technology, engineering, or a related field. However, some organizations may accept a lower degree. Take a look at how solutions architect education levels can impact salary [4]:

• Associate degree: $105,021

• Bachelor’s degree: $121,545

• Master’s degree: $132,940

• Doctorate: $133,142

Read more: What Is a Master’s Degree?

Certifications

Certifications help prove your expertise in certain solutions architect skills. They may help you be more marketable and earn a higher salary.

As a solutions architect, many available certifications come from specific software firms or vendors. Typically, organizations will require solutions architects to gain certification in the software and systems they use. Some common certifications solutions architects earn, and the average salary you can earn by holding these certificates are as follows:

• The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF): $164,000 [6]

• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM): $122,000 [7]

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP): $133,000 [8]

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate: $131,000 [2]

• Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Service Provider: $113,000 [9]

Experience

You’ll typically need several years of IT experience to become a solutions architect. You can earn this experience as a network and computer system administrator, database administrator, computer systems analyst, or other related roles. Once you gain experience, you’ll learn new solutions architect skills to handle your job more efficiently and hopefully increase your income.

Take a look at how your years of experience as a solutions architect can impact your median total salary [1]:

• 0–1 years: $139,000

• 1–3 years: $148,000

• 4–6 years: $176,000

• 7–9 years: $194,000

• 10–14 years: $215,000

• 15 or more years: $230,000

All salary information represents the median total pay from Glassdoor as of August 2026. These figures include base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation.

Location

Location is another factor that can impact a solutions architect salary, whether due to the cost of living in an area or the demand for workers in that area. Review some of the average solutions architect salaries in large cities nationwide:

• New York City: $229,000

• Chicago: $216,000

• Boston: $220,000

• San Francisco: $247,000

• Los Angeles: $224,000

• Dallas-Fort Worth: $214,000

• Atlanta: $210,000

• Miami-Fort Lauderdale: $207,000

All salary information represents the median total pay from Glassdoor as of August 2026. These figures include base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation.

Industries hiring solutions architects

Because many organizations rely on computers to store and track data, solution architects impact a variety of industries. However, some industries hire solutions architects at a higher rate than others. As of 2026, the top five industries that employed solutions architects included the following [10]:

• Management of companies and enterprises: $137,770

• Computer systems design and related services: $131,040

• Temporary help services: $130,670

• Telecommunications: $108,400

• Educational services, including state, local, and private: $105,810

Related job titles

Being in the computer and networking space means the solutions architect role has a wide range of related job titles. Some related careers and their median annual salary, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), include [11]:

• Computer and information research scientists: $140,910

• Computer and information systems managers: $171,200

• Computer hardware engineers: $155,020

• Computer programmers: $98,670

• Computer support specialists: $61,550

• Computer systems analysts: $103,790

• Database administrator and architect: $123,100

• Information security analysts: $124,910

• Network and computer systems administrators: $96,800

• Software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers: $131,450

Job outlook

The demand for solutions architects is about average, as the BLS anticipates 12 percent growth through 2034 [12]. This is faster than most other professions in the US and equates to about 11,200 openings annually [12]. Most of these new jobs will come from workers transferring to a new field or leaving the workforce.

Explore IT with our free resources

Discover fresh insights into your career or learn about trends in your industry by subscribing to our LinkedIn newsletter, Career Chat. Or if you want to keep learning more about IT, check out these free resources:

• Watch on YouTube: Why IT Professionals Need to Understand AI

• Hear from an insider: Meet the IT Support Tech Advancing Toward a Cybersecurity Career

• Bookmark for future study: Information Technology (IT) Terms: A to Z Glossary

Accelerate your career growth with a Coursera Plus subscription. When you enroll in either the monthly or annual option, you’ll get access to over 10,000 courses.