Architectural and Civil Drafters Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $66K, rent takes 23.2% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,008/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new architectural and civil drafters typically earn — is $41K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,431/month. At HUD’s $1,008/month FMR, rent would take 41% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $66K locally vs. $66K nationally, a 1% difference.

West Virginia pays $66K median vs. the U.S. average of $66K — that’s -1%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 89.03), the purchasing-power equivalent is $74K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $65,640 a year, that works out to about $32 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $40,520, and experienced architectural and civil drafters can clear $100,710. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,341/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,008/month, which eats 23.2% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

West Virginia has a Regional Price Parity of 89.03 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median architectural and civil drafters salary is worth about $73,728 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.