Architectural and Engineering Managers Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $164K, rent takes 14.7% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,407/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new architectural and engineering managers typically earn — is $112K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $6,725/month. At HUD’s $1,407/month FMR, rent would take 21% of that take-home — manageable on an entry-level income.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $164K locally vs. $171K nationally, a 4% difference.

Illinois pays $164K median vs. the U.S. average of $171K — that’s -4%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 93.85), the purchasing-power equivalent is $174K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $163,610 a year, that works out to about $79 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $112,090, and experienced architectural and engineering managers can clear $231,880. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $9,540/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,407/month, which eats 14.7% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Illinois has a Regional Price Parity of 93.85 (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 engineering managers salary is worth about $174,331 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.