Sacramento, CA Architects Career Guide: Training, Salary Facts, and More

What You Need to Know to Become an Architect in California’s Capitol City

It stretches across acres. It kisses the sky. It builds against a backdrop that has watched it transform from huts to cabins, to castles to skyscrapers. Architecture is everywhere and ever-evolving. And believe it or not, the world depends on architecture for comfort and warmth, but most importantly, for safety. No other state in the nation requires a higher level of safety in its structures than the state of California. Residents of California’s most heavily populated cities don’t have to worry about protection from freezing temperatures or fierce winds. They are more concerned with wildfires and earthquakes. Sure, visual design is an important aspect of architecture in Sacramento too, but a sound and super reinforced structure is the most important aspect of all.

Sacramento Architecture and Earthquakes
While places like San Francisco and Los Angeles are likely to experience the most damaging earthquakes—thanks to the San Andreas Fault, places to the south like Newport Beach and places to the north like Sacramento, almost always experience aftershocks. These aftershocks can cause structures to shake, squeak, and sway, but with superior architecture and engineering, Sacramento structures can become virtually earthquake proof. So what does this mean for aspiring Sacramento architects? For starters, architects in Sacramento have their work cut out for them. Sacramento architecture firms are well aware of this, which is one of the reasons Sacramento architects currently earn more per year than architects in the nations top cities for architecture. These include New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. Sacramento architects even earn more than architects in Los Angeles, where earthquakes are more likely to occur.