Test Architect Salary in the United States

How much does a Test Architect make in the United States?

As of February 01, 2026, the average salary for a Test Architect in the United States is $109,380 per year, which breaks down to an hourly rate of $53.

However, a Test Architect's salary can vary significantly. Here’s a look at the typical salary range:

  • Top Earners (90th percentile): $123,292
  • Majority Range (25th-75th percentile): $100,295 to $116,662
  • Entry-Level (10th percentile): $92,024
Compensation Planning
Develop a Job Description
Pay Equity
2025 Compensation Trend
AI-Powered HR
AI-Powered Talent
View as table View as graph 25% $100,295 10% $92,024 90% $123,292 75% $116,662 $109,380 50%(Median) Didn’t find job title? Click

Test Architect Salaries by Percentile

Annual
Salary
Monthly
Pay
Weekly
Pay
Hourly
Wage
75th Percentile $116,662 $9,722 $2,244 $56
Average $109,380 $9,115 $2,103 $53
25th Percentile $100,295 $8,358 $1,929 $48
Check out Test Architect Job Openings in the United States
Test Verification Engineer

HII Mission Technologies - DAYTON, OH

Principal Test Architect

RTX - TUCSON, AZ

Air Dominance Test Architect P5

RTX - TUCSON, AZ

Senior Test Engineer Scenario Architect

Torch Technologies Inc. - EGLIN AFB, FL

Search More Test Architect Jobs in the United States

Key Factors That Influence Test Architect Salaries

A Test Architect's salary isn't a fixed number. It's shaped by several important factors. Below, we'll explore how your years of experience, geographic location, education and company size can directly affect your earning potential.

How Experience Level Affects Test Architect Salaries?

Experience is a primary driver of a Test Architect's salary. As you build your skills and take on more complex tasks, your compensation generally increases. Here's how the average salary grows at different career stages:

  • Entry-Level (less than 1 year): $81,987
  • Early Career (1-2 years): $108,844
  • Mid-Level (2-4 years): $128,707
  • Senior-Level (5-8 years): $142,832
  • Expert (over 8 years): $164,406
Levels Salary
Data Arch... Level Test Architect$81,987
Test Arch... Level Test Architect$108,844
Data Arch... Level Test Architect$128,707
Data Arch... Level Test Architect$142,832
Data Arch... Level Test Architect$164,406
$81,987 0 yr
$108,844 < 2 yrs
$128,707 2-4 yrs
$142,832 5-8 yrs
$164,406 > 8 yrs
View as Table
View as Graph

What Am I Worth?

Top Paying Cities for Test Architects

Salaries can also vary between different cities. Major metropolitan areas or cities with a high demand for technicians often offer more competitive pay. Here are a few examples of average annual salaries in different U.S. cities:

  • San Jose: $137,961
  • San Francisco: $136,605
  • Oakland: $133,575

What Skills Can Increase a Test Architect's Salary?

Demanded Skills for the Role:

  • Troubleshooting (Mentioned in 3.95% Job Postings): Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem in order to solve it, and make the product or process operational again. Troubleshooting is needed to identify the symptoms. Determining the most likely cause is a process of elimination—eliminating potential causes of a problem. Finally, troubleshooting requires confirmation that the solution restores the product or process to its working state. In general, troubleshooting is the identification or diagnosis of "trouble" in the management flow of a system caused by a failure of some kind. The problem is initially described as symptoms of malfunction, and troubleshooting is the process of determining and remedying the causes of these symptoms. A system can be described in terms of its expected, desired or intended behavior (usually, for artificial systems, its purpose). Events or inputs to the system are expected to generate specific results or outputs. (For example, selecting the "print" option from various computer applications is intended to result in a hardcopy emerging from some specific device). Any unexpected or undesirable behavior is a symptom. Troubleshooting is the process of isolating the specific cause or causes of the symptom. Frequently the symptom is a failure of the product or process to produce any results. (Nothing was printed, for example). Corrective action can then be taken to prevent further failures of a similar kind.
  • Big Data (Mentioned in 3.31% Job Postings): Big data is a field that treats ways to analyze, systematically extract information from, or otherwise deal with data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data-processing application software. Data with many cases (rows) offer greater statistical power, while data with higher complexity (more attributes or columns) may lead to a higher false discovery rate. Big data challenges include capturing data, data storage, data analysis, search, sharing, transfer, visualization, querying, updating, information privacy and data source. Big data was originally associated with three key concepts: volume, variety, and velocity. Other concepts later attributed to big data are veracity (i.e., how much noise is in the data) and value. Current usage of the term big data tends to refer to the use of predictive analytics, user behavior analytics, or certain other advanced data analytics methods that extract value from data, and seldom to a particular size of data set. "There is little doubt that the quantities of data now available are indeed large, but that's not the most relevant characteristic of this new data ecosystem." Analysis of data sets can find new correlations to "spot business trends, prevent diseases, combat crime and so on." Scientists, business executives, practitioners of medicine, advertising and governments alike regularly meet difficulties with large data-sets in areas including Internet searches, fintech, urban informatics, and business informatics. Scientists encounter limitations in e-Science work, including meteorology, genomics, connectomics, complex physics simulations, biology and environmental research.
  • Agile (Mentioned in 2.26% Job Postings): Agile is a development process where feedback is continuously gathered from users to create the best user experience.
See More Skills
Skills Demand Percentage
Troubleshooting 3.95%
Big Data 3.31%
Agile 2.26%
What skills can make your compensation higher?
Mastering certain specialized skills can lead to a significant increase in pay. Here are examples of skills and the potential impact they can have on a Test Architect's salary.
  • Consulting: Can increase your salary by up to 6%.
  • Big Data: Can increase your salary by up to 5%.
  • Data Architecture: Can increase your salary by up to 5%.
Skill Salary Salary % Increase
Consulting
$115,943
6%
Big Data
$114,849
5%
Data Architecture
$114,849
5%
AWS
$113,755
4%
Data Lakes
$113,755
4%
Data Integration
$113,755
4%
Get Latest Data

How Education impacts a Test Architect's Salary?

Your level of education can impact your salary potential. While many Test Architects enter the field with a Associate's Degree degree, higher education can lead to more specialized and higher-paying roles.

According to our 100% employer-reported salary data, the median salary for a Test Architect with a Associate's Degree is between $107,991 and $116,959).

Test Architect Salaries by Degree Level

Typical Education for Test Architect
Degree Level % of user with this level of education
No Diploma 2.0%
High School 2.0%
Associates 7.8%
Bachelors 70.6%
Masters 19.6%
Doctorate 0.0%
view as graph

Test Architect Salary: Hourly Rate, Weekly Pay, and Monthly Pay

Understanding how a Test Architect's annual salary breaks down can help with budgeting. Below, you can see the average hourly rate, weekly pay, and monthly pay for this role. Use the buttons to switch between different pay periods.

Last Updated on February 01, 2026

Salary Trends for Test Architect

Salaries for a Test Architect can change over time, reflecting shifts in market demand and the overall economy. The median salary decreased from $103,175 in 2023 to around $102,042 in 2025, reflecting changes in demand, location, experience, and the wider economy. For a detailed analysis of Test Architect salary trends, .

Average Annual Salary of Test Architect Over Time

2022
$???
2023
$103,175
2024
$103,521
2025
$102,042
2026
$???
2027
$???
Year Average Annual Salary
2022
View More
2023 $103,175
2024 $103,521
2025 $102,042
2026
View More
2027
View More

Most common benefits for Test Architect

Social Security
401(k)
Disability
Healthcare
Pension
Time Off (days)
For Employers

If your compensation planning software is too rigid to deploy winning incentive strategies, it’s time to find an adaptable solution.

Compensation Planning

Common company salaries for Test Architect

Here are companies hiring for Test Architect and their salaries, click below for more details.

Find Your Next Test Architect Job

Ready to take the next step in your career? Browse thousands of current Test Architect job openings on our job board. Use the search bar below to find your perfect match.

United States
For Employees

Get a Salary Increase

Analyze the market and your qualifications to negotiate your salary with confidence.

Search Job Openings

Search thousands of open positions to find your next opportunity.

For Employers

Adjust Employee Salary

Individualize employee pay based on unique job requirements and personal qualifications.

Price My Industry Jobs

Get the latest market price for benchmark jobs and jobs in your industry.

Where Does Our Salary Data Come From?

Salary.com provides salary estimates, histograms, trends, and comparisons using data from employer job postings and third-party sources.

We offer detailed salary information across multiple percentiles for your reference. (Click here to learn Why the Salary Midpoint Formula Is Crucial for Achieving Pay Equity.)

With the most extensive online, real-time compensation data available, Salary.com helps you pinpoint your exact pay target.

Are you an HR manager or compensation specialist?

Salary.com's CompAnalyst platform offers:

  • Detailed skills and competency reports for specific positions
  • Job and employee pricing reports
  • Compensation data tools, salary structures, surveys and benchmarks.
Learn about CompAnalyst