Architecture firms in New York City: 1,244 offices, the license checks and how to hire one

This report is for anyone looking for an architecture firm in New York City: a co-op board planning a facade job, a company fitting out an office, a family adding a floor, an architect deciding where to work, or a business that sells to design firms. It covers how many firms there are by borough, how to check one, how to hire one, and how to prospect them.

The city's architecture offices, borough by borough

County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 counts establishments in NAICS 541310, Architectural Services, in the five counties of New York City. The New York State Education Department (NYSED) counts the architects registered with it by the county of their mailing address, as of 1 July 2026.

Averages and the 6,777 total are our calculations from the published figures. The Bronx count of employees carries the Census Bureau's high-noise flag (the noise it adds to protect confidentiality changed the value by 5% or more), so it isn't reported here, and the citywide total isn't either. The four other boroughs employ 12,628 people in architecture offices. New York City has 5.45% of the nation's 22,805 architecture establishments, and the wider New York-Newark-Jersey City metro has 2,249.

Brooklyn stands out: 2,531 registered architects but 277 offices. Many commute to Manhattan firms, and CBP leaves out architects who work alone with no payroll. NYSED notes that registration doesn't mean a licensee is practicing.

How big the firms are

Across the city, 794 offices (63.8%) have one to four employees. The Census Bureau doesn't publish the larger size classes citywide, but it does for Manhattan: 468 offices with one to four employees, 155 with five to nine, 88 with 10 to 19, 52 with 20 to 49, 25 with 50 to 99 and 12 with 100 to 249. The remaining four have 250 or more (our calculation: the total less the published classes, which the Bureau doesn't break down above 250). Brooklyn has 203 offices with one to four employees and only two with 50 or more.

What the counts leave out. CBP counts establishments, not companies, so a firm with studios in Manhattan and Brooklyn counts twice. Sole practitioners without employees aren't counted, and CBP uses NAICS 2017 codes (541310 didn't change in 2022).

What an architect does, and who else you might hire

NYSED describes an architect's services as consultation, evaluation, planning, preliminary studies, designs, construction documents and management, and administration of construction contracts. The Census Bureau's definitions draw the lines with the neighbors:

The engineering, interior design and builder counts are our sums of the five boroughs from the same CBP release. New York is unusual: it has more architecture offices than engineering offices, against almost three engineering offices per architecture office nationally.

How to check a New York architect and firm

Only someone licensed and registered by NYSED may use the title architect. NYSED's consumer guidance says architectural services may be provided by a sole practitioner, a professional service corporation (PC), a professional service limited liability company (PLLC), a registered limited liability partnership (LLP) or a professional partnership whose partners are all licensed, and "with few exceptions, no other types of businesses may offer architectural services."

1. Look up the architect in NYSED's online verification search, which also shows enforcement actions.
2. Look up the firm. NYSED's corporate entities pages let you verify an existing professional service entity.
3. Check the building. If it is one of the more than 38,000 landmark properties, most in 157 historic districts, the Landmarks Preservation Commission regulates the work too, so ask for the firm's recent LPC approvals.

NYSED's rule of thumb on when you need one: any time a government official must approve a construction project, because officials can accept only plans and specifications signed and sealed by a licensed design professional.

Hiring one: selection, contract and fees

New York's public sector shows the method. Under State Finance Law section 136-a, a state department hiring an architect for more than $25,000 ranks at least three firms in order of preference on its published criteria, negotiates with the highest qualified, and moves to the next firm only if it can't agree a fee it finds fair and reasonable. A private owner can do the same: rank on relevant buildings and team, then negotiate.

For the contract, NYSED tells clients to make sure it covers the work, schedule, amount and terms of the fee, who is responsible for what, the deliverables and the architect's role in filing with building officials. Many firms use AIA Contract Documents: B101-2017 is the standard owner-architect agreement, B105-2017 its short form, and B152-2019 covers interior design and furniture, furnishings and equipment, common for office fit-outs. Neither NYSED nor the city publishes a fee schedule; on federal design work, FAR 15.404-4 caps the fee for plans and specifications at 6% of estimated construction cost.

Local sources

Working at a New York firm

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for May 2025 covers the whole New York-Newark-Jersey City metro, not just the five boroughs:

The national figures for architects are a $106,260 mean and a $99,280 median, so the New York premium shows at the top: the metro's 90th percentile is $168,490. OEWS leaves out the self-employed and owners.

SEC records show no listed architecture company (SIC 8712) based in New York City; the city's firms are privately owned.

Selling to New York City architecture firms

Manhattan is a market of small and mid-size offices: 243 with five to 19 employees and 77 with 20 to 99. In a five-to-19 person studio the principal approves almost every purchase and an office manager screens vendors. At 20 to 99, expect a director of operations, a BIM or IT manager and a marketing lead. The 16 offices with 100 or more have procurement, security reviews and long cycles.

Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are invented.

Kestrel Scan (kestrelscan.example) sells laser-scanned existing-conditions drawings for alterations. It targets Manhattan offices with 10 to 49 employees, 140 by the Census count. Dropping an estimated 20% that are branches of national firms leaves 112. Its pitch ties to landmark work, where accurate as-built drawings speed the LPC application. With a 4% reply rate on a three-email sequence it gets four or five conversations, and two pilot projects a quarter at $6,000 each would be $12,000. Finding which of the 112 do landmark or alteration work is the slow part; Bebop researches each firm in the list and says why it fits.

Subject: As-built drawings for [firm]'s next alteration

Hi [first name],

Most alteration jobs start with drawings that don't match the building. For [project or building type the firm shows], we scan the existing conditions and deliver Revit and CAD files you can design on within [number] days.

On landmark buildings, accurate existing conditions also make the Landmarks Preservation Commission submission easier to assemble.

Would a sample from a similar Manhattan building be useful? If this isn't a fit, tell me and I'll stop here.

[Your name]
[Company], [postal address]

Next step: pick the right industry codes for your list with the NAICS code for architects.