Architecture firms in San Francisco: 383 offices, the highest pay of any big market and California's contract rules

This page is for homeowners, businesses, developers and institutions hiring an architect in San Francisco, for designers looking at the city's firms, and for companies selling to them. It covers the Census figures, California's rules on when an architect is needed and what the contract must contain, how to check a license, and how to prospect the firms.

San Francisco's architecture offices

County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 counts establishments in NAICS 541310, Architectural Services, in San Francisco County, which is the same area as the city.

US averages are our calculation from the same release. The city's offices are half again as large as the national average and pay 23.9% more per employee.

The Census Bureau doesn't publish the classes above 250 for the county; the single office in the last row is the total less the published classes.

Limits. CBP counts establishments with paid employees, so a firm with offices in San Francisco and Oakland counts once in each county, and this page covers only the county; firms across the Bay are outside these figures. Sole practitioners without staff aren't counted.

More architects than engineers

The same release counts 333 engineering offices, 218 interior design offices, 51 landscape architecture offices and 120 commercial and institutional builders (a group that includes design-build firms) in the county. Nationally there are almost three engineering offices for each architecture office; here the ratio is reversed. The Census Bureau classifies firms that both design and build as construction, so a design-build contractor won't appear in the 383.

When California requires a licensed architect

The California Architects Board's Consumer's Guide to Hiring an Architect lists what unlicensed persons may design:

The board suggests checking with your local building department, which considers local conditions such as earthquake activity, whether your project needs a licensed architect or engineer.

The written contract rule

California is unusual in writing the contract into its licensing law. Business and Professions Code section 5536.22, in force since 1 January 1996, requires a signed written contract before services begin, unless the client waives that in writing. The contract has to state the project and the services, the fee basis and how payment works, the architect's license number, how extra services and termination are handled and who owns the drawings, and carry a notice that the California Architects Board regulates architects. When a San Francisco firm sends its agreement, whether its own or an AIA form such as B105-2017, read it against that list: a missing license number or termination clause is a reason to ask questions before you sign.

Checking a California architect

• The person. Look up the license on the Department of Consumer Affairs' license search, which the board links from its verification page. The board can also say whether an architect has enforcement action against them; it doesn't refer clients to architects.
• The business. California doesn't license architecture firms. Instead, Business and Professions Code section 5558 requires every licensed architect, whether sole proprietor, owner or employee, to report the name and address of the entity through which they provide architectural services, so the board can see whether a business has an architect in responsible control. Ask which architect at the firm will be in responsible control of your project.

What to ask about fees

The board's guide doesn't set fees, but it suggests questions to ask every candidate: how fees for your project will be determined and what they cover, which services are "basic" and which "extra," whether consultants' fees are included, how additional services and reimbursable expenses are charged, and whether redesign to meet the budget costs more. Put the answers side by side before comparing totals.

AIA San Francisco and pay

AIA San Francisco keeps an Architectural Firm Directory, powered by Architizer, for San Francisco, Marin and beyond, runs the Center for Architecture + Design and has a job board. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 estimates cover the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro:

The architects' mean is 24% above the $106,260 national figure, and the 90th percentile is $200,380. SEC records show no listed architecture company based in the county.

Selling to San Francisco architecture firms

The city has 81 offices with 10 to 49 employees: big enough to need systems and outside help, small enough that a principal or studio director still decides. The 22 with 50 or more have operations and IT managers, and the largest run formal procurement. With pay this high, an offer that saves designers' hours is easy to put a value on.

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

Fogline IT (fogline.example) manages IT, file sync and backups for design studios that work with large model files. It targets the 81 San Francisco offices with 10 to 49 employees, removes an estimated 20% that are branches of firms with central IT, and is left with about 65. A short email naming each studio's tools, followed by a call, earns 11 conversations and four clients at $2,200 a month, $105,600 a year in recurring revenue. Knowing which tools and file systems each studio uses is what makes the email specific; Bebop researches every account in a list and says why it fits.

Subject: [firm]'s model files and backups

Hi [first name],

Studios your size often lose an hour a day to slow syncing of [Revit or Rhino] files between the office and home. We run IT for design studios in San Francisco and fix that first.

We'd start with a free review of how [firm] stores and backs up project files, with a one-page summary you can keep.

Is next week a good time for 20 minutes? If not, a short no is fine.

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

Next step: see the builders in the same market in construction companies in San Francisco.