Database architects: pay, outlook and skills
Design strategies for enterprise databases, data warehouse systems, and multidimensional networks. Set standards for database operations, programming, query processes, and security. Model, design, and construct large relational databases or data warehouses. Create and optimize data models for warehouse infrastructure and workflow. Integrate new systems with existing warehouse structure and refine system performance and functionality.
Pay distribution and location comparison
These are published pay distribution points for everyone working in this occupation, not pay levels for junior, mid, or senior roles. Location figures are pay as published; no cost-of-living adjustment is applied.
United States, all industries
| Pay point | United States | Selected area |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $86,240 | - |
| 25th percentile | $109,370 | - |
| Median | $139,500 | - |
| 75th percentile | $169,290 | - |
| 90th percentile | $204,000 | - |
| People employed | 67,140 | - |
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Reference period: OEWS May 2025.
Long-term outlook
Official ten-year projection for 2025 to 2035. Projected annual openings are an average per year over the decade, including openings from workers leaving the occupation. They are not a count of jobs open today.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Employment is published in thousands of jobs and converted here to people.
OptimizeResume analysis using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This is not a BLS statistic or a prediction that an individual will be hired.
Score trend
Historical scores may be restated when BLS revises underlying data. The chart uses the latest restated values.
Confidence
- At least 90% of required inputs and occupation-industry mapping are covered.
How this score is built
Monthly industry demand is mapped to this occupation using official occupation-industry relationships, then combined with occupation fundamentals and long-term projections.
Read Methodology v1.0Skills, software, and day-to-day work
Skill values are O*NET importance ratings on a 1-5 scale for the occupation itself. They describe what the work requires, not how much employers are hiring right now.
Design strategies for enterprise databases, data warehouse systems, and multidimensional networks. Set standards for database operations, programming, query processes, and security. Model, design, and construct large relational databases or data warehouses. Create and optimize data models for warehouse infrastructure and workflow. Integrate new systems with existing warehouse structure and refine system performance and functionality.
Most important skills
- Complex Problem Solving3.9 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
- Judgment and Decision Making3.9 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
- Systems Analysis3.8 / 5
- Active Listening3.5 / 5
- Speaking3.5 / 5
- Programming3.4 / 5
- Active Learning3.3 / 5
- Systems Evaluation3.3 / 5
- Monitoring3.1 / 5
- Operations Analysis3.1 / 5
O*NET importance rating, 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Software and technology
- Development environment softwareApache Kafka (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Microsoft Azure software (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Apache Maven (hot technology), C (hot technology), Eclipse IDE (hot technology), Go (hot technology)
- Object or component oriented development softwareApache Spark (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Oracle Java (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Python (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), C# (hot technology), C++ (hot technology), jQuery (hot technology)
- Data base user interface and query softwareAmazon Web Services AWS software (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Structured query language SQL (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2 (hot technology), Amazon Redshift (hot technology), Apache Hive (hot technology), IBM DB2 (hot technology)
- Business intelligence and data analysis softwareMicrosoft Power BI (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Tableau (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), IBM Cognos Impromptu, Micosoft SQL Server Analysis Services SSAS, MicroStrategy, Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
- Data mining softwareSnowflake (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Google Analytics (hot technology), IBM InfoSphere Warehouse, Rapid-I RapidMiner
- Spreadsheet softwareMicrosoft Excel (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology)
- Office suite softwareMicrosoft Office software (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology)
- Presentation softwareMicrosoft PowerPoint (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology)
- Enterprise resource planning ERP softwareOracle PeopleSoft (hot technology), SAP software (hot technology), Ab Initio, Ellucian Banner ERP, Informatica Corporation PowerCenter, Microsoft Dynamics
- Backup or archival softwareAcronis Recovery Expert, BMC Software Recovery Manager RMAN, Data Recovery Software SQL Server Data Recovery, Database cloning software, EMC NetWorker, HP DataProtector
- Data base management system softwareAmazon DynamoDB (hot technology), Apache Cassandra (hot technology), Apache Hadoop (hot technology), Elasticsearch (hot technology), MongoDB (hot technology), MySQL (hot technology)
- Web platform development softwareAJAX (hot technology), Apache Tomcat (hot technology), Cascading style sheets CSS (hot technology), Django (hot technology), Google Angular (hot technology), Hypertext markup language HTML (hot technology)
O*NET marks individual examples only. “Hot technology” means the tool is frequently named across job postings generally; “in demand for this occupation” means O*NET recorded it as required by employers for this occupation. Unmarked examples are still commonly used.
Typical tasks
- Develop and document database architectures.
- Collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to understand business or industry requirements.
- Develop database architectural strategies at the modeling, design and implementation stages to address business or industry requirements.
- Design databases to support business applications, ensuring system scalability, security, performance, and reliability.
- Develop data models for applications, metadata tables, views or related database structures.
- Design database applications, such as interfaces, data transfer mechanisms, global temporary tables, data partitions, and function-based indexes to enable efficient access of the generic database structure.
- Develop methods for integrating different products so they work properly together, such as customizing commercial databases to fit specific needs.
- Create and enforce database development standards.
- Document and communicate database schemas, using accepted notations.
- Develop data model describing data elements and their use, following procedures and using pen, template or computer software.
Also advertised as: Data Architect, Data Engineer, Data Officer, Database Analyst, Database Architect, Database Consultant, Database Developer, Database Programmer.
Check your resume against a real job posting
This page describes the occupation in general. A free scan compares your own resume with the specific job description you are applying to, requirement by requirement, and shows where your real experience is already strong and where it is simply not documented yet. Only experience you actually have should ever be added.
Scan my resume freeSource: O*NET Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Used under CC BY 4.0. OptimizeResume has modified the data for display only: selected the most important rated skills, grouped software examples by category while keeping each example’s official flags, and shortened the task list.
Guides for applying to this work
Sources and how to read this page
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
O*NET 31.0 Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0 and modified for display on this page. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
How each number should be read
- Pay percentiles describe the spread of pay across everyone in the occupation, not experience levels.
- Employment counts are jobs, not people hired during the year.
- Projected annual openings are a decade average from the official projection, not current vacancies.
- O*NET skill ratings describe the work, not employer hiring demand.
- Values BLS did not publish, suppressed, or top-coded are shown as such and never treated as zero.