A survey by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) reveals that there are more than 100,000 architects in the United States. Because architects are often registered in more than one jurisdiction and because not all architects have NCARB records, NCARB is not able to determine the exact number of architects. 

This year’s data represent the third iteration of NCARB’s survey of registered architects—a project first undertaken in 1999. The Council’s Quality Assurance division gathered statistics from the 55 Member Boards comprising NCARB. Results indicate that a total of 101,179 architects are living in the 55 reporting jurisdictions, which include all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

The survey also reveals a total of 109,757 reciprocal (out-of-state) registrants and 210,936 total registrations in the United States. This means, on average, an architect is registered in two jurisdictions. California has the highest number of resident architects (16,397) and the highest number of total registrations (21,050). Survey data are listed below. For more information about the 2004 Survey of Registered Architects, contact NCARB at 202/783-6500.

Architect by Jurisdiction Registrations
Jurisdiction Resident Reciprocal Total
Alabama 810 1441 2251
Alaska** 221 291 512
Arizona 1983 4207 6190
Arkansas 450 974 1424
California 16397 4653 21050
Colorado 2869 3329 6198
Connecticut* 1537 3972 5509
Delaware 100 1000 1100
District of Columbia 770 1845 2615
Florida 4551 3745 8296
Georgia 4206 3008 5414
Guam 29 71 100
Hawaii 922 1040 1962
Idaho 481 1050 1531
Illinois* 5345 3151 8496
Indiana 955 2312 3267
Iowa 442 1064 1506
Kansas 963 1519 2482
Kentucky 657 1608 2265
Louisiana 1083 1550 2633
Maine 375 965 1340
Maryland 1758 3413 5171
Massachusetts 4278 5534 9812
Michigan 3564 2313 5877
Minnesota 1750 1543 3293
Mississippi 300 1068 1368
Missouri 1830 2554 4384
Montana 374 886 1260
Nebraska 507 1022 1529
Nevada 522 1987 2509
New Hampshire 281 1287 1568
New Jersey 2895 4434 7329
New Mexico 702 1140 1842
New York 8257 5274 13531
North Carolina 2003 2785 4788
North Dakota 127 468 595
Northern Marina Islands 7 40 47
Ohio 3671 3353 7024
Oklahoma 778 1163 1941
Oregon 1063 1400 2463
Pennsylvania 3915 3585 7500
Puerto Rico 941 179 1120
Rhode Island 243 1027 1270
South Carolina 949 2267 3216
South Dakota 102 522 624
Tennessee 1369 1968 3337
Texas 6803 2964 9767
Utah 689 1359 2048
Vermont 269 725 994
Virgin Islands* 26 55 81
Virginia 2501 3790 6291
Washington 3521 1911 5432
West Virginia 116 987 1103
Wisconsin 1612 3205 4817
Wyoming 110 754 864
Total Architects:
101,179
Total Reciprocal Registrations:
109,757
Total Registrations:
210,936