The number of U.S. architects fell by four percent to just more than 116,000 in 2024, according to the National Council of Architectural Registration Board’s (NCARB) annual Survey of Architectural Registration Boards—the first significant drop in several years. Since 2020, the number of architects has hovered close to 120,000. Now, there are fewer licensed practitioners in the U.S. than there were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conducted each year by NCARB, the survey provides exclusive insights into data from the architectural licensing boards of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
NCARB’s data shows a significant proportion of the U.S. architect population—approximately 13 percent—are over the age of 65. As these individuals begin to retire, the number of architects might continue to fall over the next several years. Despite 2024’s decrease in the number of practitioners, other areas of the licensure pipeline remain strong. The population of individuals pursuing licensure rose by five percent, and the number of reciprocal (out-of-state) licenses rose by six percent. According the NCARB, together, these factors indicate that while the profession’s generational makeup may be shifting, the architecture pipeline remains healthy.
