2013 Rising Giants 101-200: Fees and Salaries

Design fees are up 26 percent to $376 million—the highest in five years—and, next year, firms expect $422 million. Fees per employee have dropped slightly from $167,000 to $162,000, but there’s good news in that stat: There isn’t less work, just more designers. However, both salaries and billable-hour fees remain stagnant from last year. Designers pull in $62,000 at roughly $113 per hour, while managers and job captains earn $85,000 at $153 per hour. employees have become even more efficient. Last year 83 percent of a designer’s time was billable, up from 79 percent in past years.

Total square footage for the Rising Giants reached a peak of 192 million in 2007, dropped to 123 million in 2011, and rose again to 135 million in 2012. Next year, firms expect 161 million square feet and a 12 percent bump in design fees. We saved some even more optimistic stats for last: 34 percent of firms reported no gain in fees last year, which sounds bad, but that’s the lowest number since 2009. The average loss, 12 percent, was the lowest since 2007. And while 52 firms reported positive growth (up from seven in 2009), the total gain was $34.5 million—the biggest in five years.

Rising Giants Median Salaries

%Rising Giants Fees by Market Segment

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2013 Rising Giants 101-200: Growth



2013 Rising Giants 101-200: Market Segment Report



2013 Rising Giants 101-200: Issues and Trends