CAD, drawing and architectural technicians: salary in the UK
About £29,058 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, +1.1% on last year
£2,956 a month About £2,422 a month after tax 37 thousand full-time jobs
Gross pay before tax, including bonuses, commission and overtime. Not included: benefits in kind such as a company car. About the data
Pay range
The dark part is the middle half of full-time employees (25% to 75%); the light bar runs from 10% to 90%. ONS doesn't publish the highest or lowest salary, and x means a figure wasn't published.
Pay by year
The median went from £30,100 in 2021 to £35,471 in 2026 (+18%); for all full-time employees in the UK it changed by +31% over the same years.
Figures by year
| P10 | P25 | Median | P75 | P90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | £23,107 | £26,416 | £30,100 | £34,814 | x |
| 2022 | £20,890 | £26,479 | £31,202 | £37,143 | x |
| 2023 | £24,856 | £27,601 | £32,034 | £38,861 | x |
| 2024 | £23,841 | £28,728 | £33,797 | £41,001 | x |
| 2025 | £24,045 | £29,383 | £35,081 | £42,681 | x |
| 2026 | x | £29,320 | £35,471 | £43,797 | x |
ONS figures for each year, not adjusted for inflation. Years before 2021 used a different occupation classification, so they can't be compared. Earlier years are ONS's revised figures; the latest is provisional.
Half of full-time employees in this occupation earn less than £35,471 a year and half earn more. That is 13% less than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
The middle half earn between £29,320 and £43,797.
Ranked by median, it is number 205 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £2,422 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,420 in Scotland.
The median for men is £36,750 and for women £29,539, a gap of 20% in men's favour. This compares full-time salaries only and doesn't account for seniority or hours.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | x | x |
| 20th | £28,250 | £2,354 |
| 25th (P25) | £29,320 | £2,443 |
| 30th | £30,435 | £2,536 |
| 40th | £33,448 | £2,787 |
| Median (50th) | £35,471 | £2,956 |
| 60th | £38,084 | £3,174 |
| 70th | £41,854 | £3,488 |
| 75th (P75) | £43,797 | £3,650 |
| 80th | £47,151 | £3,929 |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £36,750 | £39,837 | 30 |
| Women | £29,539 | £32,893 | 8 |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £29,058 | £2,422 |
| Scotland | £29,039 | £2,420 |
After Income Tax and National Insurance for 2026 to 2027, with the standard tax code and no pension or student loan. Work out your own take-home pay · Take-home pay on £35,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 80 job titles to SOC 3120 CAD, drawing and architectural technicians. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- 3d printing technician
- Administrator
- Architect's assistant
- Architectural assistant
- Architectural design assistant
- Architectural technician
- Autocad draughtsman
- Autocad engineer
- Autocad technician
- Bim technician
- Boundary examiner
- Cad coordinator
- Cad design engineer
- Cad designer
- Cad draughtsman
- Cad engineer
- Cad operator
- Cad technician
- Cartographer
- Cartographer-draughtsman
- Cartographic assistant
- Cartographic draughtsman
- Cartographic technician
- Cartographical draughtsman
- Chart corrector
- Checker
- Chief designer
- Chief draughtsman
- Computer aided design designer
- Computer aided design draughtsman
- Computer aided design engineer
- Computer aided designer
- Computer assisted design engineer
- Concrete detailer
- Design assistant
- Design draughtsman
- Design manager
- Design painter
- Design sketcher
- Design technician
- Designer
- Designer-detailer
- Designer-draughtsman
- Digital cartographer
- Digitiser
- Draughting technician
- Draughtsman
- Draughtsman's assistant
- Draughtsman-engineer
- Draughtsman-surveyor
- Drawing checker
- Drawing office assistant
- Drawing office manager
- Electrical draughtsman
- Engineer-draughtsman
- Engineering designer
- Engineering draughtsman
- Estimator-draughtsman
- Field reviser
- Loftsman
Show all 80 titles
- Map checker
- Map examiner
- Mapping and charting officer
- Mechanical designer
- Photogrammetrist
- Piping designer
- Planning assistant
- Section leader
- Space planner
- Stress engineer
- Structural detailer
- Technical design assistant
- Technical drawing assistant
- Tool analyst
- Tool designer
- Town planning assistant
- Tracer
- Urban design assistant
- Weight control engineer
- Weightsman
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Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 provisional, Table 14.7a (full-time employees, gross annual pay, UK, tax year ending 5 April 2026). Provisional figures may be revised.