Average Salary for Licensed LAs = $77,700 ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The average salary for landscape architecture professionals is $71,100, according to a new national survey by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). This represents an overall salary dropped from $74,500 in the 2008 survey, a reflection no doubt of the stressed economic times confronting the profession. The survey of 1,202 industry professionals was completed in May 2010.

The average salary for licensed landscape architects is $77,700, which represents 73 percent of the respondents.

Those without the license certainly have yet one more motivation to gain licensure, given the average salary of those without a license is $52,700.

Private sector landscape architecture professionals, who make up 70 percent of respondents, reported an average salary of $68,200. Average salary for public sector professionals, 26 percent of the respondents, was $74,000. The average salary for those in academia was $100,500, which accounts for only four percent of respondents.

And as we all know, experience counts. The average salary for respondents with zero to five years of experience was $45,885. Salaries move into the six figures after 30 years in the profession.

Comparative side note: The U.S. Government is the largest employer in the U.S., hiring about two percent of the nation's work force. Those workers on the federal payroll are generally unphased by the economic tough times.

Federal workers have been awarded bigger average pay and benefit increases than private employees for nine years in a row. Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009, while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Federal workers received average benefits worth $41,791 in 2009, most of which was government contribution to pensions. Employees contributed an additional $10,569. The average federal salary has grown 33 percent faster than inflation since 2000.