Database Architects

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Explore safer careers (1)

Lower estimated automation risk

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Why it fits

Uses systems design, integration tradeoffs, scalability, standards, architecture documents, and technical coordination.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
6.6/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

22% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): This occupation has a lower risk of full replacement by AI, software, or robotic systems. Some tasks may be automated or assisted, but the role usually still relies on human judgement, communication, responsibility, physical adaptability, or practical decision-making.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Thinking creatively

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
Jobs that also use this strength

Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
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Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
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Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
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Show 4 more strengths

Developing objectives and strategies

Quite important
Why this matters
Sets long-term goals and chooses strategies and actions to reach them, weighing tradeoffs and adapting plans as conditions change.
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Communicating with people outside the organization

Quite important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
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Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
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Operations analysis

Quite important
Why this matters
Figure out what people need and what a product must do, then translate those requirements into a workable design.
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What users think

Based on 67 votes

49% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. However, employees may be able to find reassurance in the automated risk level we have generated, which shows 22% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Database Architects will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very high paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Database Architects was $135,980 ($65 per hour).

The median annual wage for Database Architects was 174.7% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Database Architects' job openings is expected to rise 8.7% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Moderate range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 64,770 people employed as 'Database Architects' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 2 thousand people are employed as 'Database Architects'.

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What people are saying (3)

Sabya (Low)
26 Dec 2024 22:54
Every Database is different and specific to applications. AI cannot replace DB architects but it can certainly them do the job better.
John Maxwell (No chance)
08 Feb 2023 01:22
The job of a database architect involves designing and managing complex database systems. This requires a high level of technical skills and experience.

Additionally, it involves making decisions about trade-offs between performance, scalability, security, and other factors. These decisions can have a significant impact on the success of an organization's IT systems.

Automation of these tasks may be possible to some extent. However, the complex nature of database architecture, as well as the need for human judgment and experience, mean that full automation is unlikely in the near future.

Ultimately, the job of a database architect requires a combination of technical knowledge and creative problem-solving. These are uniquely human skills that cannot be easily replaced by machines.
Dave Leininger (Moderate)
29 Mar 2022 20:35
Rigid rules are contrasted with the open storage of raw data. The days of setting up perfect folders, for instance, to make finding emails and trends are long gone.

Similarly, relational structures are not performant for graph data at usable levels. AI will have plenty of examples, both internal to an organization and via accepted issue-specific models, to architect and tune storage.
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Job description

Design strategies for enterprise databases, data warehouse systems, and multidimensional networks. Set standards for database operations, programming, query processes, and security. Model, design, and construct large relational databases or data warehouses. Create and optimize data models for warehouse infrastructure and workflow. Integrate new systems with existing warehouse structure and refine system performance and functionality.

O*NET-SOC code: 15-1243.00