Cloud Architect
Also known as: Cloud Engineer, Solutions Architect
Design and oversee cloud computing strategies, making sure organizations use cloud services efficiently and securely.
Salary Range
The highest-paid specialization or seniority level for cloud architects.
About 1 in 400 reaches this level
Around 150K cloud/solutions architects (est., no BLS code; nearest BLS anchor is Computer Network Architects 15-1241); Distinguished Cloud Architect roles at $700K total comp number only ~300-500 across top companies.
Salary data based on 2025 BLS, Glassdoor, and industry reports. Actual compensation varies by location, experience, and employer.
How to Become One
This career typically requires a bachelor's degree. Here are the top colleges for it:
Cost to Qualify
Four years of tuition and required fees runs about $56K at a typical public college in our list (in-state) and about $288K at a typical private one. Both are pricier than the US national averages (about $48K public in-state, $180K private nonprofit, College Board 2025-26) because our 161-college dataset only includes nationally-ranked schools, not every US college. This excludes room and board, which we show separately on each college's page.
Sticker price, not what most people pay — scholarships, aid and in-state status all move it. Room and board is shown separately on each college's page.
AI Risk Assessment
Cloud architects design how a company's computing is set up across services like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud: which systems run where, how they connect, how they stay secure and what they cost. AI is raising demand for this work, because AI models need large amounts of cloud computing and storage. BLS projects computer network architect jobs, the category that includes this work, to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all jobs, with about 9,600 openings a year. BLS says companies investing in AI will need these workers to upgrade their systems, and that growth in cloud computing adds to demand. Indeed data reported by CIO shows AWS skills requested in just under 14% of job listings in 2025, up from just over 12% in 2024, and Google Cloud skills up from about 3% to just over 5%.
The risk is in the work itself. A 2025 Microsoft Research study measured how much of each job's tasks AI chatbots can help with, using 200,000 real conversations. Computer network architects came out in the top fifth of 785 jobs. A lot of cloud work is writing configuration code and scripts, and that is where AI helps most. The way into this job is also narrowing. BLS says network architects typically need five years or more of experience in a related job, such as network and computer systems administrator, and it projects that job to shrink 4% over the same decade as routine tasks get automated. That combination, strong demand at the top but a meaningful share of the work exposed and a thinner path in, is the rubric's "3 Moderate." The Microsoft researchers warn that a high score does not by itself mean job losses.
What would change this score. If AI tools start producing complete, working cloud setups that need only a quick review, and companies hire fewer junior cloud engineers, this goes to 4. If entry-level cloud hiring stays strong as AI tools spread, it could come down to 2.
Sources
Ratings reflect a 10-year outlook based on 2025-2026 research, weighted toward entry-level impact. Individual outcomes will vary.
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