Please check this section if you have questions about ASLA membership, programs, or the profession of landscape architecture.
About the Profession
What do landscape architects do?
Landscape architects analyze, plan, design, manage, and nurture the natural and built environments. Among the types of projects they produce are:
- Academic campuses
- Conservation
- Corporate and commercial
- Gardens and arboreta
- Green infrastructure
- Historic preservation and restoration
- Hospitality and resorts
- Institutions
- Interior landscapes
- Land planning
- Landscape art
- Monuments
- Parks and recreation
- Reclamation
- Residential
- Security design
- Stormwater management
- Streetscapes and public spaces
- Therapeutic gardens
- Transportation corridors
- Urban design.
Who are their clients?
Residential design is the largest market sector. Most of that work consists of single-family homes, but also includes multi-family and retirement communities.
Three largest client groups, in descending order:
- Private-home owners
- Architects
- Cities/municipalities.
For smaller firms (four employees or fewer):
What are they paid?
Average annual salary for those in the landscape architecture field was $63,480 in 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' most recent report.
How many landscape architects are there in the United States?
The U.S. Department of Labor in 2016 (most recent count) identified 24,700 employees in the landscape architecture field, a growth of about 10 percent from 2014, the previous count.
How many landscape architects are licensed?
Over 17,000 landscape architects are licensed in the United States. Licensure is required in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Landscape Architecture is one of only around 60 professions to be licensed in all 50 States. Learn more