What does it cost to hire a drafter in El Paso?

Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $56,420 median wage in the El Paso, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $11,284 to $16,926 on the first year salary alone.

Hiring a drafter in El Paso, TX

Employers in the El Paso, TX area pay drafters, all other a median of $56,420 a year, with the middle half of the market between $46,390 and $57,830 (BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 17-3019). Filling it through recruitlocalpros runs Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role rather than by salary or location, and our vetted recruiting partner handles sourcing, screening and placement end to end.

Do El Paso residents in architecture and engineering work earn more than employers in the El Paso, TX area pay?

El Paso residents working in architecture and engineering occupations earn a median of $68,092 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $79,090 as the median of the 21 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the El Paso, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 14%, with the employers figure the higher of the two.

Both sides of that figure describe the whole architecture and engineering group, not this one role. In the El Paso, TX area the group covers 21 occupations BLS publishes a wage for, from surveying and mapping technicians at $49,150 to petroleum engineers at $131,740 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), with drafters, all other at $56,420 inside it.

That comparison is between two different measures, not a pay gap. The two weight the same occupation group differently: the Census figure is the midpoint across the people who actually hold those jobs, so a group carrying a few very well paid occupations is pulled toward them, while the BLS figure is the midpoint across the 21 published occupation wages, which counts each of those occupations once whatever its headcount. Census also counts where people live and BLS counts where the jobs are, and the two cover different populations, Census the civilian employed population 16 and over, BLS wage-and-salary jobs only. Read the number against other cities, where the same definitional difference applies on both sides, rather than as a shortfall.

Published wages across this group in the metro run above what El Paso residents in it earn, which usually means employers here draw this talent from beyond the city line rather than from inside it.

What does a drafter earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid to drafters, all other by employers in the El Paso, TX area. BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 17-3019.
25th percentile	$46,390
Median	$56,420
75th percentile	$57,830

Half of drafters, all other in this area earn between $46,390 and $57,830 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $46,390 competes for the bottom quarter of the market. Occupation detail for SOC 17-3019 at O*NET OnLine.

Place of residence

What El Paso residents earn

$68,092

Median annual earnings of El Paso residents working in architecture and engineering occupations, 4,671 people (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011). An occupation group rather than this one role, and where people live rather than where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In El Paso County, architectural, engineering and related services employs 2,430 and turns over 6.4% a quarter, with 213 hires against 189 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $7,082 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5413.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about drafters, all other. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's $56,420 median in the El Paso, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would bill roughly $11,284 to $16,926 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Questions employers ask about hiring a drafter in El Paso

What does it cost to hire a drafter in El Paso?: Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $56,420 median wage in the El Paso, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $11,284 to $16,926 on the first year salary alone.
What should an offer for a drafter in El Paso look like?: Employers in the El Paso, TX area pay drafters, all other a median of $56,420, with the middle half of the market between $46,390 and $57,830 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $46,390 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.
Do El Paso residents in architecture and engineering work earn more than employers in the El Paso, TX area pay?: El Paso residents working in architecture and engineering occupations earn a median of $68,092 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $79,090 as the median of the 21 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the El Paso, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 14%. Both figures cover the whole occupation group rather than this one role, and one counts where people live while the other counts where the jobs are, so the percentage is not a pay gap.

Price this search

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Hiring a drafter somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other architecture and engineering roles in El Paso

El Paso is the 6th largest of 17 Texas cities in this dataset.