Engineer or architect. whats better?

The amount of money you will make is more dependent on your engineering or architectural expertise, work ethic, character and contacts than whether you are an engineer or architect. An engineer that designs only major buildings will make more money than an architect that only designs small homes. An architect that only designs large buildings will make more money than an engineer that only designs box culverts under roads. Really the rewards from the profession you select will be greater than the money you are paid. The satisfaction of doing a great job and the respect gained from your co-workers will be worth more to you than the money that you are making. It will take a while but it will be true. Structural engineers do not, although they probably could, design the looks of a building. Engineers are not educated to make an attractive building and if you are paying for a design why wouldn't you hire someone that has been trained to design how the building may look. If you don't care about the looks and want a strong and possibly more expensive building you might be able to get a structural engineer to design the looks. Most structural engineers would not waste their time or the building owners money to design the architectural features of the building. Although most architects can design the structural components in houses and some small structures any building of significance requires the structural drawings to be sealed by a Professional Engineer. The size of the project frequently has more impact on rate of pay than the type of project. A large road and / or bridge project or heavy and highway project will typically pay better than a WalMart store. WalMarts pay better than most homes etc. Frequently engineering firms will handle anything that comes in their door but also frequently the firm finds their area of expertise and usually specialize in that area and use other jobs for diversification.

Architects design office or lab spaces as well as houses. They design the outside and inside. Looks only. Structural engineers look at the design and decide where the support beams and columns need to be so that the building does not collapse. They look at different forces and weights and they know about material strengths and elasticity or brittleness.