Historians Career, Salary and Skills
Historians have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $76,750 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 3,450. Wage data is published for 55 locations.
Occupation description
Research, analyze, record, and interpret the past as recorded in sources, such as government and institutional records, newspapers and other periodicals, photographs, interviews, films, electronic media, and unpublished manuscripts, such as personal diaries and letters.
O*NET code
19-3093.00
Job zone
5
Typical education
Master's Degree
Experience
Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$76,750
Hourly median
$36.90
Employment
3,450
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | 4.75 | 4.88 |
| Critical Thinking | 4.12 | 4.38 |
| Writing | 4.12 | 4.88 |
| Speaking | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Active Learning | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Active Listening | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.38 | 3.25 |
| Learning Strategies | 3.25 | 3.62 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.12 | 3.12 |
| Instructing | 3.12 | 3.25 |
Typical tasks
- Gather historical data from sources such as archives, court records, diaries, news files, and photographs, as well as from books, pamphlets, and periodicals.
- Organize data, and analyze and interpret its authenticity and relative significance.
- Organize information for publication and for other means of dissemination, such as via storage media or the Internet.
- Conduct historical research as a basis for the identification, conservation, and reconstruction of historic places and materials.
- Conserve and preserve manuscripts, records, and other artifacts.
- Present historical accounts in terms of individuals or social, ethnic, political, economic, or geographic groupings.
- Research the history of a particular country or region, or of a specific time period.
- Prepare publications and exhibits, or review those prepared by others, to ensure their historical accuracy.
Technology
- TokenX
- Web browser software
- Adobe Acrobat
- Adobe Dreamweaver
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Archival databases
- ArchiveGrid
- Archives Wiki
- Audio editing software
- Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
- Database management systems
- Digital image collections
- Digital mapping software
Historians salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Historians Salary in Washington, DCMedian $115,690 · Employment 410
- Historians Salary in NYMedian $62,960 · Employment 410
- Historians Salary in DCMedian $118,290 · Employment 250
- Historians Salary in CAMedian $97,420 · Employment 210
- Historians Salary in New York, NYMedian $80,400 · Employment 180
- Historians Salary in VAMedian $101,920 · Employment 180
- Historians Salary in NJMedian $77,080 · Employment 130
- Historians Salary in TXMedian $78,240 · Employment 130
- Historians Salary in NCMedian $73,440 · Employment 120
- Historians Salary in FLMedian $74,740 · Employment 110
- Historians Salary in GAMedian $63,840 · Employment 110
- Historians Salary in MSMedian $46,010 · Employment 90
Related careers
- EditorsNational median $77,920
- Sociology Teachers, PostsecondaryNational median $84,290
- Architecture Teachers, PostsecondaryNational median $96,870
- Library Science Teachers, PostsecondaryNational median $80,340
- Geography Teachers, PostsecondaryNational median $97,590
- Tour Guides and EscortsNational median not published
- Poets, Lyricists and Creative WritersNational median $76,910
- Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, PostsecondaryNational median $85,020
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.