Editors Career, Salary and Skills
Editors have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $77,920 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 91,690. Wage data is published for 233 locations.
Occupation description
Plan, coordinate, revise, or edit written material. May review proposals and drafts for possible publication.
O*NET code
27-3041.00
Job zone
4
Typical education
Not recorded
Experience
Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year
National salary and employment
Median annual
$77,920
Hourly median
$37.46
Employment
91,690
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
$41,250
10th
$57,300
25th
$77,920
Median
$106,100
75th
$153,700
90th
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | 5.00 | 5.00 |
| Writing | 4.38 | 5.00 |
| Active Listening | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Speaking | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Time Management | 3.38 | 3.88 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.25 | 3.38 |
| Monitoring | 3.25 | 3.38 |
| Active Learning | 3.25 | 3.88 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.25 | 3.25 |
Typical tasks
- Write text, such as headlines, stories, articles, editorials, or newsletters.
- Read copy or proof to detect and correct errors in spelling, punctuation, and syntax.
- Prepare, rewrite and edit copy to improve readability, or supervise others who do this work.
- Develop story or content ideas, considering reader or audience appeal.
- Allocate print space for story text, photos, and illustrations according to space parameters and copy significance, using knowledge of layout principles.
- Confer with management and editorial staff members regarding placement and emphasis of developing news stories.
- Oversee publication production, including artwork, layout, computer typesetting, and printing, ensuring adherence to deadlines and budget requirements.
- Verify facts, dates, and statistics, using standard reference sources.
Technology
- Adobe Acrobat
- Adobe After Effects
- Adobe Captivate
- Adobe Creative Cloud software
- Adobe Dreamweaver
- Adobe FrameMaker
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InCopy
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- After the Deadline
- Apple Final Cut Pro
- Apple iWork Keynote
- Apple macOS
Editors salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Editors Salary in NYMedian $101,480 · Employment 16,800
- Editors Salary in New York, NYMedian $102,120 · Employment 16,600
- Editors Salary in CAMedian $98,030 · Employment 14,830
- Editors Salary in Los Angeles, CAMedian $100,050 · Employment 8,830
- Editors Salary in TXMedian $45,950 · Employment 6,460
- Editors Salary in Washington, DCMedian $84,800 · Employment 5,470
- Editors Salary in ILMedian $76,060 · Employment 4,560
- Editors Salary in FLMedian $73,950 · Employment 3,790
- Editors Salary in DCMedian $83,920 · Employment 3,310
- Editors Salary in PAMedian $63,460 · Employment 3,240
- Editors Salary in MAMedian $83,170 · Employment 3,100
- Editors Salary in VAMedian $80,590 · Employment 2,720
Related careers
- Graphic DesignersNational median $62,960
- Document Management SpecialistsNational median $116,580
- Library Science Teachers, PostsecondaryNational median $80,340
- Management AnalystsNational median $101,860
- Web AdministratorsNational median $116,580
- Library TechniciansNational median $44,580
- Web and Digital Interface DesignersNational median $104,000
- Media Technical Directors/ManagersNational median $90,360
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.