The salary statistics of writers and editors are shown in Table 1. The average hourly salary of writers and editors in the United States is shown in Table 2. In the next few tables we compare the average salaries of writers and editors within different industry sectors and in the 50 states of the United States. The writers and editors annual salary statistics are from the national compensation survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2016 and published in April 2017 [1].
| Percentile Bracket | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th Percentile Wage | |
| 25th Percentile Wage | |
| 50th Percentile Wage | |
| 75th Percentile Wage | |
| 90th Percentile Wage | |
Table 1 shows the average annual salary for writers and editors. The average annual salary for the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent of the highest paid) writers and editors is $112,960. The median annual salary (50th percentile) is $61,550. The average annual salary for the bottom 10 percent is $32,010. We note that in the United States, the annual salary of the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent of the highest paid) is almost 252% higher than that of the bottom 10 percent.
The following table and chart show the trend of the median salary of writers and editors from 2012 to 2016.
| Year | Median Salary | Yearly Growth | 4-Year Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 61,550 | 1.19% | 6.65% |
| 2015 | 60,820 | 1.83% | - |
| 2014 | 59,710 | 1.69% | - |
| 2013 | 58,700 | 2.11% | - |
| 2012 | 57,460 | - | - |
The average salaries of writers and editors in 18 major industry sectors are shown in Table 2. We note that the salaries vary considerably within different industry sectors. The highest paying industry sector for writers and editors occupations is the utilities sector with an annual salary $92,010. The lowest paying sector is the accommodation and food services sector (annual salary $41,010).
