Government Salary Data for Writers and Editors

Here's another point of reference on publishing salaries. The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles a massive tome on American jobs called the Occupational Outlook Handbook. At JIST, we took that data and came up with a user-friendly salary reference for the top 280 or so jobs in the U.S. economy. This reference is included in the forthcoming book, Next-Day Salary Negotiation (pick it up at www.jist.com).

The DOL groups all writing and editing jobs together in the handbook. Here are some interesting salary stats for this group:

• Average Earnings: $48,126
• Beginning Earnings: $27,890
• 25th Percentile: $36,158
• 75th Percentile: $65,250

Average Earnings in Major Metropolitan Areas
Metropolitan Area Average Annual Earnings
Atlanta, GA $52,890
Chicago, IL $45,704
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX $50,359
Denver, CO $52,617
Los Angeles, CA $54,223
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN $48,287
New York, NY $59,081
Phoenix, AZ $39,561
San Francisco, CA $62,965
Seattle, WA $65,457

Average Earnings in Most Important Industries
Industry Average Annual Earnings

Professional, Scientific, $51,938
and Technical Services

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, $48,750
Professional, and Similar Organizations

Publishing Industries (Except Internet) $45,045

Broadcasting (Except Internet) $43,436

Educational Services $43,399