Editors
Overview
Introduction
Editors perform a wide range of functions, but their primary responsibility is to ensure that text provided by writers is suitable in content, format, and style for the intended audiences. Readers are an editors first priority. Among the employers of editors are book publishers, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, advertising agencies, nonprofits, radio stations, television stations, Internet sites, and corporations of all kinds. There are about 114,200 editors employed in the United States.
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Competition for editing jobs is fierce, and there is no shortage of people who wish to enter the field. For that reason, companies that employ editors generally pay relatively low initial salaries.
Median annual earnings for editors were $75,020 in May 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $38,790, and the highest 10 percent earned more t...
Work Environment
The environments in which editors work vary widely. For the most part, publishers of all kinds realize that a quiet atmosphere is conducive to work that requires tremendous concentration. It takes an unusual ability to focus to edit in a noisy place. Most editors work in private offices or cubicles. Book editors often work in quieter surroundings than do newspaper editors or proofreaders or cop...
Outlook
Employment for editors is expected to decline 2 percent through 2033, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Competition for editing jobs will remain intense, since many people want to enter the field. It will be especially difficult to land a job with newspaper publishers. Employment for editors at newspaper publishers is expected to decline by 19.4 percent through 2033. Book...
