Logo

Editors


Overview

Editors

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 editor's 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 118,300 editors employed in the United States.

Quick Facts


More

Median Salary

$59,480

More

Employment Prospects

Fair

More

Minimum Education Level

Bachelor's Degree


More

Experience

Previous experience as a writer, reporter, or assistant editor re
img


More

Skills

Interpersonal
img


More

Personality Traits

Creative
img

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 $59,480 in May 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $31,500, 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 3 percent through 2028, 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 and magazine publishers (employment for editors at newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers is expected...