Editors
Plan, coordinate, revise, or edit written material. May review proposals and drafts for possible publication.
- Median pay
- $77,920
- Doing it now
- 105,000
- By 2035
- Down 1.1%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
a year
across the country
7,900 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Prepare, rewrite and edit copy to improve readability, or supervise others who do this work.
- Read copy or proof to detect and correct errors in spelling, punctuation, and syntax.
- Plan the contents of publications according to the publication's style, editorial policy, and publishing requirements.
- Verify facts, dates, and statistics, using standard reference sources.
- Review and approve proofs submitted by composing room prior to publication production.
- Develop story or content ideas, considering reader or audience appeal.
- Oversee publication production, including artwork, layout, computer typesetting, and printing, ensuring adherence to deadlines and budget requirements.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Communication and Media StudiesSee 1,139 colleges that teach it
- Rhetoric and Composition/Writing StudiesSee 506 colleges that teach it
- Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied CommunicationSee 470 colleges that teach it
- JournalismSee 409 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Creative and expressive
Organised and precise
Leading and persuading
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $77,920 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.