Journo Salary Sharer: How much do copy editors make?
It looks like copy editors earn about the same salaries as reporters, based on the responses so far to Journo Salary Sharer. The graphic that most clearly highlighted the similarities to me was when I compared the ranges of salaries based on cost of living:
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First, who am I counting as a copy editor?
- Who’s included: Anyone with the title “copy editor” and anyone who said they worked in “copy editing.” I also included people who worked as combo copy editors/page designers. There are some higher-ups included who worked their way up as copy editors, including copy chiefs and a few managing editors.
- Who’s not included: Copy editors who indicated they worked in marketing or PR.
Who responded to the survey?
As of Wednesday, when I crunched these numbers, 112 copy editors shared their salaries using the survey.
- More women responded than men (63 women, 46 men)
- Almost half of copy editor responses came from medium-sized news organizations (20–100 editorial staff). A third are from large companies and one-fifth from small newsrooms. A handful of freelancing copy editors also responded.
- Slightly more responses came from people in high cost of living areas (42%) than medium (32%) or low-cost areas (28%).
- The majority of responses came from people in their 20s and 30s, but a solid quarter of responses came from people age 40 or older.
And here’s your regular reminder that this isn’t a scientific study. It’s a self-reported, non-random survey, so while it’s interesting and hopefully useful, it’s not technically statistically representative of the industry. This piece on copy editors in particular is looking at a very small number of responses, so we won’t be digging as deep as in past posts, and I’ll indicate how many responses there are for each group in each calculation.
What’s the range of salaries for copy editors who shared?
How does pay increase with experience?
Starting pay for copy editors looks like it’s in about the same range as reporters and web producers. The median salary for copy editors with four or fewer years of experience: $34,250.
For the 19 copy editors who responded with more than 20 years of experience, the median salary was $72K, and their salaries ranged from $45K up to $118K.
(Number of responses in each experience grouping: 4 years or fewer: 36 | 5 to 9 years: 26 | 10 to 20 years: 31 | More than 20 years: 19)
What about specific titles?
Of the 15 people who responded with titles that indicated seniority or management (such as copy chief, senior copy editor, managing editor), the salaries ranged from $50K to $105K, with the median falling at $73K. (This is similar to what we saw above for those with 20+ years of experience, which makes sense.)
Sixty people had the exact title of “copy editor,” and their salaries ranged from $24K to $118K, but with many more on the low end of that range. The median for the position of “copy editor” is $50K.
How does cost of living play into it?
In medium and low-cost areas, the reported salaries maxed out at $80K. But in high-cost care areas, 10 people reported salaries higher than $80K. And in the graphic below, you can see the median salary for people in areas with a low cost of living ($35.5K) is very close to the low end of salaries from people in high-cost-of-living cities.
(Total number of responses in each category: Low: 31 | Medium: 35 | High: 46)
That’s all for now. Any other questions about copy editor salaries, or anything else related to this series? Find me on Twitter (@JuliaJRH) or email (Julia.Haslanger@journalism.cuny.edu).
For more about the limitations of this survey data and my process in handling it, see my earlier post.
