Archivists salary

SOC 25-4011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$64,550

per year, nationally

Middle half

$50,680–$83,020

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

7,970

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.8%

1,100 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$39,970$110,550

10th: $39,970
25th: $50,680
Median: $64,550
75th: $83,020
90th: $110,550

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Master's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where archivists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$93,040	109.9	200	5.54×
2	Connecticut	$79,790	103.6	160	1.89×
3	Massachusetts	$78,180	105.8	270	1.42×
4	Rhode Island	$76,990	102.3	40	1.51×
5	Washington	$76,490	107.0	640	3.52×
6	Maryland	$76,440	105.0	660	4.67×
7	New York	$73,860	107.9	960	1.93×
8	California	$70,530	110.7	1,160	1.25×
9	New Jersey	$67,900	108.8	70	0.33×
10	Minnesota	$65,740	98.6	90	0.61×
11	Michigan	$63,890	96.2	160	0.71×
12	Oregon	$61,880	103.4	70	0.73×
13	New Hampshire	$61,410	104.2	50	1.43×
14	Pennsylvania	$60,690	97.6	360	1.15×
15	Missouri	$60,020	90.8	150	0.97×
16	Wisconsin	$59,400	94.1	220	1.47×
17	Illinois	$59,340	100.0	200	0.64×
18	Colorado	$59,210	103.1	70	0.48×
19	Louisiana	$59,070	88.2	50	0.48×
20	Georgia	$59,010	96.3	150	0.60×
21	Iowa	$59,010	87.8	40	0.53×
22	Ohio	$58,790	92.8	150	0.52×
23	Arkansas	$58,560	86.9	40	0.56×
24	Idaho	$58,370	95.5	30	0.68×
25	Alabama	$57,860	88.8	100	0.96×
26	Utah	$56,660	98.9	80	0.95×
27	Maine	$56,260	97.0	60	1.81×
28	North Carolina	$55,370	94.3	130	0.51×
29	Indiana	$54,220	93.3	70	0.46×
30	Delaware	$53,890	99.8	50	1.97×
31	Tennessee	$53,210	91.9	110	0.67×
32	South Carolina	$52,810	93.7	60	0.49×
33	Florida	$52,100	103.4	100	0.20×
34	Oklahoma	$51,940	87.8	80	0.89×
35	Texas	$50,160	97.1	490	0.69×
36	Kansas	$49,200	90.1	30	0.43×
37	Kentucky	$48,810	90.2	40	0.40×
38	Arizona	$47,010	100.7	—	—

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where archivists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for archivists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$119,190	106.9	80	3.84×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$97,550	110.4	110	1.85×
3	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$84,590	108.9	670	4.15×
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$78,530	111.1	310	2.86×
5	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$78,490	106.7	60	1.03×
6	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$78,220	108.3	230	1.65×
7	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$77,990	103.7	100	14.52×
8	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$77,450	112.6	760	1.56×
9	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$76,990	101.8	40	1.12×
10	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$76,440	104.5	230	3.38×
11	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$74,540	110.5	50	2.94×
12	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$74,320	115.6	180	1.51×
13	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$70,630	113.6	490	1.52×
14	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$70,450	98.7	40	2.57×
15	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$66,830	100.3	80	0.84×
16	Rochester, NY	$66,050	97.0	40	1.48×
17	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$65,700	104.8	60	0.55×
18	Richmond, VA	$65,240	97.9	60	1.65×
19	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$64,430	100.3	50	3.99×
20	St. Louis, MO-IL	$63,630	95.1	80	1.14×
21	Montgomery, AL	$63,130	89.7	60	7.66×
22	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$63,110	100.1	100	0.66×
23	Madison, WI	$63,040	97.3	120	5.75×
24	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$62,050	111.9	70	0.90×
25	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$62,030	106.4	50	0.57×
26	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$61,880	105.4	60	1.03×
27	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$60,900	98.1	80	1.14×
28	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$60,690	102.6	160	1.10×
29	Pittsburgh, PA	$60,520	94.7	90	1.62×
30	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$59,950	105.8	40	0.46×
31	Columbus, OH	$59,730	95.5	30	0.59×
32	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$59,620	96.9	40	0.91×
33	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$59,440	102.7	40	1.21×
34	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$58,000	97.3	30	0.49×
35	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$57,930	103.6	160	0.68×
36	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$54,590	96.3	60	1.01×
37	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$52,940	103.1	110	0.51×
38	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$52,090	98.2	50	1.34×
39	Oklahoma City, OK	$52,000	90.4	40	1.08×
40	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$48,670	94.7	50	0.89×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where archivists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Librarians and Media Collections Specialists$68,270
Library Technicians$44,580
Museum Technicians and Conservators$51,440
Curators$63,420