Writers and Authors salary

SOC 27-3043 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$76,910

per year, nationally

Middle half

$58,230–$101,950

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

47,940

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.6%

13,400 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.

$44,310$139,870

10th: $44,310
25th: $58,230
Median: $76,910
75th: $101,950
90th: $139,870

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

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

Where writers and authors 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	$129,300	109.9	1,050	4.85×
2	Maryland	$104,330	105.0	540	0.63×
3	Connecticut	$98,460	103.6	480	0.92×
4	Vermont	$94,430	98.0	110	1.23×
5	Louisiana	$89,520	88.2	480	0.81×
6	California	$86,480	110.7	8,390	1.49×
7	Washington	$85,700	107.0	770	0.71×
8	Massachusetts	$85,260	105.8	1,350	1.20×
9	Virginia	$85,000	101.1	1,530	1.21×
10	New Jersey	$81,590	108.8	1,180	0.90×
11	Oregon	$80,540	103.4	950	1.56×
12	Pennsylvania	$77,410	97.6	1,080	0.58×
13	Colorado	$76,830	103.1	1,300	1.46×
14	Indiana	$75,820	93.3	450	0.46×
15	Georgia	$74,710	96.3	820	0.55×
16	Minnesota	$72,810	98.6	720	0.79×
17	New Hampshire	$71,830	104.2	180	0.85×
18	Rhode Island	$70,190	102.3	110	0.74×
19	Texas	$69,990	97.1	2,320	0.54×
20	Illinois	$68,220	100.0	2,640	1.40×
21	Florida	$68,080	103.4	3,010	0.98×
22	Alabama	$66,950	88.8	180	0.28×
23	Ohio	$65,930	92.8	830	0.49×
24	Kansas	$65,840	90.1	240	0.53×
25	Nebraska	$65,470	90.1	240	0.75×
26	Utah	$64,530	98.9	410	0.76×
27	West Virginia	$64,410	89.5	110	0.52×
28	Wisconsin	$64,370	94.1	710	0.78×
29	Nevada	$63,910	100.0	190	0.39×
30	North Carolina	$63,660	94.3	1,810	1.19×
31	Iowa	$61,010	87.8	290	0.60×
32	Tennessee	$58,870	91.9	1,260	1.25×
33	Oklahoma	$58,770	87.8	220	0.42×
34	Missouri	$58,140	90.8	600	0.67×
35	South Dakota	$56,700	88.6	60	0.44×
36	Idaho	$56,360	95.5	90	0.34×
37	Arizona	$55,990	100.7	600	0.60×
38	Mississippi	$54,180	87.0	130	0.37×
39	South Carolina	$51,920	93.7	520	0.74×
40	North Dakota	$50,860	89.0	80	0.63×
41	Wyoming	$49,650	92.7	—	—
42	Kentucky	$48,780	90.2	350	0.56×
43	Arkansas	$47,970	86.9	270	0.68×

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 writers and authors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for writers and authors

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	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$127,350	99.8	50	1.09×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$118,810	110.4	400	1.13×
3	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$108,460	108.9	2,060	2.13×
4	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$107,700	107.8	50	0.74×
5	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$103,060	106.9	150	1.19×
6	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$102,570	101.1	—	—
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$98,730	111.1	520	0.80×
8	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$97,160	102.7	140	0.76×
9	New Haven, CT	$94,410	104.6	60	0.69×
10	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$90,060	103.2	110	1.52×
11	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$87,560	105.4	600	1.60×
12	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$87,020	104.5	240	0.57×
13	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$86,340	108.6	30	0.89×
14	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$85,260	108.3	1,130	1.35×
15	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$85,020	100.9	40	1.09×
16	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$84,940	100.4	40	1.00×
17	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$84,130	102.6	560	0.63×
18	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$84,130	97.6	130	1.24×
19	Colorado Springs, CO	$83,770	100.7	130	1.38×
20	Boulder, CO	$83,540	105.2	130	2.13×
21	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$82,920	110.5	70	0.69×
22	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$82,690	106.7	240	0.72×
23	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$82,590	111.9	350	0.74×
24	Greeley, CO	$82,060	100.2	40	1.16×
25	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$81,990	100.1	490	0.55×
26	Worcester, MA	$80,490	102.5	80	0.74×
27	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$79,020	92.6	120	0.89×
28	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$78,990	106.4	190	0.36×
29	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$78,050	99.6	90	0.67×
30	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$78,000	101.0	130	1.06×
31	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$77,740	98.7	50	0.49×
32	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$77,250	113.6	—	—
33	Fresno, CA	$77,060	102.2	70	0.46×
34	Charlottesville, VA	$76,990	99.1	70	1.85×
35	Montgomery, AL	$76,710	89.7	30	0.68×
36	Columbus, OH	$76,490	95.5	240	0.70×
37	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$76,470	104.8	570	0.95×
38	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$76,390	100.9	210	0.83×
39	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$76,120	98.6	400	0.39×
40	Baton Rouge, LA	$76,000	90.8	90	0.75×

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 writers and authors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Public Relations Specialists$74,750
Editors$77,920
Interpreters and Translators$60,170
Technical Writers$90,390
News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists$62,200
Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys$47,340
Media and Communication Workers, All Other$73,620
Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners$72,420