Film and Video Editors salary

SOC 27-4032 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$75,420

per year, nationally

Middle half

$52,720–$105,310

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

25,610

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.0%

3,600 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.

$40,280$148,550

10th: $40,280
25th: $52,720
Median: $75,420
75th: $105,310
90th: $148,550

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor'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 film and video editors 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	New York	$103,440	107.9	3,710	2.33×
2	District of Columbia	$98,830	109.9	370	3.18×
3	Massachusetts	$92,130	105.8	550	0.92×
4	California	$88,490	110.7	8,110	2.70×
5	Colorado	$84,620	103.1	380	0.81×
6	Connecticut	$83,550	103.6	600	2.15×
7	New Jersey	$82,890	108.8	620	0.88×
8	Virginia	$78,740	101.1	—	—
9	Maryland	$78,380	105.0	250	0.54×
10	Utah	$76,240	98.9	370	1.29×
11	Alabama	$74,410	88.8	120	0.36×
12	Illinois	$72,460	100.0	310	0.30×
13	Oregon	$72,300	103.4	360	1.11×
14	Louisiana	$66,870	88.2	80	0.25×
15	Washington	$66,870	107.0	450	0.77×
16	Nevada	$65,720	100.0	320	1.24×
17	Vermont	$63,080	98.0	100	2.08×
18	Kentucky	$62,330	90.2	60	0.18×
19	New Hampshire	$61,250	104.2	100	0.89×
20	Texas	$61,220	97.1	1,040	0.45×
21	Florida	$60,430	103.4	1,490	0.91×
22	North Carolina	$60,020	94.3	400	0.49×
23	Michigan	$59,100	96.2	360	0.50×
24	Missouri	$57,950	90.8	380	0.79×
25	Tennessee	$57,880	91.9	560	1.03×
26	Ohio	$56,410	92.8	340	0.37×
27	Nebraska	$55,810	90.1	120	0.69×
28	Oklahoma	$55,210	87.8	100	0.37×
29	Idaho	$54,080	95.5	100	0.67×
30	Wisconsin	$53,430	94.1	240	0.50×
31	Minnesota	$53,150	98.6	200	0.40×
32	Georgia	$51,280	96.3	—	—
33	Kansas	$50,900	90.1	70	0.31×
34	Mississippi	$50,410	87.0	50	0.24×
35	New Mexico	$49,400	92.2	160	1.12×
36	Arkansas	$48,480	86.9	80	0.36×
37	West Virginia	$48,440	89.5	30	0.29×
38	Indiana	$46,780	93.3	450	0.86×
39	Arizona	$45,840	100.7	350	0.66×
40	Montana	$42,520	94.6	110	1.35×
41	South Dakota	$39,090	88.6	30	0.44×
42	Alaska	$38,800	102.4	30	0.57×

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 film and video editors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for film and video editors

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	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$109,930	115.6	740	1.89×
2	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$104,590	112.6	3,430	2.20×
3	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$93,600	105.8	250	0.93×
4	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$91,750	108.9	560	1.09×
5	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$88,910	108.3	430	0.96×
6	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$84,780	108.8	30	1.02×
7	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$83,550	99.8	220	8.18×
8	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$83,480	111.9	220	0.86×
9	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$83,230	106.9	180	2.66×
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$83,210	113.6	6,010	5.82×
11	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$80,480	100.9	220	1.64×
12	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$79,810	101.8	—	—
13	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$79,560	104.5	120	0.53×
14	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$79,040	110.5	60	1.09×
15	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$78,660	97.9	50	0.42×
16	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$78,210	103.6	250	0.33×
17	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$75,420	111.1	280	0.83×
18	Birmingham, AL	$74,410	91.6	60	0.68×
19	Rochester, NY	$73,680	97.0	40	0.55×
20	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$73,130	95.8	70	0.78×
21	Fresno, CA	$73,010	102.2	50	0.70×
22	St. Louis, MO-IL	$72,300	95.1	120	0.54×
23	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$71,990	105.4	250	1.27×
24	Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT	$71,370	98.2	70	1.41×
25	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$69,760	106.4	90	0.32×
26	Ogden, UT	$69,120	100.3	40	0.88×
27	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$68,100	92.6	30	0.45×
28	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$67,620	93.1	30	0.28×
29	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$65,830	100.2	280	1.49×
30	Boise City, ID	$65,460	98.4	40	0.57×
31	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$65,360	98.1	260	1.22×
32	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$65,000	103.1	350	0.52×
33	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$64,640	96.9	70	0.53×
34	Reno, NV	$64,220	101.0	40	0.80×
35	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$63,790	100.3	200	0.65×
36	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$63,680	100.9	50	2.77×
37	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$63,580	106.7	130	0.72×
38	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$62,320	102.7	70	0.75×
39	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$61,950	114.2	360	0.77×
40	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$60,470	101.4	390	1.70×

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 film and video editors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Audio and Video Technicians$58,100
Photographers$44,660
Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film$74,990
Broadcast Technicians$59,570
Sound Engineering Technicians$73,130
Media and Communication Equipment Workers, All Other$70,720
Lighting Technicians$68,060