Creative & Media
Editors
Plan, coordinate, revise, or edit written material. May review proposals and drafts for possible publication.
Median salary (BLS)
$77,920
10th–90th percentile (BLS)
$41k – $154k
Job outlook
+1% (about average)
AI exposure
Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $91,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.
Plan a path to Editors
Education
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Editors Intern
Internship
$36,000
~4 mos to advance
Junior Editors
Entry / Junior
$41,250
~2 yrs to advance
Editors
Established
$77,920
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Editors
Senior
$115,810
Internships are a common on-ramp here — they speed up landing that first role and improve your odds, which is why the Safe and High-ceiling plans build one in.
Key skills
A typical day
- •Read copy or proof to detect and correct errors in spelling, punctuation, and syntax.
- •Verify facts, dates, and statistics, using standard reference sources.
- •Read, evaluate and edit manuscripts or other materials submitted for publication, and confer with authors regarding changes in content, style or organization, or publication.
- •Develop story or content ideas, considering reader or audience appeal.
- •Prepare, rewrite and edit copy to improve readability, or supervise others who do this work.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Creative & Media
Explore all- University of Southern California12% admit · $86,000 grad pay
- New York University12% admit · $84,000 grad pay
- Northwestern University7% admit · $95,000 grad pay
- University of Chicago5% admit · $91,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.