Editors
What Editors Do
Plan, coordinate, revise, or edit written material. May review proposals and drafts for possible publication.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- Less than 5 years
- On-the-job training
- None
- Self-employed
- 13.2%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- English Languageimportance 4.8/5
- Communications and Mediaimportance 4.5/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.3/5
- Administrativeimportance 3.3/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 3.3/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.1/5
- Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.1/5
- Law and Governmentimportance 2.7/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.9/5
- E-Mail4.9/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.8/5
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.6/5
- Time Pressure4.6/5
- Contact With Others4.5/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Musicians and Singers96% skill match
- Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance95% skill match
- Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants94% skill match
- Electrical and Electronics Drafters94% skill match
- Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators94% skill match
- Financial Examiners94% skill match
- Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education93% skill match
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants93% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Time Managementimportance 3.4/5
- Quality Control Analysisimportance 3.3/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.1/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.1/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.1/5
- Systems Analysisimportance 3.1/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.0/5
- Persuasionimportance 3.0/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
In-Demand Technologies
Other Software Used
- Adobe Captivate
- Adobe Dreamweaver
- Adobe FrameMaker
- Adobe InCopy
- After the Deadline
- Apple Final Cut Pro
- Apple iWork Keynote
- AutoCrit Editing Wizard
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Leadership Orientation
- Intellectual Curiosity
- Achievement Orientation
- Integrity
- Innovation
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- ArtisticHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- EnterprisingMedium
- InvestigativeLow
- SocialLow
- RealisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where editors make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ2.97× national avg
- 2Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV2.96× national avg
- 3Waterbury-Shelton, CT2.47× national avg
- 4Charlottesville, VA2.43× national avg
- 5Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA2.39× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Technical WritersLateral Move
- Financial ExaminersCareer Change
- Physician AssistantsCareer Change
- Interpreters and TranslatorsLateral Move
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Communication, General
- California State University-Fullerton (Fullerton, CA)grads earn ~$58,082
- University of California-Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)grads earn ~$72,976
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)grads earn ~$70,240
- Ohio State University-Main Campus (Columbus, OH)grads earn ~$62,096
- Arizona State University Digital Immersion (Scottsdale, AZ)grads earn ~$61,193
Public Relations/Image Management
- Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester, NH)grads earn ~$59,801
- The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)grads earn ~$80,221
- Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)grads earn ~$69,300
- University of Oregon (Eugene, OR)grads earn ~$73,410
- University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, CO)grads earn ~$74,779