Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of writer salary by state for the United States:
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Massachusetts has the highest writer salary of $91,233
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Hawaii has the lowest writer salary of $39,420
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The national average salary for writers is $66,143
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The national hourly pay for writers is $31.8
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do writers get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for writer by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for writers after this adjustment? That would be Massachusetts.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for writer salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Writers By State
| Rank | State | Average Writer Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | $91,233 | $54,000 | $153,000 |
| 2 | California | $86,149 | $50,000 | $147,000 |
| 3 | North Dakota | $85,420 | $53,000 | $137,000 |
| 4 | Vermont | $83,026 | $49,000 | $138,000 |
| 5 | Washington | $80,273 | $48,000 | $133,000 |
| 6 | New Jersey | $77,891 | $46,000 | $131,000 |
| 7 | Connecticut | $74,008 | $43,000 | $125,000 |
| 8 | New York | $72,814 | $43,000 | $122,000 |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | $71,882 | $42,000 | $120,000 |
| 10 | Illinois | $70,421 | $42,000 | $117,000 |
| 11 | Idaho | $69,173 | $41,000 | $114,000 |
| 12 | Iowa | $68,687 | $41,000 | $113,000 |
| 13 | Montana | $68,058 | $42,000 | $109,000 |
| 14 | South Dakota | $67,542 | $41,000 | $110,000 |
| 15 | North Carolina | $67,105 | $40,000 | $112,000 |
| 16 | Oregon | $65,565 | $39,000 | $109,000 |
| 17 | Virginia | $65,503 | $39,000 | $109,000 |
| 18 | West Virginia | $65,484 | $39,000 | $109,000 |
| 19 | Delaware | $65,049 | $38,000 | $109,000 |
| 20 | Minnesota | $64,835 | $39,000 | $106,000 |
| 21 | South Carolina | $64,154 | $38,000 | $107,000 |
| 22 | Kansas | $63,440 | $38,000 | $104,000 |
| 23 | Wyoming | $62,461 | $38,000 | $100,000 |
| 24 | Maryland | $62,437 | $37,000 | $104,000 |
| 25 | Kentucky | $61,906 | $37,000 | $103,000 |
| 26 | Indiana | $61,435 | $36,000 | $102,000 |
| 27 | Rhode Island | $61,417 | $36,000 | $103,000 |
| 28 | Nevada | $61,020 | $36,000 | $102,000 |
| 29 | Maine | $60,995 | $36,000 | $101,000 |
| 30 | Tennessee | $59,761 | $35,000 | $99,000 |
| 31 | New Mexico | $59,166 | $35,000 | $97,000 |
| 32 | Arizona | $59,087 | $35,000 | $99,000 |
| 33 | Wisconsin | $58,895 | $35,000 | $98,000 |
| 34 | Arkansas | $58,025 | $35,000 | $96,000 |
| 35 | Louisiana | $57,845 | $34,000 | $97,000 |
| 36 | New Hampshire | $56,986 | $33,000 | $95,000 |
| 37 | Alabama | $56,852 | $33,000 | $95,000 |
| 38 | Ohio | $56,764 | $33,000 | $95,000 |
| 39 | Texas | $56,445 | $33,000 | $95,000 |
| 40 | Colorado | $56,383 | $34,000 | $90,000 |
| 41 | Georgia | $56,337 | $33,000 | $94,000 |
| 42 | Oklahoma | $54,870 | $33,000 | $90,000 |
| 43 | Utah | $49,861 | $30,000 | $81,000 |
| 44 | Nebraska | $49,610 | $30,000 | $81,000 |
| 45 | Missouri | $49,401 | $29,000 | $81,000 |
| 46 | Alaska | $48,485 | $34,000 | $67,000 |
| 47 | Michigan | $46,201 | $27,000 | $77,000 |
| 48 | Mississippi | $43,974 | $26,000 | $73,000 |
| 49 | Florida | $42,791 | $25,000 | $72,000 |
| 50 | Hawaii | $39,420 | $29,000 | $52,000 |
Methodology: Writer Salary By State
To better understand writer pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for writers by state.
We took the average annual salary data for writers from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for writers.
Writer Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for writers?
The highest-paid state for writers is Massachusetts with an average salary of $91,233 per year.
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What city pays writers the most?
San Francisco, CA pays writers the most with an average salary of $91,310 per year.
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What is the worst state for writers?
The worst state for writers is Hawaii with an average salary of $39,420 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
