Chief writer vs staff writer

The differences between chief writers and staff writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a chief writer and a staff writer. Additionally, a chief writer has an average salary of $59,597, which is higher than the $44,844 average annual salary of a staff writer.

The top three skills for a chief writer include subject matter experts, instructional materials and press releases. The most important skills for a staff writer are feature stories, news stories, and event coverage.

Chief writer vs staff writer overview

	Chief Writer	Staff Writer
Yearly salary	$59,597	$44,844
Hourly rate	$28.65	$21.56
Growth rate	4%	6%
Number of jobs	22,938	80,547
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Average age	42	46
Years of experience	2	2

Chief writer vs staff writer salary

Chief writers and staff writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Chief Writer	Staff Writer
Average salary	$59,597	$44,844
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $100,000	Between $29,000 And $68,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	The New York Times Company
Best paying industry	-	Non Profits

Differences between chief writer and staff writer education

There are a few differences between a chief writer and a staff writer in terms of educational background:

	Chief Writer	Staff Writer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Most common major	English	Journalism
Most common college	Northwestern University	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Chief writer vs staff writer demographics

Here are the differences between chief writers' and staff writers' demographics:

	Chief Writer	Staff Writer
Average age	42	46
Gender ratio	Male, 71.7% Female, 28.3%	Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 5.0% White, 75.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 8.8% White, 71.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	16%	11%

Differences between chief writer and staff writer duties and responsibilities

Chief writer example responsibilities.

Manage a team of RFP writers and work with a cross-functional team to meet RFP requirements and establish deadlines.
Develop course materials as an instructor/writer for safety officer training in order to demonstrate higher-level safety management for large combat units.
Select and edit photos utilizing Photoshop.

Staff writer example responsibilities.

Manage magazine's transition to a new CMS system.
Manage website by uploading and scheduling articles, fixing errors, proofreading, optimizing for SEO, and polishing content.
Manage arts and entertainment editorial calendar, assign stories to multiple freelancers and plan daily coverage.
Assist with copywriting, magazine and advertisement layout.
Research, verify facts and edit all contributor submissions.
Create unique columns commentating on the social state of hockey and the NHL.

Chief writer vs staff writer skills

Common chief writer skills

Subject Matter Experts, 17%
Instructional Materials, 16%
Press Releases, 13%
Logistics, 13%
POI, 11%
Content Ideas, 11%

Common staff writer skills

Feature Stories, 9%
News Stories, 8%
Event Coverage, 7%
News Articles, 7%
SEO, 6%
Photography, 6%

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Chief Writer
Chief Writer vs Staff Writer

Updated January 8, 2025

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