Updated April 6, 2023

Content Writer Salary Estimate

$58,918

$28.33 hourly

Entry level Salary
$40,000 yearly

How much does a Content Writer make?

The average salary for a content writer in the United States is $58,918. Content writer salaries typically range between $40,000 and $84,000 a year. The average hourly rate for content writers is $28.33 per hour.

Location, education, and experience impacts how much a content writer can expect to make. Content writers make the most in California, Idaho, Massachusetts, Alaska, and Utah.

Research Summary.
  • The average salary for a content writer is $58,918 in the US.
  • The average content writer salary ranges between $40,000 and $84,000 in the US.
  • Hourly rates for content writers in the US typically range between $19 and $40 an hour.
  • The average content writer salary is $73,120 in California, $73,114 in Idaho, and $72,447 in Massachusetts. These are the three highest-paying states for content writers in the US.
  • Cisco has the highest average salary for content writers.
  • Finance is the highest-paying industry for content writers in the US.

Highest Paying States For Content Writers

If both location and money are important to you, then you might want to check out moving to California, Idaho and Massachusetts, as these three states offer the highest salaries throughout the U.S. for content writers. Quite opposite of that list is the lowest paying states, which are South Carolina, Hawaii, and Virginia.
  • State View
  • County View
Average Salary:

Content Writer average salary by State

RankStateAvg. SalaryHourly RateJob Count
1Massachusetts$72,447$34.83571
2Utah$69,497$33.41165
3California$73,120$35.151,625
4Idaho$73,114$35.1560
5New York$68,739$33.051,088
6Vermont$66,166$31.8142
7Alaska$71,279$34.2741
8Washington$65,733$31.60357
9Nebraska$64,307$30.9295
10Wisconsin$67,003$32.21152
11Colorado$66,144$31.80222
12Nevada$61,167$29.4193
13District of Columbia$66,559$32.00249
14Minnesota$63,893$30.72229
15North Dakota$63,906$30.7228
16Connecticut$63,638$30.60134
17Maine$66,823$32.1325
18Indiana$65,669$31.57140
19Rhode Island$58,286$28.0255
20New Hampshire$60,988$29.3254
21Pennsylvania$57,857$27.82375
22Oregon$57,440$27.62260
23Mississippi$61,740$29.6829
24Wyoming$53,934$25.9340
25Montana$56,706$27.2648
26Maryland$56,300$27.07408
27Delaware$57,542$27.6652
28Arizona$56,746$27.28176
29Kansas$55,878$26.8675
30Georgia$55,799$26.83326
31New Jersey$54,295$26.10347
32South Dakota$53,938$25.9324
33New Mexico$53,989$25.9656
34Ohio$52,871$25.42258
35West Virginia$52,349$25.1735
36Michigan$52,685$25.33218
37Alabama$53,521$25.7379
38Illinois$50,052$24.06517
39Texas$51,275$24.65712
40North Carolina$49,965$24.02365
41Oklahoma$52,183$25.0968
42Hawaii$46,094$22.1631
43Virginia$45,950$22.09519
44Missouri$50,795$24.42180
45Arkansas$50,288$24.1870
46Louisiana$52,279$25.1347
47Kentucky$50,883$24.4664
48Florida$43,461$20.89480
49Iowa$45,402$21.8379
50South Carolina$46,478$22.3593
51Tennessee$41,316$19.86139

Highest Paying Cities For Content Writers

RankCityAvg. SalaryHourly RateJob Count
1San Francisco, CA$78,744$37.865
2Boston, MA$72,235$34.735
3Logan, UT$68,989$33.17
4New York, NY$68,882$33.1223
5Portland, ME$67,764$32.581
6Madison, WI$66,745$32.091
7Washington, DC$66,541$31.991
8Boulder, CO$66,240$31.85
9Seattle, WA$65,987$31.725
10Indianapolis, IN$65,431$31.461
11Minneapolis, MN$63,881$30.712
12Manchester, NH$61,042$29.351
13Philadelphia, PA$58,301$28.031
14Portland, OR$57,130$27.471
15Phoenix, AZ$56,948$27.383

Here Are The Five Most In Demand Cities Right Now:

  1. San Francisco, CA
  2. Boston, MA
  3. Logan, UT
  4. New York, NY
  5. Portland, ME

Content Writers Salary Details

Average Content Writer Salary Graph
Average Content Writer Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a Content Writer's Salary?

PercentileAnnual SalaryMonthly SalaryHourly Rate
90th Percentile$84,000$7,000$40
75th Percentile$71,000$5,917$34
Average$58,918$4,910$28
25th Percentile$48,000$4,000$23
10th Percentile$40,000$3,333$19

Highest Paying Types of Content Writers

Job TitleAnnual SalaryMonthly SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
Journalist$60,828$5,069$29.2411,488
Editor$52,107$4,342$25.0515,115
Technical Editor$61,717$5,143$29.6778,423
Writer And Editor$61,482$5,124$29.5614,865
Production Editor$53,275$4,440$25.6162,877
Technical Writer And Editor$65,088$5,424$31.2978,617

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

  1. Microsoft Jobs (27)
  2. Yahoo Jobs (9)
  3. VMware Jobs (6)
  4. Intuit Jobs (8)
  5. Brafton Jobs (66)

Which Companies Pay Content Writers The Most?

The highest paying companies for content writers are Cisco and Atlassian according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like VMware and Kronos Incorporated report highly competitive wages for content writers.
RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Cisco$91,421$43.95
2Atlassian$90,183$43.36
3VMware$89,286$42.93
4Kronos Incorporated$88,464$42.53
5Tableau$88,011$42.31
6Amazon$82,342$39.597
7Datadog$81,386$39.135
8Citi$79,986$38.453
9JPMorgan Chase & Co.$79,041$38.009
10Transwestern$77,693$37.35
11Amd$76,154$36.612
12ExtraHop$74,660$35.891
13TechTarget$73,772$35.47
14WebMD$72,897$35.051
15BarkBox$72,192$34.71
16Brafton$70,626$33.9583
17Convercent$70,357$33.83
18Walgreens$69,488$33.41
19Erickson$68,793$33.071
20Eastman$68,200$32.79

How Much Do Content Writers Make In Different Industries?

Content writer salaries can vary depending on the industry. In fact, our data shows that the finance, technology, and retail industries tend to offer much higher salaries for content writers. For example, content writers make a whopping average salary of $97,968 while working in the finance industry. Meanwhile, other people in this field are making $63,449 in the technology industry and $61,236 in the retail industry.

Content writers may want to avoid working in the internet industry as it offers the lowest average salary of $55,943.

Highest Paying Industries For Content Writers

RankIndustryAverage SalaryHourly Rate
1Finance$97,968$47.10
2Technology$63,449$30.50
3Retail$61,236$29.44
4Professional$61,040$29.35
5Health Care$60,649$29.16
6Media$60,334$29.01
7Internet$55,943$26.90

High Paying Content Writer Jobs

Content Writer Pay Trends

Average Content Writer Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

    Content Writer Salary By Year

    YearAvg. SalaryHourly Rate% Change
    2023$58,900$28.33+5.8%
    2022$55,500$26.67+1.6%
    2021$54,600$26.24+0.6%
    2020$54,300$26.09+0.9%
    2019$53,800$25.84+1.6%

    Recently Added Content Writer Salaries

    CompanyJobLocationDate AddedSalary
    TwinklUSA Content Writer-7Th Grade Social Studies (USA Certified Teachers Only)Indianapolis, IN05/02/2023$31,305
    Randstad UsContent WriterJackson, MS05/01/2023$59,755
    Randstad UsContent WriterSalem, OR05/01/2023$59,755
    Randstad UsContent WriterLansing, MI05/01/2023$59,755
    Randstad UsContent WriterCarson City, NV05/01/2023$59,755
    Randstad UsContent WriterWashington, DC05/01/2023$59,755
    Randstad UsContent WriterSanta Fe, NM05/01/2023$59,755
    Randstad UsContent WriterAustin, TX05/01/2023$59,755
    Randstad UsContent WriterFrankfort, KY05/01/2023$59,755
    Randstad UsContent WriterPhoenix, AZ05/01/2023$59,755

    Content Writer Salaries FAQs

    What State Pays Content Writers The Most?

    California pays Content Writers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $73,120 per year, or $35.15 per hour.

    How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As A Content Writer?

    You know if you are being paid fairly as a Content Writer if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Idaho you should be paid close to $73,114 per year.

    How Much Do Entry-level Content Writers Make?

    Entry-level content writers make around $37,000 yearly.

    Typically, they start on the lower end of the salary range as they don't have years of experience or varied kinds of writings yet. However, they can advance by developing their skills in niche kinds of writing (such as technical writing or medical writing) and having a strong portfolio of works.

    How Much Money Does A Content Writer Make?

    A content writer makes about $52,000 yearly or $25 hourly. On the lower end of the salary range, they may make around $37,000. On the higher end, they can make around $72,000. As most jobs go, factors like industry, location, and experience can determine your salary.

    How Much Should Content Writers Be Paid?

    Content writers should be paid above $20 per hour. In general, a content writer can make an average salary of $52,000 yearly or $25 hourly.

    On the lower end of the salary range, they may make around $37,000 or around $19 per hour. On the higher end, they can make around $72,000 or around $37 per hour. As most jobs go, factors like industry, location, and experience can determine your salary.

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