A copy editor is an essential part of the media and industrial world. Like an organ designed for checks and balance, the copy editor is a grammatical gatekeeper. A copy editor examines the grammar in a text, punctuation errors, and organization. Since data and information can be wrong, the validation of actual data falls on the copy editor. As a copy editor, you must be able to read and comprehend texts and reports. You must also be able to layout texts and grammatical demonstrations that are comprehensive for editorial policies. You will check typos, errant commas, incorrect sentences, and style to ensure clarity, readability, and correctness.
A degree in English language is the most preferred qualification for a copy editor. However, it is often dependent on the hirer. As such, other languages may be required. Regardless, a copy editor must have excellent control of grammar, spellings, punctuations, and formatting to ensure accuracy and understanding. You must also be able to pay attention to details and possess strong written and communication skills. The average salary of a copy editor is $48,669 annually.
Copy Editor Overview
Copy Editor Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a copy editor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.06 an hour? That's $47,975 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -3,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Copy Editor Do
There are certain skills that many copy editors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed creativity, detail oriented and good judgment.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a copy editor, we found that a lot of resumes listed 7.9% of copy editors included news stories, while 7.5% of resumes included layout, and 6.8% of resumes included editorial staff. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the copy editor job title. But what industry to start with? Most copy editors actually find jobs in the media and education industries.
How To Become a Copy Editor
If you're interested in becoming a copy editor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 70.8% of copy editors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 17.5% of copy editors have master's degrees. Even though most copy editors have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a copy editor. When we researched the most common majors for a copy editor, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on copy editor resumes include associate degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a copy editor. In fact, many copy editor jobs require experience in a role such as editor. Meanwhile, many copy editors also have previous career experience in roles such as internship or reporter.
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Copy Editor Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a copy editor can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as editor, progress to a title such as owner and then eventually end up with the title brand director.
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Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Copy Editor
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Robert Half Copy Editor Copy Editor | Robert Half Robert Half | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $59,48001/28/2021 $59,480 |
Robert Half Copy Editor Copy Editor | Robert Half Robert Half | 12/22/2020 12/22/2020 | $39,65312/22/2020 $39,653 |
Robert Half Copy Editor (Pharma) Copy Editor (Pharma) | Robert Half Robert Half | 12/16/2020 12/16/2020 | $70,00012/16/2020 $70,000 |
Randstad Copy Editor Copy Editor | Randstad Randstad | 12/02/2020 12/02/2020 | $62,61012/02/2020 $62,610 |
Robert Half Bilingual Copy Editor Bilingual Copy Editor | Robert Half Robert Half | 10/15/2020 10/15/2020 | $51,54910/15/2020 $51,549 |
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Copy Editor Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Copy Editor. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Copy Editor Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Copy Editor resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Copy Editors
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
3. New York University
New York, NY • Private
4. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
5. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
6. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
7. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
8. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
9. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
10. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Public
Top Skills For a Copy Editor
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 7.9% of copy editors listed news stories on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and detail oriented are important as well.
- News Stories, 7.9%
- Layout, 7.5%
- Editorial Staff, 6.8%
- Web Content, 6.6%
- Fact Check, 6.2%
- Other Skills, 65.0% See All Copy Editor Skills
Best States For a Copy Editor
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a copy editor. The best states for people in this position are New Jersey, California, Delaware, and Massachusetts. Copy editors make the most in New Jersey with an average salary of $61,548. Whereas in California and Delaware, they would average $59,346 and $55,714, respectively. While copy editors would only make an average of $55,398 in Massachusetts, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. District of Columbia
$64,860
Avg. Salary
2. New Jersey
$61,548
Avg. Salary
3. California
$59,346
Avg. Salary
How Do Copy Editor Rate Their Jobs?
Top Copy Editor Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ copy editors and discovered their number of copy editor opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that The Dallas Morning News was the best, especially with an average salary of $34,781. Dow Jones follows up with an average salary of $45,760, and then comes Gannett with an average of $58,578. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a copy editor. The employers include Cline Davis & Mann, Inc., Omnicom Health Group, and She Knows Media
Copy Editor Videos
