Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between copy editors and senior editors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a copy editor and a senior editor. Additionally, a senior editor has an average salary of $90,094, which is higher than the $62,599 average annual salary of a copy editor.
The top three skills for a copy editor include proofreading, house style and digital publishing. The most important skills for a senior editor are edit content, video content, and SEO.
| Copy Editor | Senior Editor | |
| Yearly salary | $62,599 | $90,094 |
| Hourly rate | $30.10 | $43.31 |
| Growth rate | -5% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 4,866 | 12,150 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 83% | Bachelor's Degree, 79% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
The primary job of copy editors is to check for misspellings, incorrect punctuation, and consistency in typography, words, and style. They also act as fact-checkers, proofreaders, and project managers, overseeing the workflow and communicating with other departments. A copy editor's other duties and responsibilities include checking content for readability and compliance with editorial policies, rewriting text to improve readability and clarity, and arranging page layouts of articles, photos, and advertisements. Formal training is not required for this role, but copy editors generally have a firm grasp and love for the English language's proper usage.
A Senior Editor determines the editorial content for a publication. They supervise the content creation process and manage junior editors.
Copy editors and senior editors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Copy Editor | Senior Editor | |
| Average salary | $62,599 | $90,094 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $98,000 | Between $66,000 And $121,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | PayPal | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a copy editor and a senior editor in terms of educational background:
| Copy Editor | Senior Editor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 83% | Bachelor's Degree, 79% |
| Most common major | English | English |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between copy editors' and senior editors' demographics:
| Copy Editor | Senior Editor | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 39.2% Female, 60.8% | Male, 51.7% Female, 48.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 7.3% White, 76.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 7.2% White, 76.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |