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Job outlook for copy editor/proofreaders in the United States
Copy editor/proofreader job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected copy editor/proofreader job growth rate is -5% from 2018-2028.
About -5,500 new jobs for copy editor/proofreaders are projected over the next decade.
Copy editor/proofreader salaries have increased 11% for copy editor/proofreaders in the last 5 years.
There are over 5,327 copy editor/proofreaders currently employed in the United States.
There are 5,290 active copy editor/proofreader job openings in the US.
The average copy editor/proofreader salary is $72,246.
Are copy editor/proofreader jobs in demand?
Copy editor/proofreader job and salary trends over time
Copy editor/proofreader jobs over time
Copy editor/proofreader job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5,327 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 6,593 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 7,711 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 9,796 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 11,392 | 0.00% |
Average copy editor/proofreader salary over time
Copy editor/proofreader salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $72,246 | $34.73 | +1.3% |
| 2024 | $71,350 | $34.30 | +3.8% |
| 2023 | $68,733 | $33.04 | +4.2% |
| 2022 | $65,941 | $31.70 | +1.6% |
| 2021 | $64,905 | $31.20 | +3.7% |
Copy editor/proofreader jobs by state
Most common states for copy editor/proofreaders
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 85 | 12% |
| 2 | New York | 19,849,399 | 493 | 2% |
| 3 | Delaware | 961,939 | 15 | 2% |
| 4 | Alaska | 739,795 | 13 | 2% |
| 5 | California | 39,536,653 | 247 | 1% |
| 6 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 124 | 1% |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 81 | 1% |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 73 | 1% |
| 9 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 69 | 1% |
| 10 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 57 | 1% |
| 11 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 55 | 1% |
| 12 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 54 | 1% |
| 13 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 49 | 1% |
| 14 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 42 | 1% |
| 15 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 23 | 1% |
| 16 | Nevada | 2,998,039 | 16 | 1% |
| 17 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 12 | 1% |
| 18 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 11 | 1% |
| 19 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 5 | 1% |
| 20 | Vermont | 623,657 | 4 | 1% |
Most common cities for copy editor/proofreaders
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daytona Beach | 1 | 2% | $58,567 |
| 2 | Chicago | 1 | 0% | $82,447 |
| 3 | Phoenix | 1 | 0% | $72,108 |
Copy Editor/Proofreader job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of copy editor/proofreader experts
California State University - Sacramento
University of Wisconsin - Madison
California University of Pennsylvania
University of Oregon
Independence Community College
Ferrum College
Viola Ardeni
Assistant Professor & Italian Language Area HeadCalifornia State University - Sacramento
Romance Languages, Literatures, And Linguistics
What general advice would you give to a Copy Editor/Proofreader?
Viola Ardeni: To recent graduates in any field, I would recommend making sure they are doing two things: 'Ask questions' and 'Show up.' In the Romance languages, literatures, and linguistics field, asking questions may mean asking for a long of informational interviews, even in places where there are no current jobs openings. You never know what you will learn from talking to someone who is working and has your same degree. Asking questions also means to be present, aware, and critical. Showing up may instead mean trying different things. Besides teaching, there is no clear job following degrees in Romance languages etc. (and even 'teaching' includes a variety of jobs), so taking advantage of different opportunities may come in handy.
What will help Copy Editor/Proofreaders increase their earning potential?
Viola Ardeni: Negotiate your job offer, even where your position is represented by a labor union (you may negotiate other perks and benefits). I would also recommend considering extremely carefully whether a higher degree in the field (master's or PhD) would enhance your options for a higher salary. The mental, emotional, and financial cost of graduate studies may not make it worth it, if the primary objective is earning more money.
What general advice would you give to a Copy Editor/Proofreader?
Catherine Wilbur: The best way to maximize salary earnings is to complete the highest level of education in your chosen field. The average salary for someone with a bachelor's degree in English is around $59,124 per year, while someone with a master's degree in English can expect to earn around $69,732 per year.
What Copy Editor/Proofreader skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Catherine Wilbur: Even with the advancement of AI, among the most essential competencies are the ability to think critically and solve problems, to effectively both orally and in writing, to assess and analyze information, and to exercise curiosity and imagination. One recent study showed that college graduates spend, on average, 44% of their time writing, including letters, memos, short reports, instructional materials, and professional articles and essays. Additionally, even as people use generative AI to draft documents, they still need to be edited and proofread by a person to ensure that they are accurate and contain no biased information.
What will help Copy Editor/Proofreaders increase their earning potential?
Catherine Wilbur: For advice, find something you're passionate about. Not all English majors want to be teachers, and that's ok. There are 100s of other career paths for English majors. Such as lawyers, copyeditors, speechwriters, journalists, politicians, business, etc. Explore the different jobs out there that you may be qualified for with an English degree.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Copy Editor/Proofreaders?
Patricia Hastings: I think there will be some enduring impacts on graduating journalism students in a number of ways. Right now, there are some obstacles to negotiate. The first is the jobs situation. First, many newsrooms don't have internships right now, and so students can't get that extra experience that will ultimately help them land a job. I see seniors who have some, but not enough experience and they need that last push outside of the classroom and campus media. Without that, it makes job hunting more difficult. Of course, there are the economic issues. So many places have downsized their newsrooms and that is a problem. Graduates have to be nimble, too, in terms of having a good toolbox of skills. Now, if you want a job, go into TV news producing. You can't find enough people to fill what is out there. There are TV news reporting jobs out there as well. It comes down to networking and having a "reel" or examples of your work to show.
And then there are the impacts we don't know. Many staffers are working from home. Will jobs change so more reporters work from home? How do you balance that with the fact that reporters should be out covering stories? The pandemic is causing a rethink on the office of the future-space, risk and other areas that we can only guess at right now.
How do you envision technology impacting Copy Editor/Proofreaders in the next 5 years?
Dr. Christina Fisanick: Given that English majors are placed in a broad range of fields after graduation, it is difficult to identify which specific technologies will be used most, which is why critical thinking and adaptability are key skills. I can imagine that editing and word processing software will remain in heavy use by our graduates in the workplace, along with social media and other communication applications. Exposing students to the many possibilities of how technology changes the production and consumption of texts is vital to what English programs do best.
What type of skills will young Copy Editor/Proofreaders need?
Dr. Christina Fisanick: College graduates in 2021 and beyond, need all of the skills that English programs have to offer: critical thinking, effective communication, creativity, and flexibility. New hires need to be able to adapt to workplace changes quickly and with aplomb, which requires critical thinking and problem solving and the ability to communicate those solutions to a diverse audience clearly and effectively. Those skills are refined and practiced regularly in English programs.
Cristina Calhoon
Senior Career Instructor, Undergraduate AdvisorUniversity of Oregon
Department of Classics
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Copy Editor/Proofreaders?
Cristina Calhoon: Even before the pandemic, Classics-and the Humanities in general-had been coping with existential threats arising from the grafting of business models onto higher education. Administrators' exaggerated emphasis on metrics, a widespread mentality privileging "practical" skills over a more comprehensive education, and the prohibitive cost of college had forced Classics to adapt to changes.
Mergers with other departments and language programs, the fostering of distance learning and digital competence, curricula driven by large-enrollment courses in classics in English translation allowed some Classics programs to survive. The pandemic has made us rely more on the distance learning approach, but we still maintain most of our offerings. Some of our graduates are double majors, a solution I recommend when advising students who-dazzled by Classical Mythology or Archeology or other Classics courses-decide to switch from their "practical" major to Classics. Others decide to minor in Classics (Latin, Greek or Classical Civilization), because they still see great personal value in pursuing these studies.
Studying Latin or ancient Greek opens one's mind in so many different ways, all beneficial even from a "practical" standpoint: vocabulary skills, memorization, and analytical skills are necessary and transferable to any job. How does one learn to solve problems logically? By learning to organize Latin and Greek linguistic structures that work like jigsaw puzzles, unlike many modern Western languages. English is peppered with words of Latin and Greek origin, and our institutions (democracy, republic, libraries, the foundations of the western legal system, to quote just a few basic ones) are largely based on Greco-Roman ones. All this background knowledge gives our graduates a solid, comprehensive intellectual grounding and an enhanced view of our current predicament within a universal framework.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Copy Editor/Proofreaders to find work opportunities?
Cristina Calhoon: The skills that Classics graduates learn (good communication skills; careful, clear, and well-organized oral and written presentation; research, comparison, and analysis of ancient sources; linguistic proficiency in more than one language) make them flexible and adaptable. Graduate school is the goal of many of our graduates, who complete law and medical degrees in prestigious programs throughout the nation.
Some also do very well in business school, where the breadth of their academic background, the adaptability of their skills, and their analytical and communication proficiency make them highly competitive with respect to graduates from strictly pre-professional programs.
In addition to occupations in all levels of education, academic research, and archeology, some Classics graduates have also established careers in management, public relations, fundraising, administration, as well as a library, archival, and museum work, while some have also created opportunities for themselves in computer occupations, arts, and media.
Bridget Carson
Associate Professor of Developmental EnglishIndependence Community College
History
What general advice would you give to a Copy Editor/Proofreader?
Bridget Carson: Show up. Listen and keep learning. Be a part of the broader community.
I know these seem simple, but they require time. It isn't just about the hours on the clock, although they are that for which you are paid. Go to the meet and greet. Chip into the water cooler fund. Join a softball league, a book club, or a game night. When somebody invites you to a company picnic - go. Join the volunteer opportunities in which the organization participates. Relationships need nurturing so that you can have empathy and resilience during difficult discussions within an organization or when it needs to pull together and get through something.
Our shiny new degrees are just the beginning of what we know. You'll be stepping into situations where people will need your fresh perspective, and you will need their experience. Keep reading, not just things in your content area. This isn't just a "respect your elders" or "know your place" statement. They don't know everything, and neither do you, but they've been there longer.
Be a visible part of the broader community. This is especially important if you choose to work in the Public Sector where people want to see their tax dollars pay people who are invested in their community. Go to the concerts in the park, the local community theater, the parades. Join some organization and chip in. Work the polls, join the park committee, be active in a philanthropic or faith community, show up for events celebrating local history. Support local businesses where you find them in alignment with your values.
Don't do any of this for the show. People can spot a fake-Esse quad videre: to be rather than to seem.
What general advice would you give to a Copy Editor/Proofreader?
Allison Harl Ph.D.: Develop as many multimedia skills as possible. Writing in the 21st century is about visual rhetoric as well as just words on a page.