Editorial assistants are hired to directly assist editors, performing both editorial and administrative duties. Their administrative tasks include answering phones, taking messages, running errands, and performing other tasks as required. They are employed at magazine and book publication establishments. They serve as liaisons between writers and editors. Also, they assist editors in planning, implementing, and managing the publication schedule. Furthermore, they discuss the editorial and publication process with writers and agents. Additionally, they work with various departments to ensure the publication meets the schedule.

To become an editorial assistant, the qualifications vary from one employer to another. Generally, you will need at least a bachelor's degree in journalism, English, creative writing, or communications. You must have proven work experience in a similar role. You must have communication, writing, multitasking, and teamwork skills. You must be familiar with the publishing process. These experts make about $38,381 in a year. This ranges from $31,000 to $48,000.

What Does an Editorial Assistant Do

There are certain skills that many editorial assistants 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 organizational skills, interpersonal skills and writing skills.

Learn more about what an Editorial Assistant does

How To Become an Editorial Assistant

If you're interested in becoming an editorial assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 81.6% of editorial assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 9.5% of editorial assistants have master's degrees. Even though most editorial assistants have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become an Editorial Assistant

Editorial Assistant Career Paths

Average Salary for an Editorial Assistant

Editorial Assistants in America make an average salary of $43,141 per year or $21 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $53,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $35,000 per year.
Average Editorial Assistant Salary
$43,141 Yearly
$20.74 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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States With The Most Editorial Assistant Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active editorial assistant jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where editorial assistants earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Editorial Assistant Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California1,692$47,181
2New York1,194$46,464
3Texas1,046$43,003
4Florida954$39,299
5Ohio610$46,537
6Pennsylvania581$41,160
7Virginia567$44,786
8Massachusetts554$50,387
9Illinois475$43,842
10North Carolina408$41,877
11Colorado374$54,780
12Georgia374$38,581
13New Jersey370$48,008
14Washington349$48,363
15Arizona340$44,598
16Michigan333$48,617
17Wisconsin322$41,944
18Maryland285$42,507
19Minnesota268$51,695
20Tennessee248$43,877
21Indiana240$44,384
22Oregon205$50,447
23Missouri201$44,737
24Utah186$38,901
25Connecticut172$48,991
26South Carolina171$40,948
27Alabama145$38,915
28Iowa129$44,033
29Kentucky129$34,576
30Nebraska114$47,933
31Nevada108$43,965
32Louisiana101$44,676
33Kansas97$41,816
34Oklahoma92$37,715
35Idaho86$40,218
36Montana80$39,521
37Arkansas77$34,205
38Mississippi76$43,640
39Alaska73$42,198
40New Hampshire68$47,070
41West Virginia65$38,235
42New Mexico54$47,554
43Hawaii53$53,687
44Rhode Island50$50,998
45Maine49$42,500
46Delaware46$35,372
47Wyoming36$40,240
48North Dakota35$40,474
49Vermont30$48,947
50South Dakota26$37,794

Editorial Assistant Education

Editorial Assistant Majors

30.6 %

Editorial Assistant Degrees

Bachelors

81.6 %

Masters

9.5 %

Associate

4.9 %

Top Colleges for Editorial Assistants

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

2. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

5. University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,184

Enrollment

30,845

6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

7. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,816

Enrollment

21,047

8. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

9. Emory University

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,306

Enrollment

6,975

10. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

Top Skills For an Editorial Assistant

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, 6.6% of editorial assistants listed fact check on their resume, but soft skills such as organizational skills and interpersonal skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Editorial Assistant Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Editorial Assistant templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Editorial Assistant resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Editorial Assistant diversity

Editorial Assistant Gender Distribution

Female
Female
72%
Male
Male
28%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among editorial assistants, 72.3% of them are women, while 27.7% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among editorial assistants is White, which makes up 65.8% of all editorial assistants.

  • The most common foreign language among editorial assistants is Spanish at 41.0%.

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Best States For an Editorial Assistant

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an editorial assistant. The best states for people in this position are Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, and Rhode Island. Editorial assistants make the most in Colorado with an average salary of $54,780. Whereas in Hawaii and Minnesota, they would average $53,687 and $51,695, respectively. While editorial assistants would only make an average of $50,998 in Rhode Island, 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. Colorado

Total Editorial Assistant Jobs: 374
Highest 10% Earn:
$67,000
Location Quotient:
1.24

2. Massachusetts

Total Editorial Assistant Jobs: 554
Highest 10% Earn:
$60,000
Location Quotient:
1.19

3. Rhode Island

Total Editorial Assistant Jobs: 50
Highest 10% Earn:
$61,000
Location Quotient:
0.81
Full List Of Best States For Editorial Assistants

How Do Editorial Assistants Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Editorial Assistant Employers

Most Common Employers For Editorial Assistant

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Boston Herald$54,323$26.1232
2University of California Press$50,166$24.1216
3John Wiley & Sons$49,992$24.0364
4SAGE Publishing$48,952$23.5331
5Cengage Learning$48,757$23.4434
6Oxford University Press$48,432$23.2823
7HarperCollins$48,135$23.1422
8The Boston Globe$47,366$22.7734
9University of Michigan$46,412$22.3117
10McGraw Hill$46,351$22.2841

Becoming an Editorial Assistant FAQs

Do Editorial Assistants Write?

Yes, editorial assistants write. An editorial assistant is primarily responsible for performing support-related tasks for an editor or editing staff. Depending on the industry, this can include writing, proofreading, scheduling, and much more.

What Skills Do You Need To Be An Editorial Assistant?

You need writing, editing, time management, and administration skills to be an editorial assistant.

Whether you work as an editorial assistant in book publishing, traditional media, or digital publications, there's usually some invoice and check-request processing, document scanning, meeting scheduling, editorial calendar managing, and submission tracking.

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