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The differences between editorial directors and copy editors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an editorial director and a copy editor. Additionally, an editorial director has an average salary of $99,934, which is higher than the $62,599 average annual salary of a copy editor.
The top three skills for an editorial director include editorial content, web content and editorial strategy. The most important skills for a copy editor are proofreading, house style, and digital publishing.
| Editorial Director | Copy Editor | |
| Yearly salary | $99,934 | $62,599 |
| Hourly rate | $48.05 | $30.10 |
| Growth rate | -5% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 11,143 | 4,866 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 83% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An Editorial Director will plan, coordinate, and edit all written content for a publication or a website. As the Editorial Director, they are responsible for planning the company's vision for the publication, including its short- and long-term goals. They are also responsible for supervising other editors and developing the guidelines on the types of manuscripts they should seek. Other duties that Editorial Directors perform include planning the publication's contents, allocating work to editors-in-chief and editorial managers, and coordinating other departments' work as needed.
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.
Editorial directors and copy editors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Editorial Director | Copy Editor | |
| Average salary | $99,934 | $62,599 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $144,000 | Between $39,000 And $98,000 |
| Highest paying City | New Haven, CT | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | McKinsey & Company Inc | PayPal |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between an editorial director and a copy editor in terms of educational background:
| Editorial Director | Copy Editor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 83% |
| Most common major | English | English |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between editorial directors' and copy editors' demographics:
| Editorial Director | Copy Editor | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 48.3% Female, 51.7% | Male, 39.2% Female, 60.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 7.2% White, 76.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |