Food editor vs staff writer

The differences between food editors and staff writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a food editor, becoming a staff writer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a food editor has an average salary of $73,042, which is higher than the $44,844 average annual salary of a staff writer.

The top three skills for a food editor include culinary, photo shoots and wine. The most important skills for a staff writer are feature stories, news stories, and event coverage.

Food editor vs staff writer overview

	Food Editor	Staff Writer
Yearly salary	$73,042	$44,844
Hourly rate	$35.12	$21.56
Growth rate	-5%	6%
Number of jobs	52,714	80,547
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Average age	44	46
Years of experience	4	2

Food editor vs staff writer salary

Food editors and staff writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Food Editor	Staff Writer
Average salary	$73,042	$44,844
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $193,000	Between $29,000 And $68,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	The New York Times Company
Best paying industry	-	Non Profits

Differences between food editor and staff writer education

There are a few differences between a food editor and a staff writer in terms of educational background:

	Food Editor	Staff Writer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Most common major	Journalism	Journalism
Most common college	University of Texas at Austin	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Food editor vs staff writer demographics

Here are the differences between food editors' and staff writers' demographics:

	Food Editor	Staff Writer
Average age	44	46
Gender ratio	Male, 19.4% Female, 80.6%	Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 7.3% White, 76.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 8.8% White, 71.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	12%	11%

Differences between food editor and staff writer duties and responsibilities

Food editor example responsibilities.

Manage editorial process: assigning stories to line-editing to HTML publishing/page placement.
Promote targeted content through various social networking sites such as Facebook and maintain updates driving audience engagement on company website.
Analyze FrameMaker source document and provide feedback to XML architects to improve accuracy of conversion.

Staff writer example responsibilities.

Manage magazine's transition to a new CMS system.
Manage website by uploading and scheduling articles, fixing errors, proofreading, optimizing for SEO, and polishing content.
Manage arts and entertainment editorial calendar, assign stories to multiple freelancers and plan daily coverage.
Assist with copywriting, magazine and advertisement layout.
Research, verify facts and edit all contributor submissions.
Create unique columns commentating on the social state of hockey and the NHL.

Food editor vs staff writer skills

Common food editor skills

Culinary, 23%
Photo Shoots, 19%
Wine, 14%
Food Content, 10%
Editorial Content, 10%
Recipe Development, 5%

Common staff writer skills

Feature Stories, 9%
News Stories, 8%
Event Coverage, 7%
News Articles, 7%
SEO, 6%
Photography, 6%

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Food Editor vs Staff Writer

Updated January 8, 2025

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