Historian vs genealogist

The differences between historians and genealogists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a historian and a genealogist. Additionally, a historian has an average salary of $57,376, which is higher than the $55,550 average annual salary of a genealogist.

The top three skills for a historian include cultural resources, historical research and historic resources. The most important skills for a genealogist are probate, conduct research, and .

Historian vs genealogist overview

	Historian	Genealogist
Yearly salary	$57,376	$55,550
Hourly rate	$27.58	$26.71
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	606	284
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	2	2

Historian vs genealogist salary

Historians and genealogists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Historian	Genealogist
Average salary	$57,376	$55,550
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $125,000	Between $31,000 And $99,000
Highest paying City	Lowell, MA	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	BP America Inc	-
Best paying industry	Professional	-

Differences between historian and genealogist education

There are a few differences between a historian and a genealogist in terms of educational background:

	Historian	Genealogist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	History	History
Most common college	Harvard University	Harvard University

Historian vs genealogist demographics

Here are the differences between historians' and genealogists' demographics:

	Historian	Genealogist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3%	Male, 26.9% Female, 73.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 7.8% White, 64.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 6.7% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between historian and genealogist duties and responsibilities

Historian example responsibilities.

Manage publicity and advertisement for club and alumni events through social media
Develop communication skills by conducting weekly meetings with the president of the fraternity and attending multiple leadership schools as an elect officer
Analyze giving in database and produce reports.
Collect detail information on individuals for use in biographies.
Create profiles and biographies of the life and locations of soldiers.
Represent and vote for the recruitment committee in an executive member forum

Genealogist example responsibilities.

Manage receipt of monographs and serials from cataloging and perform post-cataloging processing.
Conduct probate research to locate unknown heirs to estates.
Provide genealogical research assistance and authoritative scholarship to clients who are researching African American ancestry.
Research family lineages for clients using a variety of sources, determining reliability using industry guidelines.
Complete PowerPoint documents focuse on historic preservation topics.

Historian vs genealogist skills

Common historian skills

Cultural Resources, 16%
Historical Research, 12%
Historic Resources, 12%
Oral History Interviews, 9%
Historic Properties, 7%
Archival Research, 6%

Common genealogist skills

Probate, 56%
Conduct Research, 44%

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Historian vs Genealogist

Updated January 8, 2025

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