How much does a journalist make?

The average journalist salary in the United States is $60,828. Journalist salaries typically range between $38,000 and $95,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for journalists is $29.24 per hour. Journalist salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Journalists earn the highest average salary in New York.

Journalist salary

Q: What state pays Journalists the most?

New York pays Journalists the most in the United States, with an average salary of $79,214 per year, or $38.08 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a journalist?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a journalist if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in New Jersey you should be paid close to $77,424 per year.

Q: Do journalists get paid well?

No, journalists do not get paid well. While some journalists get paid well, the average salary for a journalist is $52,000 a year mid-career journalist. Someone just starting typically earns closer to $32,000 a year. Even less if you're beginning as a freelance journalist. However, the top 10% of journalists make around $86,000 a year. Factors such as years of experience, the company you work for, and location impact how much a journalist gets paid.

Q: How much do journalists make out of college?

Journalists make $42,344 a year out of college, on average ($20 an hour). However, there is some range in how much an entry-level journalist position will pay - starting from as little as $19,500 to as much as $69,000 a year.

Q: What is the highest-paying journalism job?

The highest-paying journalism jobs are in management, communications, and editing. Product marketing manager, for instance, is one of the highest-paying positions in journalism, with an average salary of $106,726 per year.

Quoted expert

Paul Mitchell Ph.D.

Average journalist salary

$60,828

$29.24 hourly rate

Entry-level journalist salary

$38,000 yearly salary

Updated December 15, 2025

Understanding Journalist Salaries

As of October 2025, the average salary for a journalist in the United States stands at $60,828 annually, or approximately $29 per hour. Salary levels can vary based on state, experience, and specific roles within journalism. For instance, journalists in states like California and New York often report higher earnings due to the cost of living and demand for quality reporting.

Salary Variation by Experience

Entry-level journalists typically earn less than their more experienced counterparts. Newcomers might see salaries below the average, while skilled professionals, especially those in specialized fields like investigative or political reporting, can command significantly higher pay.

Opportunities for Growth

To enhance earning potential, consider specializing in high-demand areas such as digital media or multimedia journalism. Networking, continuous learning, and staying updated with industry trends are crucial for career advancement. Zippia provides resources and job listings tailored to aspiring and current journalists, helping them navigate the evolving landscape of this profession.

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Journalist salary by:

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Where can a Journalist earn more?

Compare salary by location

102k

82k

62k

42k

22k

Columbus, OH$79,456

Mobile, AL$52,421

Compare salary by company

141k

121k

101k

81k

61k

41k

Bloomberg$115,334

Nexstar Media Group$71,063

Journalist salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Glassdoor, Ziprecruiter, SalaryExpert, Comparably, Payscale and CareerExplorer, the average salary for a journalist typically falls between $35,479 and $111,362.

zippia

$60,828yearly

glassdoor[1]

$78,535yearly

indeed[2]

$48,351yearly

comparably[3]

$59,025yearly

Salary.com[4]

$56,884yearly

ZipRecruiter[5]

$60,979yearly

payscale[6]

$45,749yearly

SalaryExpert[7]

$111,362yearly

CareerExplorer[8]

$35,479yearly

Average journalist salary by state

The average journalist salary in New York, New Jersey, and Kentucky are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average journalist salary states are South Carolina, Mississippi, and Colorado.

State view
County view

Average salary:

Highest paying states for journalists

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	New York	$79,214	$38.08
2	Vermont	$70,713	$34.00
3	Missouri	$70,588	$33.94
4	New Jersey	$77,424	$37.22
5	Michigan	$69,991	$33.65
6	Maryland	$69,892	$33.60
7	Kentucky	$73,921	$35.54
8	North Carolina	$62,802	$30.19
9	District of Columbia	$68,966	$33.16
10	Ohio	$67,915	$32.65
11	Maine	$70,071	$33.69
12	Illinois	$62,902	$30.24
13	Tennessee	$63,690	$30.62
14	Virginia	$61,839	$29.73
15	Rhode Island	$64,512	$31.02
16	Wyoming	$58,091	$27.93
17	Connecticut	$62,913	$30.25
18	Delaware	$66,089	$31.77
19	Oregon	$59,771	$28.74
20	Minnesota	$62,156	$29.88
21	New Mexico	$60,187	$28.94
22	North Dakota	$58,249	$28.00
23	Pennsylvania	$59,785	$28.74
24	Iowa	$61,073	$29.36
25	West Virginia	$59,054	$28.39
26	New Hampshire	$61,672	$29.65
27	Arkansas	$59,310	$28.51
28	Nevada	$59,432	$28.57
29	Nebraska	$57,259	$27.53
30	California	$58,418	$28.09
31	Massachusetts	$57,692	$27.74
32	Alaska	$56,657	$27.24
33	Wisconsin	$57,296	$27.55
34	Oklahoma	$57,960	$27.87
35	Indiana	$57,195	$27.50
36	Utah	$55,184	$26.53
37	Washington	$56,461	$27.14
38	Kansas	$56,186	$27.01
39	Arizona	$56,277	$27.06
40	Georgia	$54,833	$26.36
41	Louisiana	$56,549	$27.19
42	Montana	$53,961	$25.94
43	Idaho	$53,610	$25.77
44	Alabama	$54,600	$26.25
45	Colorado	$49,944	$24.01
46	South Dakota	$54,557	$26.23
47	Texas	$49,678	$23.88
48	Florida	$48,674	$23.40
49	Hawaii	$38,335	$18.43
50	South Carolina	$52,694	$25.33
51	Mississippi	$51,428	$24.73

Top journalist jobs near you

Highest paying cities for journalists

The highest-paying cities for journalists are New York, NY, Saint Louis, MO, and Grand Rapids, MI.

Rank	City	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	New York, NY	$79,456	$38.20
2	Saint Louis, MO	$72,104	$34.67
3	Grand Rapids, MI	$69,600	$33.46
4	Washington, DC	$69,037	$33.19
5	Cleveland, OH	$68,314	$32.84
6	Greensboro, NC	$63,465	$30.51
7	San Francisco, CA	$62,846	$30.21
8	Rochester, MN	$62,674	$30.13
9	Norfolk, VA	$61,722	$29.67
10	Eugene, OR	$59,925	$28.81
11	Harrisburg, PA	$59,693	$28.70
12	Boston, MA	$57,540	$27.66
13	Milwaukee, WI	$57,445	$27.62
14	Lincoln, NE	$56,964	$27.39
15	Seattle, WA	$56,818	$27.32
16	Topeka, KS	$56,759	$27.29
17	Phoenix, AZ	$56,373	$27.10
18	Atlanta, GA	$55,198	$26.54
19	Myrtle Beach, SC	$54,044	$25.98
20	Mobile, AL	$52,421	$25.20

Journalist salary details

A journalist's salary ranges from $38,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $95,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average journalist salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a journalist's salary?

Percentile	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate
90th Percentile	$95,000	$7,917	$46
75th Percentile	$77,000	$6,417	$37
Average	$60,828	$5,069	$29
25th Percentile	$47,000	$3,917	$23
10th Percentile	$38,000	$3,167	$18

Highest paying journalist jobs

The highest paying types of journalists are anchor, proposal writer, and writer.

Job title	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
Content Editor	$61,694	$5,141	$29.66	18,586
News Editor	$53,822	$4,485	$25.88	12,484
Editing Internship	$35,035	$2,920	$16.84	49,315
Production Editor	$53,275	$4,440	$25.61	62,877
Editor	$52,107	$4,342	$25.05	15,115
Anchor	$70,715	$5,893	$34.00	2,986

How would you rate the starting salaries for journalists, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Paul Mitchell Ph.D.

Coordinator of Recruitment and Retention, University of Nevada - Reno

The misconception is that there is no money in the communications fields. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our journalism majors are employed (in the last several years) at a higher rate than most of the other majors. My guess is starting salaries will continue to be on the rise.

Top companies hiring journalists now:

Which companies pay journalists the most?

Journalist salaries at Bloomberg and TheStreet are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average journalist salary at companies like The New York Times Company and Fox News are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Bloomberg	$115,334	$55.45
2	TheStreet	$113,895	$54.76
3	The New York Times Company	$113,194	$54.42
4	Fox News	$100,689	$48.41
5	Reuters	$99,987	$48.07
6	Thomson Reuters	$99,402	$47.79
7	The Boston Globe	$94,047	$45.21
8	Altice USA	$92,666	$44.55
9	NBCUniversal	$91,688	$44.08
10	Morningstar	$88,917	$42.75
11	News Media	$84,246	$40.50
12	Univision Holdings, Inc.	$84,076	$40.42
13	Beacon Hill Staffing Group	$83,595	$40.19
14	News	$83,426	$40.11
15	The Walt Disney Company	$82,483	$39.66
16	Buzz Media	$82,021	$39.43
17	Npr	$79,869	$38.40
18	The Univision Network Partnership	$77,724	$37.37
19	Hearst	$77,018	$37.03
20	Nexstar Media Group	$71,063	$34.16

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$58,000$57,400$56,800$56,200$55,600$55,000

MaleFemale

Journalist salary trends

The average journalist salary has risen by $12,590 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average journalist earned $48,238 annually, but today, they earn $60,828 a year. That works out to a 16% change in pay for journalists over the last decade.

Compare journalist salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average journalist salary over time

Compare journalist salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Journalist salary by year

Year	Avg. salary	Hourly rate	% Change
2025	$60,800	$29.24	+3.4%
2024	$58,800	$28.25	+2.9%
2023	$57,100	$27.44	+4.6%
2022	$54,500	$26.18	+3.9%
2021	$52,300	$25.15	+3.9%

Recently added journalist salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date added	Salary
Scripps Networks Interactive	Multimedia Journalist, Kmgh	Denver, CO	06/30/2025	$82,770
Scripps Networks Interactive	Multimedia Journalist, Wkbw	Buffalo, NY	06/30/2025	$62,193
Scripps Networks Interactive	Multimedia Journalist, Kero	Bakersfield, CA	06/30/2025	$54,199
Scripps Networks Interactive	Multimedia Journalist, Wmar	Baltimore, MD	06/30/2025	$72,231
Univision Holdings	Multimedia Journalist	San Jose, CA	06/30/2025	$98,000
Dow Jones	Journalist-Oil Markets News	Houston, TX	06/27/2025	$80,000
Gray Media	Multimedia Journalist-Kosa	Odessa, TX	06/27/2025	$37,566
Gray Media	Multimedia Journalist-Week-Tv	East Peoria, IL	06/27/2025	$39,465
Gray Television	Multimedia Journalist-Kosa	Odessa, TX	06/26/2025	$37,566
The Edward W Scripps Trust	Multimedia Journalist, Wmar	Baltimore, MD	06/25/2025	$72,231

Journalist salary FAQs

What state pays Journalists the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a journalist?

Do journalists get paid well?

How much do journalists make out of college?

What is the highest-paying journalism job?

Have more questions? See all answers to common arts, entertainment, sports, and media questions.

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Updated December 15, 2025

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