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Job outlook for manual writers in the United States
Are manual writer jobs in demand?
Manual writer job and salary trends over time
Manual writer jobs over time
Manual writer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 31 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 32 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 32 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 32 | 0.00% |
Average manual writer salary over time
Manual writer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $78,605 | $37.79 | +2.5% |
| 2024 | $76,709 | $36.88 | +1.4% |
| 2023 | $75,656 | $36.37 | +1.3% |
| 2022 | $74,687 | $35.91 | +1.5% |
| 2021 | $73,550 | $35.36 | --0.6% |
Manual writer jobs by state
Most common states for manual writers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 136 | 20% |
| 2 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 244 | 4% |
| 3 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 22 | 4% |
| 4 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 261 | 3% |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 224 | 3% |
| 6 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 136 | 3% |
| 7 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 82 | 3% |
| 8 | Delaware | 961,939 | 27 | 3% |
| 9 | Vermont | 623,657 | 19 | 3% |
| 10 | Alaska | 739,795 | 19 | 3% |
| 11 | California | 39,536,653 | 764 | 2% |
| 12 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 208 | 2% |
| 13 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 170 | 2% |
| 14 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 158 | 2% |
| 15 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 147 | 2% |
| 16 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 100 | 2% |
| 17 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 56 | 2% |
| 18 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 23 | 2% |
| 19 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 20 | 2% |
| 20 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 17 | 2% |
Most common cities for manual writers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frankfort | 1 | 4% | $66,115 |
| 2 | Annapolis | 1 | 3% | $81,960 |
| 3 | Dover | 1 | 3% | $77,308 |
| 4 | Juneau | 1 | 3% | $75,275 |
| 5 | Hartford | 1 | 1% | $86,925 |
| 6 | Lansing | 1 | 1% | $86,415 |
| 7 | Springfield | 1 | 1% | $79,004 |
| 8 | Tallahassee | 1 | 1% | $75,071 |
| 9 | Topeka | 1 | 1% | $68,114 |
| 10 | Atlanta | 1 | 0% | $72,273 |
| 11 | Baton Rouge | 1 | 0% | $73,001 |
| 12 | Boston | 1 | 0% | $87,607 |
| 13 | Denver | 1 | 0% | $72,334 |
| 14 | Des Moines | 1 | 0% | $64,627 |
| 15 | Indianapolis | 1 | 0% | $73,467 |
| 16 | Montgomery | 1 | 0% | $67,676 |
| 17 | Phoenix | 1 | 0% | $96,888 |
| 18 | Sacramento | 1 | 0% | $96,871 |
Manual Writer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of manual writer experts
Manhattan College
Berry College
Indiana University Northwest
University of South Florida
Cal Poly
University of Kansas
Bucknell University
University of Minnesota
University of San Francisco
Sam Houston State University
Southern Utah University
Azusa Pacific University
Independence Community College
Misericordia University
Finlandia University
Dr. Heidi Laudien Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorManhattan College
English Language And Literature
What general advice would you give to a Manual Writer?
Dr. Heidi Laudien Ph.D.: I do not feel equipped to give informed advice on how to maximize one's salary potential.
Whitney Adams
Visiting Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and WritingBerry College
Rhetoric And Composition/Writing Studies
What Manual Writer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Whitney Adams: 1. Demand for content: With the rise of digital marketing, social media, and online
publications, there is a high demand for content creators and writers. Companies need
quality written content to attract and engage their audience.
2. Remote work opportunities: Writing is a flexible profession that can often be done
remotely. This allows writers to work from anywhere in the world, making it a great
profession for those who value freedom and flexibility.
3. Growth potential: As a writer, there are many opportunities for growth and
advancement. Writers can specialize in different niches, such as copywriting, technical
writing, or content marketing, and can continue to develop their skills and expertise over
time.
4. Passive income potential: Writers can also generate passive income through
avenues such as self-publishing books, creating online courses, or starting a blog. This
allows writers to earn money even when they are not actively working.
5. Creative fulfillment: For many people, writing is a fulfilling and rewarding profession
that allows them to express their creativity and share their ideas with others. Writing can
be a way to inspire, educate, and connect with others on a deeper level.
Overall, writing is a good profession to enter now because of the high demand for
content, remote work opportunities, growth potential, passive income potential, and
creative fulfillment it can provide.
What do people dislike about being a writer?
1. Writer's block: Writer's block is a common challenge that many writers face,
where they struggle to come up with new ideas or find inspiration.
2. Criticism and rejection: Writing can be a vulnerable and subjective art form, and
writers may face criticism or rejection from publishers, readers, or reviewers.
3. Isolation: Writing can be a solitary pursuit, and some writers may find the
isolation challenging.
4. Inconsistency: Writing can often be unpredictable in terms of income and
success, with some writers facing financial
Brian O'Camb Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair in EnglishIndiana University Northwest
English Department
What experience really stands out on Manual Writer resumes?
Brian O'Camb Ph.D.: Honestly, I am not qualified to respond to that question because I don't hire recent graduates, so I don't see resumes from them. However, as a professor, I recommend that all my students get as much writing experience as possible, ideally through an internship, so they can lean on that experience in their job materials.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Manual Writers?
Brian O'Camb Ph.D.: Without a doubt. As employers come to realize that many jobs can be done remotely, I imagine graduates can expect a significant shift in how they connect and collaborate with colleagues in the workplace. And, as industries adapt to non-contact models during the pandemic, there will be space for graduates trained in critical thinking and reading skills to reimagine how various services and suppliers connect with their clients.
What type of skills will young Manual Writers need?
Dr. Wilma Davidson: According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), there are 20 skills listed to increase their value in the workplace. Yearly, NACE surveys employers and ranks these skills and, according to their latest survey, the top five skills new graduates should possess are the following:
Problem-solving
Ability to work on a team
Strong work ethic
Analytic/quantitative skill
Written communication skills
For several decades, the ability to write well has appeared near the top of NACE's list of skills valued by employees. And, I suspect, it will remain among the top for decades to come. Writing, so your ideas and plans are understandable and actionable, is the secret sauce of your workplace success. No matter how good your idea is, if you cannot communicate it easily to another, you won't receive the attention and accolades you deserve.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Manual Writers to find work opportunities?
Dr. Wilma Davidson: All businesses need good writers. You can work remotely as a freelancer or an employee without concern about where your employer is located. Technology makes it easy for an excellent writer to write productively from anywhere. Naturally, if you wish to enter a field like PR or Advertising or Editing/Publishing, you might want to live in a large city where major firms are located. However, right that advice might have been a decade ago, it no longer applies. If you'd like to be a technical writer, there is an advantage to being close to the engineers you may be working with as you write their manuals, but that can be handled-and already is-being handled remotely.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Manual Writers to find work opportunities?
Eileen Buecher: The majority of our students live and work in California. In addition to CA, the top ten states recruiting Cal Poly English majors by the above-mentioned job functions include: New York, Washington DC, Texas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Washington, Colorado, Illinois, Ohio
How do you envision technology impacting Manual Writers in the next 5 years?
Eileen Buecher: Technology is impacting all career fields. Knowledge of various communication and business platforms, social media, and ways to network online in the future.
Dr. Tara Welch
ProfessorUniversity of Kansas
Department of Humanities - Classics
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Manual Writers?
Dr. Tara Welch: There will be an enduring impact on everyone, graduates included. Our graduates are facing a slow economy and a transformation in higher education, but Classics and Archaeology majors are well trained for these circumstances. Classics is an interdisciplinary field and teaches us to look at problems and questions from a variety of perspectives, so Classics majors are versatile and adaptable. We also learn in Classics how to make the most of the limited and often incomplete data. Reconstructing a toppled monument or understanding a fragmentary poem involves some sleuthing and a great deal of logic and critical thinking. Our majors read carefully and work carefully - and they don't shy from complex situations.
How do you envision technology impacting Manual Writers in the next 5 years?
Dr. Tara Welch: Technology has already made the ancient world more available and accessible, and digital resources and research tools enable exciting new work to happen without the need to travel. Teachers are also becoming more effective at leading online and hybrid classes. Those are here to stay. In the present climate of social distancing and digital meetings, however, I see a craving for human interaction - those exchanges that remind us that we are spontaneous, creative, and responsive beings. No matter the technology, Classics (like all of the humanities) will always be about humans.
Sarah Bell
Senior Associate Director, CounselingBucknell University
Center for Career Advancement
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Manual Writers to find work opportunities?
Sarah Bell: Majors in English successfully pursue work in all types of industries and career fields. Their skills in writing, critical thinking, verbal communication, analysis, working in groups, editing, and reading/research makes them quite marketable in a variety of occupations. There are some locations that are more known for certain industries, i.e., upper West Coast for technology, NYC metro area for finance, I-95 corridor for pharmaceuticals and biotech, but many corporations hire in locations all over the country. And with the pandemic, more employers have remote opportunities that don't require a move, at least not until the time we might move out of remote work when possible. We tell our students to talk to professionals in the industries in which they are interested to learn what areas are growing right now and what are not. For example, video and sharing software is growing, food manufacturing, shipping, and sales are growing, certain sectors of healthcare and medical research are growing, etc.
How do you envision technology impacting Manual Writers in the next 5 years?
Sarah Bell: As mentioned in #2, English majors go into many fields, and technology is affecting most of them now. We will likely always need creators, editors, and researchers of content, which will certainly make English majors useful in a variety of fields, due to (or in spite of) the technology advances. Experience in learning and utilizing a variety of software, platforms, and social media tools will only enhance their ability to complete their work in an effective and efficient manner in a variety of work settings.
What general advice would you give to a Manual Writer?
Thomas Reynolds: I think there will be a lasting impact of this pandemic on graduates. The nature of the field is that others in the industry (scientists, engineers, for ex.) often take on tech writing and communication tasks in tight economic conditions or even just as a matter of a particular culture in a particular business. However, the field of technical communication has been predicted to have a strong future (see Bureau of Labor Statistics, which predicts growth in jobs in this field).
Technical writing and communication require that students are comfortable with technology and communication and that they adapt to changing situations. I think there are also opportunities for savvy graduates who can offer certain skills and experiences that are unique to the changing situation. This field has a long history of resilience for its graduates seeking jobs in tough circumstances.
What Manual Writer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Thomas Reynolds: Technical writing and communication can span many fields. However, there are specific fields that are especially open to technical communication, such as information technology and computer software (technical documentation, for example), as well as medical and health fields. Many of our graduates work for companies that involve computer technology, such as software companies and content management for web consulting firms. In addition, many of our graduates work in biomedical companies that require technical and global documentation of medical devices.
I can't say that I know of a sure bet, but places that deal with medical technology, healthcare, and related fields are probably going to need people well trained to communicate specialized knowledge to a variety of audiences and in a variety of ways. Telemedicine seems to have gained a more permanent stronghold in the healthcare system, and I imagine that the various communication channels involved in this new way of practicing medicine will open opportunities for well-trained graduates such as ours who are willing to be pioneers in this area.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Manual Writers?
Thomas Reynolds: Technology is constantly changing, and the pandemic has put a wrinkle on innovations that will have an impact on the field of TWC. Yet technical writing and communication have always involved changing technologies -- it is one of the hallmarks of the field. In addition, remote work is common in technical communication, and many scholars have written about the phenomenon, including global virtual teams and distributed workplaces. In any case, technical writers and communicators learn to think about the intersection of technology with the audience.
I think that traditional notions of communication such as establishing a friendly, businesslike ethos and considering the very real material circumstances of audiences, will remain uppermost as graduates adapt to the technological changes. Part of this work will also involve recognizing and working to improve social injustices that employers are increasingly in need of addressing. New technologies that emerge will also be part of the landscape for graduates, and they will be eager to learn these new tools.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Manual Writers to find work opportunities?
Edith Borbon: The federal government employs linguists and language experts. The military, the State Department, the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the Defense Language Institute. Silicon Valley companies hire linguists as well to work on translation and localization. There are also translator and interpreter positions available in the city, county, and state governments, and in hospitals, courts, and schools.
With a Master's or a Ph.D., colleges and universities offer career options in teaching and research. And there's the United Nations and the World Bank for both domestic and international assignments.
In the virtual space, the increasing trend towards remote work makes it even more important to have a strong online presence (LinkedIn, websites, posting personal articles or projects online).
Brian Blackburne
Director of Technical CommunicationSam Houston State University
Department of English
How do you envision technology impacting Manual Writers in the next 5 years?
Brian Blackburne: Technology is definitely affecting the field relative to the amount of remote work that is taking place. I suspect that this trend will continue over the next few years. As industries adapt to new working models, new technologies will be developed. And those technologies will require the support of technical communicators. Writers from our field are integral to the design, development, testing, and documentation of new technologies. And those are just the activities that happen on the development side (or internally). Technical communicators also create external texts, such as user documentation, promotional materials, training videos, etc. Technical communicators are truly involved in all aspects of emerging technologies, so their skills should continue to be in demand as technologies develop over the next five years-and beyond.
Carlos Bertoglio
Assistant Professor, SpanishSouthern Utah University
Romance Languages, Literatures, And Linguistics
What general advice would you give to a Manual Writer?
Carlos Bertoglio: I have several pieces of advice for someone beginning their career in this field: 1) Pick your graduate program and the professors you want to work with very carefully. It is essential to have a supportive, like-minded person to make the experience as fruitful and enjoyable as possible. 2) If you don't have a solid background in teaching, take advantage of every opportunity to gain expertise in this area. 3) Have realistic expectations. The job market is saturated, and you will be competing with hundreds of other applicants for one position. This is especially relevant for international students, who will have even fewer alternatives and chances to land a job due to some universities' reticence to sponsor visas. 4) Be humble and collegial and get along with the members of your cohort. This will make your life easier, and most probably, they will be your colleagues in the future, so this will allow you to form a network that might prove very useful for the advancement of your career.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Manual Writers in the next 3-5 years?
Carlos Bertoglio: The inclusion of online components in classes, workshops, conferences, etc. The current global situation has forced many of us to start incorporating new modalities of teaching, learning, and collaborating (that had been there for a while). As a result, it has shown us both the difficulties and the possible great benefits of their application. This will not replace face-to-face interaction, but complement it and expand students' and professors' possibilities. Finally, in language teaching, I see a tendency towards the use of all-digital textbooks.
What general advice would you give to a Manual Writer?
Emily Griesinger Ph.D.: I would say "don't give up" because your literacy gifts are especially needed right now. Those who have done excellent critical thinking and writing as English majors can make persuasive arguments and discern the credibility of arguments being consumed by others, who may not be so discerning. Based on years of reading and interpreting great literature, you can "read" characters, why people do what they do, and the capacity to imagine the joys and sorrows of other human beings. So, my general advice would be to consider how to market such skills in creative ways for the common good.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Manual Writers?
Emily Griesinger Ph.D.: Graduates in the liberal arts and humanities will be challenged to keep the big questions in the foreground as they navigate a post-pandemic world. What matters? Who is my neighbor, and why should I care if he or she is vulnerable to this virus, now or in the future? If there are such things as beauty, goodness, and truth, how do I discern them and share them with others? To what end? Is there a purpose that obliges me to develop moral character, including civility, hospitality, tolerance, freedom of speech, equality, and justice? The coronavirus pandemic makes such questions more urgent. How we answer will surely have an enduring impact on the world.
Bridget Carson
Associate Professor of Developmental EnglishIndependence Community College
History
What general advice would you give to a Manual Writer?
Bridget Carson: To graduating English Majors: What's different for you entering this economy? It's you. You bring to the fore skills that you have cultivated in writing and analysis in your dive into the human condition through literature. Employers need people who can manage the sensitivity and connection of their written communications. That's you. They need people with your attention to detail. That's you. They need people with your ability to learn the world of their business culture as quickly as you do a dystopian future novel. Also, you. In a world physically distanced by an illness, you are on the front lines of connecting us with language. Suppose you want to teach or be a professional writer, excellent. But, don't shy away from learning on the job in either the Private or Public sectors, and studying English taught you how to learn and how to connect. The job title is just what you put on your taxes. Help us connect better.
What general advice would you give to a Manual Writer?
Dr. Scott Blanchard Ph.D.: Keep an open mind, and realize that the business world can have some quite exciting opportunities.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Manual Writers in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Scott Blanchard Ph.D.: I can't speak with much authority about technology. I think that we have yet to determine how 5G technology will transform the world. Some futurists suggest that humans will only have to put in about half the hours they do now in the future.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Manual Writers in the next 3-5 years?
Mark Lounibos: Everything to do with digital literacy, especially related to your specific career. If you are interested in education, look for certifications for online teaching. If you are focused on editing/publishing, make sure you are proficient or certified in the latest software and systems. Try to build online networks of peers and possible colleagues. Maintain contact with faculty at your old institution, if they can help you on the job market later.