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Job outlook for news copy editors in the United States
News copy editor job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected news copy editor job growth rate is -5% from 2018-2028.
About -5,500 new jobs for news copy editors are projected over the next decade.
News copy editor salaries have increased 11% for news copy editors in the last 5 years.
There are over 6,147 news copy editors currently employed in the United States.
There are 6,177 active news copy editor job openings in the US.
The average news copy editor salary is $52,187.
Are news copy editor jobs in demand?
News copy editor job and salary trends over time
News copy editor jobs over time
News copy editor job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6,147 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 6,465 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 6,645 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 6,630 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 6,709 | 0.00% |
Average news copy editor salary over time
News copy editor salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $52,187 | $25.09 | +3.3% |
| 2024 | $50,516 | $24.29 | +3.2% |
| 2023 | $48,961 | $23.54 | +1.2% |
| 2022 | $48,376 | $23.26 | +2.7% |
| 2021 | $47,092 | $22.64 | +2.1% |
News copy editor jobs by state
Most common states for news copy editors
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 98 | 14% |
| 2 | New York | 19,849,399 | 464 | 2% |
| 3 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 146 | 2% |
| 4 | Alaska | 739,795 | 16 | 2% |
| 5 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 9 | 2% |
| 6 | California | 39,536,653 | 300 | 1% |
| 7 | Texas | 28,304,596 | 143 | 1% |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 80 | 1% |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 79 | 1% |
| 10 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 72 | 1% |
| 11 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 57 | 1% |
| 12 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 55 | 1% |
| 13 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 43 | 1% |
| 14 | Arkansas | 3,004,279 | 17 | 1% |
| 15 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 14 | 1% |
| 16 | Hawaii | 1,427,538 | 13 | 1% |
| 17 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 12 | 1% |
| 18 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 9 | 1% |
| 19 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 7 | 1% |
| 20 | Vermont | 623,657 | 6 | 1% |
News Copy Editor job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of news copy editor experts
Belmont University
University of Pittsburgh
University of Wisconsin - Madison
California University of Pennsylvania
University of Oregon
Independence Community College
Ferrum College
What general advice would you give to a News Copy Editor?
Sara Wigal M.A.: Listen up. Sitting in on meetings where you aren't working is a learning experience and way to better understand everyone else's tasks and how the company works. It's great ammunition for asking considerate questions, which help you learn and also help you put a good foot forward in earning respect from more senior colleagues. Also, read widely, and if you're not a non-fiction reader, try to read a little bit of that too! Self-help, business books, even topical reading can help you grow (and makes you a much more interesting person to talk to). Don't stress reading all the "big books" but rather develop your personal taste while keeping general tabs on what is happening in the literary world.
What general advice would you give to a News Copy Editor?
Catherine Wilbur: The best way to maximize salary earnings is to complete the highest level of education in your chosen field. The average salary for someone with a bachelor's degree in English is around $59,124 per year, while someone with a master's degree in English can expect to earn around $69,732 per year.
What News Copy Editor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Catherine Wilbur: Even with the advancement of AI, among the most essential competencies are the ability to think critically and solve problems, to effectively both orally and in writing, to assess and analyze information, and to exercise curiosity and imagination. One recent study showed that college graduates spend, on average, 44% of their time writing, including letters, memos, short reports, instructional materials, and professional articles and essays. Additionally, even as people use generative AI to draft documents, they still need to be edited and proofread by a person to ensure that they are accurate and contain no biased information.
What will help News Copy Editors increase their earning potential?
Catherine Wilbur: For advice, find something you're passionate about. Not all English majors want to be teachers, and that's ok. There are 100s of other career paths for English majors. Such as lawyers, copyeditors, speechwriters, journalists, politicians, business, etc. Explore the different jobs out there that you may be qualified for with an English degree.
What technical skills for a News Copy Editor stand out to employers?
Gayle Rogers: Many employers tell me that they seek graduates who can bridge the stereotypical-yet very real-divide in the technical world between the more rote elements of coding and the more creative elements of narrative that departments like my own (English) have traditionally taught. Creative coding and the ability to mesh what computer scientists and poets do-employers have consistently told me that there is great promise in that, now and going forward.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on News Copy Editors?
Patricia Hastings: I think there will be some enduring impacts on graduating journalism students in a number of ways. Right now, there are some obstacles to negotiate. The first is the jobs situation. First, many newsrooms don't have internships right now, and so students can't get that extra experience that will ultimately help them land a job. I see seniors who have some, but not enough experience and they need that last push outside of the classroom and campus media. Without that, it makes job hunting more difficult. Of course, there are the economic issues. So many places have downsized their newsrooms and that is a problem. Graduates have to be nimble, too, in terms of having a good toolbox of skills. Now, if you want a job, go into TV news producing. You can't find enough people to fill what is out there. There are TV news reporting jobs out there as well. It comes down to networking and having a "reel" or examples of your work to show.
And then there are the impacts we don't know. Many staffers are working from home. Will jobs change so more reporters work from home? How do you balance that with the fact that reporters should be out covering stories? The pandemic is causing a rethink on the office of the future-space, risk and other areas that we can only guess at right now.
What type of skills will young News Copy Editors need?
Dr. Christina Fisanick: College graduates in 2021 and beyond, need all of the skills that English programs have to offer: critical thinking, effective communication, creativity, and flexibility. New hires need to be able to adapt to workplace changes quickly and with aplomb, which requires critical thinking and problem solving and the ability to communicate those solutions to a diverse audience clearly and effectively. Those skills are refined and practiced regularly in English programs.
Cristina Calhoon
Senior Career Instructor, Undergraduate AdvisorUniversity of Oregon
Department of Classics
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on News Copy Editors?
Cristina Calhoon: Even before the pandemic, Classics-and the Humanities in general-had been coping with existential threats arising from the grafting of business models onto higher education. Administrators' exaggerated emphasis on metrics, a widespread mentality privileging "practical" skills over a more comprehensive education, and the prohibitive cost of college had forced Classics to adapt to changes.
Mergers with other departments and language programs, the fostering of distance learning and digital competence, curricula driven by large-enrollment courses in classics in English translation allowed some Classics programs to survive. The pandemic has made us rely more on the distance learning approach, but we still maintain most of our offerings. Some of our graduates are double majors, a solution I recommend when advising students who-dazzled by Classical Mythology or Archeology or other Classics courses-decide to switch from their "practical" major to Classics. Others decide to minor in Classics (Latin, Greek or Classical Civilization), because they still see great personal value in pursuing these studies.
Studying Latin or ancient Greek opens one's mind in so many different ways, all beneficial even from a "practical" standpoint: vocabulary skills, memorization, and analytical skills are necessary and transferable to any job. How does one learn to solve problems logically? By learning to organize Latin and Greek linguistic structures that work like jigsaw puzzles, unlike many modern Western languages. English is peppered with words of Latin and Greek origin, and our institutions (democracy, republic, libraries, the foundations of the western legal system, to quote just a few basic ones) are largely based on Greco-Roman ones. All this background knowledge gives our graduates a solid, comprehensive intellectual grounding and an enhanced view of our current predicament within a universal framework.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for News Copy Editors to find work opportunities?
Cristina Calhoon: The skills that Classics graduates learn (good communication skills; careful, clear, and well-organized oral and written presentation; research, comparison, and analysis of ancient sources; linguistic proficiency in more than one language) make them flexible and adaptable. Graduate school is the goal of many of our graduates, who complete law and medical degrees in prestigious programs throughout the nation.
Some also do very well in business school, where the breadth of their academic background, the adaptability of their skills, and their analytical and communication proficiency make them highly competitive with respect to graduates from strictly pre-professional programs.
In addition to occupations in all levels of education, academic research, and archeology, some Classics graduates have also established careers in management, public relations, fundraising, administration, as well as a library, archival, and museum work, while some have also created opportunities for themselves in computer occupations, arts, and media.
Bridget Carson
Associate Professor of Developmental EnglishIndependence Community College
History
What general advice would you give to a News Copy Editor?
Bridget Carson: Show up. Listen and keep learning. Be a part of the broader community.
I know these seem simple, but they require time. It isn't just about the hours on the clock, although they are that for which you are paid. Go to the meet and greet. Chip into the water cooler fund. Join a softball league, a book club, or a game night. When somebody invites you to a company picnic - go. Join the volunteer opportunities in which the organization participates. Relationships need nurturing so that you can have empathy and resilience during difficult discussions within an organization or when it needs to pull together and get through something.
Our shiny new degrees are just the beginning of what we know. You'll be stepping into situations where people will need your fresh perspective, and you will need their experience. Keep reading, not just things in your content area. This isn't just a "respect your elders" or "know your place" statement. They don't know everything, and neither do you, but they've been there longer.
Be a visible part of the broader community. This is especially important if you choose to work in the Public Sector where people want to see their tax dollars pay people who are invested in their community. Go to the concerts in the park, the local community theater, the parades. Join some organization and chip in. Work the polls, join the park committee, be active in a philanthropic or faith community, show up for events celebrating local history. Support local businesses where you find them in alignment with your values.
Don't do any of this for the show. People can spot a fake-Esse quad videre: to be rather than to seem.
What general advice would you give to a News Copy Editor?
Allison Harl Ph.D.: Develop as many multimedia skills as possible. Writing in the 21st century is about visual rhetoric as well as just words on a page.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on News Copy Editors?
Allison Harl Ph.D.: Yes, but the pandemic's impact will create new and different opportunities, so graduates should keep their imaginations and options open.