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The differences between staff editors and copy editors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a staff editor and a copy editor. Additionally, a staff editor has an average salary of $110,850, which is higher than the $62,599 average annual salary of a copy editor.
The top three skills for a staff editor include art directors, SEO and HTML. The most important skills for a copy editor are proofreading, house style, and digital publishing.
| Staff Editor | Copy Editor | |
| Yearly salary | $110,850 | $62,599 |
| Hourly rate | $53.29 | $30.10 |
| Growth rate | -5% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 79,305 | 4,866 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 82% | Bachelor's Degree, 83% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A staff editor is responsible for performing research and uncovering newsworthy stories. They also maintain notes in written or electronic form. They write content and contribute to content idea generation for their publication. They keep up with local, national, and international affairs so that they can write something about the issues. They must have a bachelor's degree in journalism or mass communications.
The primary job of copy editors is to check for misspellings, incorrect punctuation, and consistency in typography, words, and style. They also act as fact-checkers, proofreaders, and project managers, overseeing the workflow and communicating with other departments. A copy editor's other duties and responsibilities include checking content for readability and compliance with editorial policies, rewriting text to improve readability and clarity, and arranging page layouts of articles, photos, and advertisements. Formal training is not required for this role, but copy editors generally have a firm grasp and love for the English language's proper usage.
Staff editors and copy editors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Staff Editor | Copy Editor | |
| Average salary | $110,850 | $62,599 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $161,000 | Between $39,000 And $98,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | PayPal |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a staff editor and a copy editor in terms of educational background:
| Staff Editor | Copy Editor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 82% | Bachelor's Degree, 83% |
| Most common major | English | English |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between staff editors' and copy editors' demographics:
| Staff Editor | Copy Editor | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.2% Female, 49.8% | Male, 39.2% Female, 60.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 7.3% White, 76.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |