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The differences between technical writers and content writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a technical writer and a content writer. Additionally, a technical writer has an average salary of $65,329, which is higher than the $58,918 average annual salary of a content writer.
The top three skills for a technical writer include technical documentation, subject matter experts and powerpoint. The most important skills for a content writer are digital marketing, wordpress, and web content.
| Technical Writer | Content Writer | |
| Yearly salary | $65,329 | $58,918 |
| Hourly rate | $31.41 | $28.33 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 75,090 | 19,621 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Average age | 46 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Technical Writers specialize in producing easy-to-understand instructional or informational written materials, such as media and journal articles, assessments and guidelines, and legal forms of documentation. For Technical Writers to develop well-versed content, one must conduct thorough research on the topic or idea to ensure factual legitimacy and communicate with those whose expertise aligns with the subject. Aside from producing, Technical Writers can also improve or convert complex written materials such as operating manuals or documents into one that can be easily understood by the general public.
The job of content writers is to create the best possible written or visual content ranging from blog posts to press releases. They produce the content for various types of websites, including social networks, news aggregators, and e-commerce sites. The job of content writers is not limited to writing, but also ensuring that the content connects or is relevant to the website pages. They are expected to set the tone of the website and revise the content upon customers' or clients' requests. They are also responsible for assisting in the creation of style guides.
Technical writers and content writers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Writer | Content Writer | |
| Average salary | $65,329 | $58,918 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $87,000 | Between $40,000 And $84,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Cisco |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a technical writer and a content writer in terms of educational background:
| Technical Writer | Content Writer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Most common major | English | English |
| Most common college | University of Houston | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between technical writers' and content writers' demographics:
| Technical Writer | Content Writer | |
| Average age | 46 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.7% Female, 50.3% | Male, 39.8% Female, 60.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 6.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 5.0% White, 75.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 16% |