How To Become A Type Setter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a type setter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a type setter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.81 an hour? That's $45,356 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 5,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreType SetterUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $45,356

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.2

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.65%

Asian 7.54%

Black or African American 8.03%

Hispanic or Latino 16.42%

Unknown 3.23%

White 64.12%

Gender

female 65.52%

male 34.48%

Age - 49.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49.5

Stress level

5.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a type setter

Explore type setter education requirements

Most common type setter degrees

Bachelor's

36.4 %

High School Diploma

29.5 %

Associate

20.5 %

Start to develop specific type setter skills

Skills	Percentages
Proofread	24.53%
Business Cards	24.42%
Graphic Design	20.14%
Photoshop	18.38%
Typesetting	12.53%

Complete relevant type setter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New type setters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a type setter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real type setter resumes.

Research type setter duties and responsibilities

Set appointments for a medicaid visit for Medicaid and Medicare patients/Provide program info and health insurance policy
Set appointments for a medicaid visit for Medicaid and Medicare patients/Provide program info and health insurance policy

Prepare your type setter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your type setter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a type setter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable type setter resume templates

Build a professional type setter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your type setter resume.