What do they do?

Plan, coordinate, revise, or edit written material. May review proposals and drafts for possible publication.

Also known as:

Acquisitions Editor, Assignment Editor, Business Editor, Editor, Features Editor, Legal Editor, News Editor, Newspaper Copy Editor, Photo Editor, Production Editor, Science Editor, Sports Editor, Web Editor

Typical Wages

Projected Growth Rate

Employment of Editors is projected to Decline 3 percent from 2022 to 2032

Projected Employment For All United States

No Data Available
  • -3.9%

    Change

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    11,600

    Job Openings

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Best colleges for Editors

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Education Level

Percent of workers in this field with these degrees:

  • Bachelor's degree  (55%)
  • Master's degree  (23%)
  • Some college, no degree  (9%)
  • Doctorate or Professional Degree  (6%)
  • Associate's degree  (3%)
  • High school diploma equivalent  (3%)
  • Less than high school diploma  (1%)

Typical College Majors

Most Popular Majors that prepare Editors

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People in this career often have these skills:

  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  • Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.

People in this career often know a lot about:

  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
  • Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

People in this career often have talent in:

  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

People in this career often do these activities:

  • Edit written materials.
  • Verify accuracy of data.
  • Determine presentation subjects or content.
  • Coordinate activities of production personnel.
  • Write informational material.
  • Manage content of broadcasts or presentations.
  • Discuss production content and progress with others.
  • Design layouts for print publications.
  • Manage operations of artistic or entertainment departments or organizations.
  • Coordinate reporting or editing activities.
  • Obtain copyrights or other legal permissions.
  • Negotiate for services.
  • Audition or interview potential performers or staff members.
  • Select staff, team members, or performers.

This page includes data from:

O*NET OnLine Career data: O*NET 28.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (“USDOL/ETA”). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Logo Occupation statistics: USDOL U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics

careeronestop logo Videos: CareerOneStop, USDOL/ETA and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development

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