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The Society for Technical Communication recently surveyed a representative
sampling of its members about their job requirements, pay and other
compensation. The following results of that survey only include answers from
full-time technical writers/editors not employed in government or education,
with United States and Canadian results displayed separately. (Canadian
answers were converted to U.S. dollars using a 0.75 conversion rate.)
RESPONDENT PROFILE
A composite created from our tabulated results would show the typical survey
respondent to be a 39-year-old female employed full-time as a writer/editor,
with at least a four-year college degree. The typical respondent has eight
years of technical communication experience and general computer skills, works
in the computer industry, and makes $41,000 per year. She entered the
profession from a non-technical communication position and has been an STC
member for at least two years.
MEDIAN SALARY
The median salary for all technical writers/editors is $41,078 in the U.S. and
$44,550 in Canada. The "Gender Gap" is determined by expressing women's median
salaries as a percent of men's median salaries. It is significant to note that
over the last ten years, the U.S. "Gender Gap" in the technical communication
profession has decreased from 19% to 4.5% - an improvement of 14.5%! (For this
survey, U.S. median salaries were $42,000 for men and $40,100 for women;
Canadian median salaries were $47,835 for men and $42,400 for women.)
MEDIAN SALARY QUARTILES
Further analysis shows that in the U.S., 25% of the writers/editors earn less
thant $35,000 per year and 75% earn less than $50,000 per year.
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25% Point Median Mean 75% Point
U.S. Writer/Editors $35,000 $41,078 $42,469 $50,000
Canadian Writers/Editors $38,225 $44,550 $44,322 $50,000
25% Point: Twenty-five percent of the responses
are below this value.
Median: The middle value of reported salaries ranked in
order of size. Fifty percent of responses fall
below this value and fifty percent are above this
value.
Mean: The value computed by averaging the tabulated
responses.
75% Point: Seventy-five percent of the responses fall below
this value.
For example, from the table, 75 percent of U.S. writers/editors earn $50,000
or less, and 25 percent of the Canadian writers/editors earn $38,225 or less.
MORE ON THE "GENDER GAP"
Based on median reported salaries, women have gained near parity with men in
the technical communication profession. If the men's median salary is equated
to $1.00, then the women's median salary would be 96 cents. This is well above
the national average for women working full-time in all types of employment.
MEDIAN SALARY BY EXPERIENCE
Although reported starting salaries are the same for men and women, men seem to
make slightly more after three years. However, the gap is narrowing. The
median length of experience for both our male and female U.S. respondents was
seven years, while it was seven years for Canadian men and five-and-one-half
years for Canadian women.
MEDIAN SALARY BY AGE
Once again, we should note the trend toward salary parity between the sexes,
especially in the groups under age 50. In fact, women now earn slightly more
than men in the 40-49 age group.
MEDIAN SALARY BY ZIP CODE
To reflect regional variations, we sorted median salaries by the respondents'
first two ZIP Code digits or by Canadian province. As you might expect, median
salaries for writers/editors vary throughout the country in both the U.S. and
Canada. Continuing a long established U.S. trend, writers/editors in New
England (ZIP 0****) earn the highest median salaries ($44,000), while those in
the Northern Plains (ZIP 5****) have the lowest median salary ($36,000).
ZIP LOCATION MEDIAN ZIP LOCATION MEDIAN
01*** MA/RI $44,000 35*** AL $34,500
02*** RI $42,875 37*** TN $42,425
06*** CT $50,000 43*** OH $39,800
07*** NJ $52,000 44*** OH $33,300
08*** NJ $46,000 45*** IN $38,500
10*** NY $40,500 46*** IN $34,500
14*** NY $39,150 48*** MI $36,100
15*** PA $34,500 53*** WI $33,273
19*** DE $36,965 55*** MN $39,264
20*** DC/MD/VA $45,500 60*** IL $41,000
21*** MD $47,751 68*** NE $30,000
22*** VA $46,000 75*** TX $40,500
27*** NC $40,410 77*** TX $46,000
30*** GA $41,750 78*** TX $35,667
32*** FL $33,500 80*** CO $38,550
33*** FL $40,000 84*** UT $38,000
ZIP LOCATION MEDIAN
85*** UT $43,000
90*** NV $45,000
92*** CA $44,938
94*** CA $50,200
95*** CA $54,500
97*** OR $37,000
98*** WA $39,500
MEDIAN SALARY BY PROVINCE
PROVINCE MEDIAN
Alberta $44,000
British Columbia $44,100
Ontario $45,900
Quebec $42,000
MEDIAN SALARY AND QUARTILES
BY EMPLOYMENT LEVEL, STAFF SIZE,
EDUCATION LEVEL AND INDUSTRY
Computer $36,610 $43,000 $49,000
Other $41,600 $46,000 $51,000
ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION
WRITERS/EDITORS, U.S. and CANADA
Writers/editors report that benefits are an integral part of their total
compensation package. Survey results for the five most popular benefits are
displayed below.
WRITERS/EDITORS, U.S.
(Percent Receiving Benefits)
Health Insurance 97%
Life Insurance 90%
Dental Insurance 87%
Disability Insurance 84%
Retirement 75%
In late November 1994, survey questionaires were mailed to approximately 2,000
American and Canadian members employed in private industry as writers/editors.
By the end of January 1995, 895 questionaires were completed and returned, for
a response rate of 45 percent.
STC is the world's largest professional organization devoted to technical
communication and is primarily concerned with education, improvement and
advancement of technical communicators. The Society has over 19,000 members
and 144 chapters. Through the Society journal (Technical Communication) and
newsletter (Intercom), seminars, workshops, international symposia, and the
annual conference, STC keeps technical communicators informed of the latest
techniques and methods in communication so they may more effectively prepare
technical information that is clear, accurate and concise. For more
information, please contact: Society for Technical Communication, 901 N.
Stuart St., Suite 904, Arlington, VA 22203; (703) 522-4114
Information, please contact: Society for Technical Communication, 901
N.areorn
