Journalist salary
What a journalist actually earns, from 616 live job postings blended with the official US OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage anchor. Pick a market for its median and range, then read the seniority split, the trend, and the country comparison below. Updated 2026-07-23.
Switch the market above to see journalist pay in the 3 countries our sources cover, each with its own cost of living. The trend, seniority, and state detail below are United States data, where the official record runs deepest.
What the number means
A journalist earns a blended US median near 68,298 dollars, with the typical middle running from 54,685 dollars to 96,216 dollars. The official OEWS median is 60,280 dollars, under the posted figure, because the advertised roles skew senior or well-funded. The official trend has moved up about 30 percent since 2019. By seniority, posted pay runs from roughly 60,107 dollars to 88,930 dollars. The nearest adjacent move on our skill graph is copywriter, at 31 percent coverage; the instrument maps the rest.
Open journalist roles
Live openings tagged to this occupation, from company career pages and remote boards. Apply at the source.
- Performance Creative EditorCommerce Ventures GmbH · LingenRemoteJul 22
- Senior EditorHire Hangar · Argentina; Brazil; Chile; Cuba; Dominican Republic; Egypt; ERemoteJul 21
- Oregon Notary Public - Digital ReporterFilevine · United StatesRemoteJul 19
- Nebraska Notary Public - Digital ReporterFilevine · United StatesRemoteJul 19
- Safety Transparency Editor, Safety SystemsOpenAI · San Francisco$220k–$245kRemoteJul 17
- Managing EditorDuolingo · Tokyo, JapanJul 16
By seniority
Posted-median pay by seniority signal in the title, from our corpus. Noisy at the edges where sample sizes are small.
By country
- United States$54,685 – $96,216 · median $68,298
- Canada$39,229 – $72,218 · median $46,362
- United Kingdom$45,689 – $59,575 · median $53,210
Top-paying US states
OEWS median by state, highest first.
- New Yorkmedian $103,810
- Californiamedian $84,830
- Texasmedian $60,320
- Coloradomedian $59,650
- Washingtonmedian $57,040
- Utahmedian $53,630
Is your offer fair?
Run a specific number through FairElephant, which weighs it against this data, your location, and remote market rates.
Related salaries
- Copywriter salary$84,917 median
- Content Strategist salary$85,488 median
- Creative Director salary$133,218 median
Quick answers
How much does a journalist make?
The blended US median is about 68,298 dollars, with a typical range from 54,685 dollars to 96,216 dollars, against an official OEWS median of 60,280 dollars.
What can a journalist move into?
The nearest adjacent role on our skill graph is copywriter, at 31 percent skill coverage. Run the instrument for the full set of reachable moves.
Method: bands are the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of live US postings with stated pay, shrunk toward the official OEWS anchor by sample size (the “blended” figure). Trend is the OEWS annual median for SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code 27-3023. Live corpus 616 observations, 2026-07-23. Definitions in the glossary.