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How to Become an Editor: Degree & Salary (2026)
Key takeaway: Editing has no license and no required degree, but it does have a hard, universal gate: the edit test. Nearly every employer sends candidates a flawed document and reads what they did to it. An English degree is the most common preparation because it trains close reading and argument, and a writing and rhetoric concentration adds the style and editing coursework. Editors earn a national median annual wage of $77,920 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). The occupation is projected to change 0.6 percent from 2024 to 2034, with 9,800 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034).
No state licenses editors. No board certifies them. What replaces the credential is evidence you can produce on demand: a marked-up document that is measurably better than what you were given, and a defensible reason for every change. That is what the edit test measures, and it is why editing is one of the few professional roles where a strong candidate from an unrelated major can beat a weak one with a perfect transcript.
The word “editor” also covers at least four different jobs. Copyeditors fix correctness and consistency against a style guide. Line editors work on sentences and rhythm. Developmental editors work on structure, argument, and whether the piece does what it set out to do. Managing and acquisitions editors run schedules, people, and decisions about what gets published. Read the duties in a posting rather than the title; the pay and the required temperament differ.
Step-by-step: how to become an editor
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Learn a style guide properly. Not skim it – learn it. The Chicago Manual of Style for books and much long-form work, the AP Stylebook for news and corporate communications, APA or MLA in academic settings, and a house style layered on top of whichever one applies. Employers assume you know one and can learn another. This is the single most testable knowledge in the field.
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Get the degree if you do not have one, and use it to read hard. An online bachelor’s in English is the most common preparation, particularly with a writing and rhetoric concentration that includes advanced composition and editing coursework. Professional writing and journalism are equally direct routes, and journalism programs in particular drill copyediting under deadline. There is no programmatic accreditor for these fields, so confirm institutional accreditation through the U.S. Department of Education database.
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Edit real documents for real people, early. A student newspaper, a departmental journal, a nonprofit newsletter, a lab report, a friend’s dissertation chapter. Volume matters more than prestige at this stage. What you are building is the reflex of reading for what is wrong rather than for what is interesting.
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Build a portfolio of before-and-after work. Three to five pieces, each showing the original and your edit, with a short note explaining what you changed and why. Get permission before using client work, or edit public-domain and open-license text to make samples. The “why” note is what separates an editor from a proofreader in a hiring manager’s eyes.
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Practice the edit test until it is unremarkable. Employers send a document seeded with errors: factual, grammatical, structural, and stylistic. Weak candidates fix commas. Strong candidates fix the commas, catch the fact that contradicts paragraph two, flag the claim that needs a source, query the author instead of guessing, and leave the voice intact. Time yourself.
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Pick a domain, because generalists compete with everyone. Scientific and medical editing, legal publishing, educational materials, technical documentation, and corporate communications all pay for subject literacy on top of the editing skill. If technical documentation appeals, note that technical writers earn a national median annual wage of $90,390 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS); see technical communication.
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Decide between staff and freelance deliberately. Staff roles come with a title progression, colleagues who teach you, and a salary. Freelance work pays per project or per hour and requires you to find clients, set rates, and absorb the slow months. Many editors do staff work first for exactly that reason: someone else’s style guide and someone else’s deadlines are a fast education.
What degree do you need to be an editor?
None is legally required. In practice:
- An online bachelor’s in English is the most common route, and a writing and rhetoric concentration is the most directly useful version of it.
- Professional writing and journalism are equally strong preparations, and journalism adds deadline copyediting and headline writing.
- Technical communication points at documentation editing, the highest-paying corner of this work.
- A master’s in English is not a hiring advantage for most editing roles. It matters for academic publishing and for scholarly editing, and not much elsewhere.
- A domain degree plus editing skill is a strong and underused combination. A biology graduate who can edit is more valuable to a scientific publisher than an English graduate who cannot read a methods section.
Certificate programs in copyediting exist, several run by university extension schools, and they are useful mainly for the structured practice and the graded exercises. Treat them as training, not as a credential that gets you hired.
How much do editors make?
Editors earn a national median annual wage of $77,920 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Half earn more and half earn less. The spread is wide: the 10th percentile was $41,250 and the 90th percentile was $153,700 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). That range reflects real differences in the work – entry-level proofreading in a small publisher and senior editorial roles at a large technical or corporate publisher are not the same job.
View the data behind this chart
| Percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $41,250 |
| 25th percentile | $57,300 |
| Median | $77,920 |
| 75th percentile | $106,100 |
| 90th percentile | $153,700 |
Employment was 115,800 in 2024, projected to change 0.6 percent through 2034, with 9,800 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Read that as a stable occupation rather than a growing one: most hiring is replacement of people who move or leave, not expansion. A substantial share of editing is contract and freelance work, and self-employed earnings are not reflected the same way as salaried wages.
Adjacent occupations for people with the same skills: technical writers earned a national median annual wage of $90,390 with 4,500 openings per year, writers and authors $76,910 with 13,400 openings per year, and public relations specialists $74,750 with 27,600 openings per year (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Editors who add domain knowledge or move toward documentation generally move toward the higher end of that set.
How long does it take to become an editor?
There is no clock that confers the title, but there are clocks on the preparation.
| Phase | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| Learning a style guide to working competence | Weeks of deliberate study, then ongoing |
| Bachelor’s degree in English or a related field | About 4 years from scratch; shorter with transfer credit (approximately 120 semester hours) |
| Building a before-and-after portfolio | A few months of consistent volunteer or student work |
| First editorial or editorial assistant role | Varies; entry roles are competitive and often start with proofreading |
| Moving from copyediting to developmental or managing work | Usually several years of demonstrated judgment |
These are ranges rather than guarantees. Employers set their own bars, and the edit test resets the hierarchy at every application.
Frequently asked questions
What degree do you need to be an editor?
None is required. A bachelor’s in English is the most common preparation, and professional writing, journalism, and technical communication are equally direct. What employers actually screen on is a portfolio and an edit test.
Do you need a certification to be an editor?
No. There is no license and no required certification. Copyediting certificate programs from university extension schools are useful practice, and some employers recognize them, but none of them is a gate you must pass.
How much do editors make?
Editors earn a national median annual wage of $77,920 with a range from $41,250 at the 10th percentile to $153,700 at the 90th (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Contract and freelance rates vary far more widely than salaried wages.
Is editing a growing field?
Not in the expansion sense. Employment was 115,800 in 2024 with 0.6 percent projected change through 2034, but there are 9,800 openings per year from replacement demand (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Hiring exists; it is not a boom.
What is the difference between copyediting and developmental editing?
Copyediting corrects grammar, usage, consistency, and style-guide compliance without changing the argument. Developmental editing works on structure, evidence, and whether the piece accomplishes its purpose, and often means asking the author to rewrite. Most editors start with the first and grow into the second.
Can I become an editor without an English degree?
Yes, and domain expertise is often an advantage. Scientific, medical, legal, and technical publishers hire subject specialists who can edit. What you still have to demonstrate is style-guide command and a portfolio, and you still have to pass the edit test.
Related guides
- Online English Degrees Guide – the full hub covering degree levels and program formats
- Online Bachelor’s in English – the most common preparation for editorial work
- Online Master’s in English – when the graduate degree is and is not worth it
- What Can You Do With an English Degree? – editors, writers, teachers, and communications roles with BLS wages
- Is an Online English Degree Worth It – weighing cost against where the degree actually leads
- Professional Writing Program Guide – the applied workplace-writing path
- Technical Communication Program Guide – documentation editing, the highest-paying corner
- English Programs by State
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025 national medians) and Employment Projections (2024-2034).
Data verified: September 5, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.