How much do journalists make in 2026?
Journalists earn a national median of $62,200 a year, or $29.91 an hour, according to BLS OEWS May 2025 for SOC 27-3023, news analysts, reporters and journalists, with the bottom 10% near $36,240 and the top 10% at $144,140 across 39,250 workers. Three things about that row deserve attention. The first is its size: fewer than 40,000 people are counted in this occupation nationally, which is small for a profession this visible, and it reflects two decades of contraction in local news. The second is the shape of the band, which is unusually skewed. Local newspaper and small-market broadcast reporting sits near the bottom, while national broadcast correspondents, senior political and financial correspondents and on-air analysts occupy a long upper tail that very few people reach. The third is the projection: BLS expects this occupation to shrink 3.9% through 2034, with roughly 4,100 openings a year, most of them replacements. Within the profession, pay follows beat and outlet rather than skill, with financial, legal and specialist technical reporting paying materially above general assignment work. → Full journalist career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $62,200 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Journalists earn a national median $62,200/yr ($29.91/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 27-3023); the P10 to P90 range is $36,240 to $144,140.
- This is a genuinely contracting occupation: BLS projects a 3.9% decline through 2034 across a base of only 39,250 workers, with roughly 4,100 openings a year, mostly replacements.
- The band is heavily skewed, with local and small-market reporting near the bottom and a long upper tail belonging to national correspondents and on-air analysts that few reach.
- Beat specialisation, particularly financial, legal and technical reporting, is the most reliable route above the median, since those beats have paying business audiences.
US Journalist Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do journalists earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 27-3023; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 27-3023, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a journalist earn at each career stage?
Journalism pay follows outlet reach and beat value more than time served. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 27-3023.
By State
Which states pay journalists the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 27-3023 scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index. Journalism employment concentrates in a handful of national media centres and in state capitals, and pay depends far more on outlet size than on local wage levels, so read this table as cost-of-living context only.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($71,530), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
journalist pay by state — all 1 state guide
By Metro
Which cities pay journalists the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, not BLS metropolitan observations. Washington DC and New York carry national outlet concentrations that dominate the upper end of this occupation for reasons unrelated to metro cost indices.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a journalist’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does journalist pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Journalists sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify journalist wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a journalist actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Journalist Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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