creative writing starting salary

How much money can you make with a creative writing degree?

Does your dream degree lead to your dream salary?

After graduation, creative writing graduates typically earn high salaries compared to the national average. Top earners make $ 73,586 , while the bottom 20% make close r to $ 24,269 . The median grad salary is $ 42,259 .

Creative Writing graduate salaries over time

The typical early career salary for someone with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing is $ 30,467 , and within five years of graduation, this average salary goes up to $ 34,809 .

This chart maps the average workforce wage by years of experience:

Wage ($USD)

Years of work experience.

Pro tip Still unsure if a degree in creative writing is your calling? Read our comprehensive guide on choosing a career

Discover what you’ll learn—and what you can do after you graduate.

Creative Writing

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How Much Do Creative Writers Make? – Salary Details

Working as a writer is a job that you may find appealing.

Writing is a career that sounds romantic to many.

It can allow you to express yourself to a greater extent than most people you know, and some writers can make good money.

Of course, writing also has a long association with poor incomes, and the impoverished writer is something of a stereotype (in fictional stories, interestingly). What’s the truth? What kind of creative writing salary do most people in the industry make?

As always, there are a number of different factors that will determine the income you can expect to make as a creative writer. 

Where you live will, of course, be a factor; if you’re living in a major city in California, you can expect (and indeed, SHOULD expect) to make more money than if you live in Nebraska’s rural expanses.

Unsurprisingly, as with many other jobs, the amount of experience you have will also be a factor; more experience in creative writing means better pay for your work.

So what is the usual creative writing salary, and what is a good creative writing salary?

Jump to Topic hide Entry-Level Average High-End

Entry-Level

The price that you demand for your first creative writing job will vary, mostly because you can bring wildly differing levels of knowledge to the field.

Someone who has only a GED may struggle to organize their thoughts, use correct grammar, or craft an interesting narrative.

On the other hand, someone with some education in creative writing is more likely to be adept at the actual writing they do.

So while both the high school graduate and the person with a four-year degree in a topic like English or fiction writing will seek an entry-level job, what they will make can vary wildly.

People without any education or training in creative writing who are applying for their first creative writing position can expect to make around $25,000 a year.

According to ZipRecruiter, 14% of all creative writing jobs currently open pay between $19,000 and $25,000 a year. Incidentally, that makes up the greatest portion of writing jobs currently open.

If you want to make more than that, you need education. You can take classes at your local college, gain experience by working as a writer, take courses like the creative writing course at Stratford Career Institute .

Thankfully, though low-paying creative writing jobs are the most plentiful, the average pay for a creative writer is literally double the entry-level pay.

As of July 2021, the average pay for a creative writing position is about $63,395 annually, which comes out to roughly $30 an hour.

This is the kind of pay you can expect if you’ve spent a few years writing, have a good education in writing, or demonstrate some mixture of the two.

The top 90th percentile can expect to make a bit more than the average. ZipRecruiter reports that the annual salary of those in the 90th percentile is around $78,000, which is slightly better than the average pay.

If you’re considering a career as a creative writer, a professional writer, or really any kind of writer, you need to begin with a basis of knowledge to help you excel.

If you don’t already have that base, you should consider Stratford Career Institute’s course to get started.

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Creative Writer salary

Average creative writer salary, how much does a creative writer make.

The average creative writer salary in the United States is $73,095. Creative writer salaries typically range between $46,000 and $114,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for creative writers is $35.14 per hour. Creative writer salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Creative writers earn the highest average salary in California.

Where can a Creative Writer earn more?

Creative writer salary estimates from across the web, average creative writer salary by state.

The average creative writer salary in California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average creative writer salary states are Florida, Iowa, and Missouri.

• County View

Highest paying states for creative writers

Highest paying cities for creative writers.

The highest-paying cities for creative writers are Redwood City, CA, Mountain View, CA, and Palo Alto, CA.

Creative Writer salary details

A creative writer's salary ranges from $46,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $114,000 at the 90th percentile.

What is a creative writer's salary?

Highest paying creative writer jobs.

The highest paying types of creative writers are senior editor, managing editor, and senior writer.

Top companies hiring creative writers now:

• Meta Jobs (5)
• Squarespace Jobs (4)
• NBCUniversal Jobs (2)
• POET Jobs (2)
• KPMG LLP Jobs (7)

Which companies pay creative writers the most?

Creative writer salaries at Apple and Meta are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average creative writer salary at companies like Google and Squarespace are highly competitive.

Wage gap by gender, race and education

Creative writer salary trends.

The average creative writer salary has risen by $12,251 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average creative writer earned $60,844 annually, but today, they earn $73,095 a year. That works out to a 10% change in pay for creative writers over the last decade.

Compare creative writer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average creative writer salary over time

Compare creative writer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Creative Writer salary by year

Recently added creative writer salaries, creative writer salary faqs, what state pays creative writers the most, how do i know if i'm being paid fairly as a creative writer.

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Creative Writer Related Salaries

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• Content Editor Salary
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Creative Writer Related Careers

• Assistant Editor
• Associate Editor
• Content Editor
• Content Writer
• Grant Writer
• Managing Editor
• News Editor
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• Proposal Writer
• Senior Copywriter
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Creative Writer Related Jobs

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What Similar Roles Do

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The Average Income of a Creative Writing Major

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How Much Money Do Magazine Writers Make?

What kind of job can you get with an associate's in communications, qualifications needed to be a college professor in english or communications.

• Web Content Editor Job Description
• What Does a Fashion Magazine Columnist Earn?

Creative writing majors exist at the undergraduate and graduate level. The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is the field's most common terminal degree program. Following the completion of a master's degree in creative writing, students become eligible for college-level teaching positions. Creative writing majors may pursue careers as published authors, editors, professors, and freelancers. Writers and authors tend to earn above average income, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Starting Salary

Professional writing positions typically require a bachelor's degree, intermediate computer skills, and solid writing abilities. Some colleges offer an undergraduate degree in English, with a concentration in creative writing. Entry-level writing jobs exist at newspapers, magazines, and advertising agencies. Experience is usually necessary in order to advance to editorial positions or higher-paid assignments. According to North Carolina State University, the average starting salary for an undergraduate creative writing major was $37,154, as of July 2010.

Writers and Authors

Writers and authors may work as freelancers that create original books, articles, or technical documents. Some writers work full-time in other industries while they build a client list. As of May 2010, the average income for writers and authors was $55,420. Those in the lowest 10 percent earning bracket had salaries of $28,610 or less. Writers and authors in the highest 10 percent earning bracket had average salaries of $109,440 or more. Industries that paid the highest average salaries were advertising and motion pictures. Average salaries for writers and authors working in these industries were $62,000 or higher.

Technical Writers

Creative writing majors with a technical background may pursue a career as a technical writer. The information technology and scientific research industries need technical writers to compose documentation. Product manuals and procedural documents illustrate technical concepts in a more simplistic manner. The average salaries for technical writers were $63,280 as of May 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Software publishers paid the highest wages, at an average of $76,410 per year. Management and consulting services paid the least, with average salaries of $62,290.

College Professors

The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) reports that the number of tenure-track teaching positions in creative writing are far below their demand. Part-time, adjunct teaching positions are more common and are becoming increasingly competitive. A growth in the number of master's degrees and Ph.D. graduates in creative writing is partly to blame for the increase in competition. Creative writing majors who obtain postsecondary teaching positions may earn between $30,720 and $130,510, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average income for postsecondary teachers was $62,050, as of May 2010.

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook: Postsecondary Teachers
• Association of Writers and Writing Programs: Annual Report on the Academic Job Market
• North Carolina State University: What Can I Do With A Major In English?
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook: Writers and Authors
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook: Technical Writers
• Degree Directory.org: Creative Writer Salary and Career FAQs

Helen Akers specializes in business and technology topics. She has professional experience in business-to-business sales, technical support, and management. Akers holds a Master of Business Administration with a marketing concentration from Devry University's Keller Graduate School of Management and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles.

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Creative writing teacher salary in the united states.

How much does a Creative Writing Teacher make in the United States? The salary range for a Creative Writing Teacher job is from $45,625 to $67,418 per year in the United States. Click on the filter to check out Creative Writing Teacher job salaries by hourly, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, and yearly.

• Per semimonth
• Connecticut
• District of Columbia
• Massachusetts
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• New Hampshire
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• West Virginia
• San Francisco, CA
• Washington, DC
• Chicago, IL
• New York, NY

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Employees: Use this as a guide for salary expectations, but be aware that responsibilities can change across companies for the same job title, so there may be differences between this data, other free site and our subscription products bought by employers.

Employers: This data could be used as reference point in your market pricing, but not the only source, due to differences across jobs locations, and sizes of companies.Consider additional sources like our Employer reported data.

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Highest Paying Cities for Creative Writing Teacher in the United States

States with higher salaries for creative writing teacher, how much do similar professions get paid in the united states, how much should you be earning, what does a creative writing teacher do.

Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the creative writing teacher job title.

The primary qualifications for creative writing teacher position are a bachelor's degree and several years of experience teaching at the appropriate grade level.

Using our career map, a creative writing teacher can determine their career goals through the career progression.

Our resume builder tool will walk you through the process of creating a stand-out Creative Writing Teacher resume.

Other degrees that we often see on creative writing teacher resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.

View Job Skills and Competency Data for more than 15,000 Job Titles, 18 Industries, and 26 Job Families.

Most Common Benefits for Creative Writing Teacher

Related companies for creative writing teacher in the united states, frequently asked questions, do i receive fair pay as a creative writing teacher currently, what are the responsibilities of a creative writing teacher, how much do similar jobs to creative writing teacher make.

• Reading and Writing teacher
• Online Content Writing Director
• Writing Consultant
• Writing Specialist
• Writing Tutor
• Grant Writing
• Medical Writing Specialist
• Content Writing Manager

Where can I get a higher Creative Writing Teacher salary in the United States?

What is the creative writing teacher's salary range in the united states, career insights.