Proofreaders and Copy Markers
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OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Read transcript or proof type setup to detect and mark for correction any grammatical, typographical, or compositional errors.
Highlights
Undergraduate program resulting in the highest median salary ($58K): Accounting
Largest undergraduate program (21.4% of workers): English Language and Literature
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
CopyProofreaderCoordinatorContentEditorDataBrailleCheckerClericalHolderPreparerReaderCopyholderCopymanExaminationClerkReviewerDigitalEditorialAssistantFormatNewsOnlineProductionProoferTypesetter
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Salary
Median salary: $41,140 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $32,020 and $55,380.
$41K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for proofreaders and copy markers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$46K$31K$49K$40K$42K$33K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
02004006008001K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
About Proofreaders and Copy Markers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of proofreaders and copy markers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Time Pressure (96%)
SOURCES:
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Education pathways to this career
Education attained by proofreaders and copy markers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), proofreaders and copy markers typically hold a bachelor's degree.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as proofreaders and copy markers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Education level of Proofreaders and Copy Markers
About 58% of proofreaders and copy markers have at least a bachelor's degree.
Education attained by proofreaders and copy markers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
Top college degrees
Here are the top college degrees held by the 57% of people in this job who have at least a bachelor's degree. Some of degrees may link to multiple programs due to the way Census classifies college majors. Click on a program to learn more about career opportunities for people who major in that field.
  1. English Language and Literature
  2. Journalism
  3. Criminal Justice and Fire Protection
  4. History
  5. Business/Commerce
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Not so much?
The link between degrees and this career
With the following sankey diagram, you can follow the top ten bachelor's degrees held by people working as proofreaders and copy markers, and then, in turn, you can see the 10 occupations that hire the most of each degree's graduates. We hope this provides ideas for similar jobs and similar fields of study.
Expand degrees
English Language and...JournalismCriminal Justice and...HistoryGeneral BusinessBusiness Management ...Political Science an...Fine ArtsCommunicationsMultidisciplinary or...All other degreesThis jobTop 10 majors
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Proofreaders and Copy Markers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most proofreaders and copy markers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as proofreaders and copy markers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where proofreaders and copy markers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for proofreaders and copy markers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for proofreaders and copy markers.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which proofreaders and copy markers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Proofreaders and Copy Markers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Employment
35% of Proofreaders and copy markers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 35% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 88% of careers.
35%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of proofreaders and copy markers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$39K$38K$39K$43K$0$20,000$40,000$60,000State governmentPrivate not-for-profitPrivate for-profitAll
Gender
Proofreaders and copy markers and gender
With 66% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 78% of careers.
Gender of Proofreaders and copy markers
Men (34%)
Women (66%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$39K$39K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
66%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Proofreaders and copy markers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Proofreaders and copy markers.
Race/origin of proofreaders and copy markers
White (86% )
Black (7% )
Asian (4% )
Multiracial (2% )
Other (1% )
American Indian (1% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$35K$40K$0$20K$40K$60KBlackWhite
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.