Professional Tech Writers Salaries, Locations, and Schools

Employment Overview

Nationally, there are 49,000 professional tech writers. The occupation is characterized by a very high joblessness level. The unemployment rate for employees was 8% in 2006.

Flexibility

If you have this occupation and work on your own rather than for another company, you are part of the 6% of professional tech writers who do so. Workers working less than full time, whether by design or chance, were 7% of the total.

Education

Successful employees find it useful to have a bachelor's degree. According to recent surveys, 74% of professional tech writers had received a degree. Workers with some schooling beyond high school, but not a college degree, total about 18%. A high school degree was all that was needed for 7% of employees.

Local Outlook

Looking at professional tech writers per capita, Framingham (Massachusetts), Colorado Springs (Colorado), and San Jose (California) rise to the top of the list. Miami (Florida), New Orleans (Louisiana), and Nashville (Tennessee) have the fewest per capita. The highest salaries for workers are in and around San Jose (California), Framingham (Massachusetts), and Nashua (New Hampshire). The lowest-paying areas are Reading (Pennsylvania), Fayetteville (Arkansas), and Lancaster (Pennsylvania).

Detailed local employment conditions for Professional Tech Writers in metro areas across the US are shown in the table below.

Local Jobs Info for Professional Tech Writers

Employment info for Professional Tech Writers, by metropolitan area (for 2006). A Market Strength rating of 1.0 means the city (and surroundings) has an average number of workers in the occupation for to its population. A higher number indicates relatively more workers for the occupation in that location.

State	City and Surroundings	Market Strength	Workers	Median Wage
Alabama	Anniston	1.95	30	$52,000
Alabama	Birmingham	0.32	60	$44,000
Alabama	Huntsville	3.78	260	$53,000
Alabama	Montgomery	0.69	40	$54,000
Alaska	Anchorage	0.74	40	$58,000
Arizona	Phoenix	1.04	720	$61,000
Arizona	Tucson	0.9	120	$64,000
Arkansas	Fayetteville	1.9	130	$37,000
Arkansas	Little Rock	0.68	80	$50,000
California	Bakersfield	0.66	60	$59,000
California	Fresno	0.69	80	$65,000
California	Los Angeles	1.09	1,650	$75,000
California	Oakland	1.24	460	$75,000
California	Oxnard	2.22	240	$75,000
California	Riverside	0.32	150	$65,000
California	Sacramento	0.64	210	$62,000
California	Salinas	0.58	30	$49,000
California	San Diego	1.47	710	$70,000
California	San Francisco	2.01	710	$80,000
California	San Jose	4.11	1,350	$91,000
California	Santa Ana	1.37	770	$63,000
California	Santa Barbara	1.04	60	$74,000
California	Santa Cruz	1.05	30	$57,000
California	Santa Rosa	0.6	40	$80,000
Colorado	Boulder	2.77	150	$75,000
Colorado	Colorado Springs	4.13	370	$55,000
Colorado	Denver	1.56	700	$65,000
Colorado	Fort Collins	1.44	60	$62,000
Connecticut	Bridgeport	1.28	200	$63,000
Connecticut	Hartford	1.12	230	$56,000
Connecticut	New Haven	0.61	60	$65,000
Connecticut	Norwich	3.63	150	$61,000
Delaware	Wilmington	0.94	110	$58,000
District of Columbia	Washington	2.94	2,480	$67,000
Florida	Fort Lauderdale	0.44	120	$62,000
Florida	Fort Walton Beach	1.52	40	$54,000
Florida	Jacksonville	0.36	80	$53,000
Florida	Miami	0.25	90	$54,000
Florida	Orlando	0.93	360	$56,000
Florida	Palm Bay	1.88	130	$58,000
Florida	Sarasota	0.4	40	$56,000
Florida	Tampa	0.88	400	$70,000
Florida	West Palm Beach	0.35	70	$60,000
Georgia	Atlanta	1.06	930	$62,000
Georgia	Augusta	1.27	90	$63,000
Georgia	Columbus	1.88	70	$47,000
Georgia	Warner Robins	3.88	60	$48,000
Idaho	Boise	2.23	210	$55,000
Illinois	Chicago	0.67	940	$70,000
Illinois	Rockford	0.78	40	$55,000
Indiana	Fort Wayne	0.67	50	$58,000
Indiana	Indianapolis	1.28	410	$66,000
Iowa	Cedar Rapids	1.97	90	$55,000
Iowa	Davenport	1.61	100	$54,000
Iowa	Des Moines	0.97	110	$46,000
Iowa	Dubuque	2.38	40	$45,000
Kansas	Wichita	3.01	320	$52,000
Kentucky	Lexington	1.05	90	$49,000
Louisiana	New Orleans	0.22	40	$52,000
Maryland	Baltimore	1.54	720	$63,000
Maryland	Bethesda	4.06	820	$69,000
Massachusetts	Boston	2.36	1,460	$72,000
Massachusetts	Framingham	8.09	440	$84,000
Massachusetts	Lowell	4.02	160	$75,000
Massachusetts	Worcester	1.81	160	$68,000
Michigan	Ann Arbor	1.19	70	$58,000
Michigan	Detroit	1.68	450	$65,000
Michigan	Grand Rapids	0.66	90	$61,000
Michigan	Kalamazoo	1.66	80	$66,000
Michigan	Niles	3.09	60	$60,000
Michigan	Warren	1.56	660	$64,000
Minnesota	Duluth	0.93	40	$62,000
Minnesota	Minneapolis	1.36	890	$62,000
Mississippi	Gulfport	1.72	60	$51,000
Missouri	Kansas City	1.66	610	$57,000
Missouri	St Louis	0.8	390	$60,000
Nebraska	Lincoln	1.66	90	$43,000
Nebraska	Omaha	0.8	130	$51,000
Nevada	Las Vegas	0.41	140	$69,000
New Hampshire	Nashua	1.71	80	$82,000
New Jersey	Camden	0.68	130	$56,000
New Jersey	Edison	1.74	640	$60,000
New Jersey	Newark	0.82	300	$67,000
New Jersey	Trenton	1.84	140	$68,000
New Mexico	Albuquerque	2.04	280	$64,000
New York	Albany	0.84	130	$62,000
New York	Binghamton	2.46	90	$42,000
New York	Buffalo	0.52	100	$60,000
New York	Nassau	0.47	210	$62,000
New York	New York	0.63	1,160	$68,000
New York	Rochester	1.23	220	$47,000
New York	Syracuse	1.03	110	$54,000
North Carolina	Asheville	0.65	40	$45,000
North Carolina	Charlotte	0.48	150	$62,000
North Carolina	Durham	2.59	240	$61,000
North Carolina	Greensboro	0.45	60	$59,000
North Carolina	Raleigh	2	360	$64,000
North Carolina	Wilmington	0.82	40	$51,000
Ohio	Akron	0.84	100	$56,000
Ohio	Cincinnati	0.83	310	$55,000
Ohio	Cleveland	0.65	250	$51,000
Ohio	Columbus	0.72	240	$67,000
Ohio	Dayton	1.85	260	$50,000
Ohio	Toledo	0.26	30	$53,000
Oklahoma	Oklahoma City	0.69	140	$49,000
Oklahoma	Tulsa	0.79	120	$51,000
Oregon	Portland	1.31	490	$65,000
Pennsylvania	Allentown	0.42	50	$74,000
Pennsylvania	Erie	0.91	40	$47,000
Pennsylvania	Harrisburg	0.76	80	$54,000
Pennsylvania	Lancaster	0.86	70	$39,000
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	1.31	880	$62,000
Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh	0.73	300	$53,000
Pennsylvania	Reading	0.71	40	$44,000
Rhode Island	Providence	1.15	240	$48,000
South Carolina	Charleston	0.69	70	$54,000
South Carolina	Columbia	0.33	40	$51,000
South Carolina	Greenville	0.56	60	$51,000
South Dakota	Sioux Falls	0.87	40	$43,000
Tennessee	Chattanooga	0.39	30	$52,000
Tennessee	Knoxville	1.02	120	$58,000
Tennessee	Memphis	0.44	100	$56,000
Tennessee	Nashville	0.22	60	$45,000
Texas	Austin	1.68	450	$55,000
Texas	College Station	1.17	30	$50,000
Texas	Dallas	1.43	1,070	$59,000
Texas	El Paso	0.78	70	$49,000
Texas	Fort Worth	1.14	340	$58,000
Texas	Houston	0.91	830	$55,000
Texas	San Antonio	1.5	440	$48,000
Utah	Ogden	1.66	110	$49,000
Utah	Provo	2.59	150	$49,000
Utah	Salt Lake City	2.15	470	$57,000
Vermont	Burlington	2.45	90	$51,000
Virginia	Richmond	0.96	210	$63,000
Virginia	Virginia Beach	1.51	410	$62,000
Washington	Bremerton	1.16	30	$62,000
Washington	Kennewick	2.81	80	$66,000
Washington	Seattle	2.73	1,410	$75,000
Washington	Spokane	0.55	40	$56,000
Washington	Tacoma	0.32	30	$48,000
Wisconsin	Appleton	0.78	30	$56,000
Wisconsin	Green Bay	0.53	30	$46,000
Wisconsin	Madison	1.12	130	$54,000
Wisconsin	Milwaukee	1.26	390	$54,000