Pay · 43-9081
Proofreaders and Copy Markers earn $51,120 a year at the midpoint
A small field — roughly 4,580 people nationwide — with a midpoint of $51,120. Pay runs from about $34,510 at the low end to $79,290 at the top, per the 2025 federal survey.
National figures for proofreaders and copy markers, 43-9081, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- The annual figure is arithmetic. For hourly occupations the annual figure is the hourly rate times 2080 hours. It is a calculation, not observed earnings: part time is the norm in retail and food service.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Proofreader earnings, from starting pay to the best-paid 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
The survey has no complete figures for that job — pick the closest title from the list.
An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
Proofreader wages in each state
The 24 states where the most people do this work, of 26 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.92 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $68,120 | $44,130 | $44,130 — $103,200 | 50 |
| New York | $59,740 | $39,080 | $39,080 — $97,300 | 1,030 |
| California | $57,490 | $34,320 | $34,320 — $81,500 | 300 |
| Massachusetts | $57,160 | $51,870 | $51,870 — $74,480 | 190 |
| New Jersey | $56,700 | $38,560 | $38,560 — $81,400 | 160 |
| Ohio | $55,560 | $29,670 | $29,670 — $71,980 | 100 |
| Maryland | $53,920 | $42,900 | $42,900 — $65,530 | — |
| Washington | $53,890 | $39,990 | $39,990 — $105,840 | 60 |
| Missouri | $52,920 | $28,600 | $28,600 — $69,850 | 110 |
| Kansas | $51,160 | $24,960 | $24,960 — $67,760 | 90 |
| Illinois | $50,060 | $33,950 | $33,950 — $77,030 | 300 |
| Minnesota | $49,450 | $42,720 | $42,720 — $57,590 | — |
| Virginia | $48,090 | $41,270 | $41,270 — $60,510 | 90 |
| Pennsylvania | $47,510 | $38,000 | $38,000 — $82,340 | 230 |
| Kentucky | $46,380 | $41,200 | $41,200 — $72,830 | 70 |
| North Carolina | $46,140 | $36,020 | $36,020 — $56,730 | 70 |
| Iowa | $44,680 | $38,430 | $38,430 — $66,350 | 110 |
| Wisconsin | $43,630 | $28,400 | $28,400 — $62,820 | 60 |
| South Carolina | $42,900 | $35,670 | $35,670 — $60,390 | 40 |
| Texas | $41,990 | $32,010 | $32,010 — $65,460 | 200 |
| Indiana | $40,920 | $36,530 | $36,530 — $51,030 | 80 |
| West Virginia | $36,730 | $22,060 | $22,060 — $68,910 | 50 |
| Florida | $35,610 | $33,620 | $33,620 — $119,150 | 200 |
| Michigan | $35,530 | $32,180 | $32,180 — $63,090 | 140 |
No estimate is published for 3 states: the survey withholds a figure when too few employers report it. Nothing has been filled in for them.
Resumes for proofreaders and copy markers
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Marked copy to indicate and correct errors in type, arrangement, grammar, punctuation, or spelling, using standard printers' marks.
- Read corrected copies or proofs to ensure that all corrections have been made.
- Corrected or recorded omissions, errors, or inconsistencies found.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Proofreader pay rate, hourly to yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
No. 501 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 36% of the occupations in the survey.
- 499 Medical Records Specialists $51,140
- 500 Animal Breeders $51,130
- 501 Proofreaders and Copy Markers $51,120
- 502 Home Appliance Repairers $50,990
- 503 Tree Trimmers and Pruners $50,960
Examples
Resumes written for this kind of job.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
- Proofreader Resume Template Office & Administrative
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- Desktop Publisher Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Word Processor Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Data Entry Clerk Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Administrative Support Specialist Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Administrative Assistant Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Medical Secretary Resume Template Office & Administrative
Questions people ask
What is a proofreader’s yearly income?
A proofreader makes a median of $51,120 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $41,170 and $62,390.
What is a proofreader’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $24.58 an hour; the average is $54,800 a year.
What is the starting pay for a proofreader?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $41,170 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $34,510.
Which state pays proofreaders and copy markers the most?
District of Columbia, with a median of $68,120 a year.
How many people work as proofreaders and copy markers?
About 4,580 in the United States — number 501 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Jobs that pay about the same
Median pay within $130 of what proofreaders and copy markers earn — $51,120 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $20 more Medical Records Specialists $51,140median a year 10th percentile: $37,000 90th percentile: $81,150
- $100 more Private Detectives and Investigators $51,220median a year 10th percentile: $36,740 90th percentile: $97,630
- $130 less Home Appliance Repairers $50,990median a year 10th percentile: $36,190 90th percentile: $80,660