Job Outlook for Technical Writers


Below are snippets of information about the job outlook for technical writers. This information comes directly from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (online). The links for the blocks of text or tables are included above each selection:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos089.htm#outlook (emphasis mine)

Job prospects. Opportunities should be best for technical writers and those with training in a specialized field. Demand for technical writers and writers with expertise in areas such as law, medicine, or economics is expected to increase because of the continuing expansion of scientific and technical information and the need to communicate it to others. Legal, scientific, and technological developments and discoveries generate demand for people to interpret technical information for a more general audience. Rapid growth and change in the high-technology and electronics industries result in a greater need for people to write users’ guides, instruction manuals, and training materials. This work requires people who not only are technically skilled as writers, but also are familiar with the subject area.

Projections data from the National Employment Matrix

Occupational title SOC Code Employment, 2006 Projected
employment,
2016
Change, 2006-2016
Number Percent

Writers and editors

27-3040

306,000

336,000

30,000

10

Editors

27-3041

122,000

124,000

2,800

2

Technical writers

27-3042

49,000

59,000

9,600

20

Writers and authors

27-3043

135,000

153,000

17,000

13

NOTE: Data in this table are rounded. See the discussion of the employment projections table in the Handbook introductory chapter on Occupational Information Included in the Handbook.

Occupational Employment and Wages for Technical Writers(Updated with May 2008 data)

National estimates for this occupation:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment Employment
RSE
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage
Wage RSE
47,460 1.9 % $30.87 $64,210 0.7 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $17.55 $22.64 $29.62 $37.94 $46.86
Annual Wage  $36,500 $47,100 $61,620 $78,910 $97,460

Occupational Employment Statistics

The chart below, which shows technical writers by state, was derived from the Create Customized Tables on the BLS's State profile for this occupation section of the Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2006 page for Technical Writers. You can use the Create Customized Tables feature to see data for all jobs.

Occupation: Technical Writers (SOC code 273042)
Period: May 2006

Area name Employment(1) Employment percent relative standard error(3) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage(2) Wage percent relative standard error(3) Annual median wage(2)

Alabama

540 10.6 24.43 50800 2.8 51790

Alaska

80 29.5 (8)- (8)- (8)- (8)-

Arizona

780 18.2 28.04 58310 5.0 55320

Arkansas

220 16.0 19.04 39610 5.4 41260

California

6670 6.5 35.05 72910 2.3 70420

Colorado

1300 10.3 29.05 60420 1.8 58800

Connecticut

680 8.2 29.09 60500 1.7 57330

Delaware

110 32.0 26.84 55840 3.1 56050

District of Columbia

610 14.9 29.88 62140 3.8 59250

Florida

1760 11.0 26.86 55870 3.4 55450

Georgia

1190 14.2 27.65 57510 2.4 55580

Hawaii

80 27.1 34.96 72720 6.3 72540

Idaho

560 23.9 25.45 52940 3.5 51030

Illinois

1310 10.2 28.94 60200 1.9 60380

Indiana

480 13.6 25.58 53200 2.7 50260

Iowa

380 9.4 22.58 46960 1.5 45980

Kansas

370 9.1 22.92 47670 2.1 46410

Kentucky

270 12.2 22.28 46340 3.3 46720

Louisiana

120 20.0 24.62 51200 7.9 47320

Maine

70 13.4 25.11 52240 3.5 49460

Maryland

1840 8.2 29.98 62360 1.7 60620

Massachusetts

2320 6.5 33.32 69310 1.3 68640

Michigan

1600 8.8 28.94 60190 1.9 56840

Minnesota

930 6.2 27.50 57200 1.1 56660

Mississippi

190 49.6 24.16 50250 5.6 53790

Missouri

800 34.0 26.75 55640 2.8 50720

Montana

90 24.3 21.84 45430 4.5 43100

Nebraska

180 7.8 22.55 46910 2.4 48300

Nevada

230 14.4 30.99 64470 6.9 53770

New Hampshire

250 10.8 31.88 66300 3.2 63840

New Jersey

1530 8.2 31.94 66440 1.9 63710

New Mexico

280 21.4 24.28 50500 2.8 48760

New York

2090 10.8 31.40 65320 3.8 59820

North Carolina

1000 4.5 27.44 57080 2.3 55110

North Dakota

50 10.5 21.96 45680 3.3 43750

Ohio

1400 15.5 24.12 50170 2.7 49970

Oklahoma

420 25.8 19.99 41580 6.7 39630

Oregon

630 12.1 28.95 60210 2.8 60170

Pennsylvania

1610 7.4 26.20 54490 2.0 54150

Puerto Rico

50 18.9 19.18 39890 6.1 38760

South Carolina

310 11.1 24.45 50850 3.7 50790

South Dakota

80 15.5 20.58 42800 2.2 41870

Tennessee

430 15.3 22.08 45930 4.4 47620

Texas

3390 6.8 26.89 55940 1.9 52760

Utah

920 16.5 26.37 54850 1.7 53800

Vermont

120 19.3 24.50 50970 5.2 51680

Virginia

2380 7.8 31.34 65190 3.0 62580

Washington

1630 11.0 34.41 71580 5.9 70340

West Virginia

60 10.6 20.73 43120 3.9 40700

Wisconsin

800 11.4 24.48 50920 1.3 50090
Wyoming & Rhode Island not included            
Total* 45190   26.48** 55080**   53544**

Footnotes:
(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.
(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by 2,080 hours; where an hourly mean wage is not published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.
(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.
(8) Estimate not released.
*Total line not derived from BLS Create Customized Tables; it's my calculation.
**Alaska not included.

SOC code: Standard Occupational Classification code -- see http://www.bls.gov/soc/home.htm
Data extracted on May 2, 2008

For my perspicacious audience, why is it not appropriate to derive the hourly mean rate, annual mean wage, and annual median wage by adding up the totals for each category and dividing by the number of values in each category (49 in these blue highlighted cases)? That's how I got the total line, but it's wrong...why?

Technical Writing Jobs (Sample*)

Charlotte Area: TechWritingJobs.com
National: WriteJobs.com
National: InDeed.com

*I make no guarantee that the above will be updated.

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