Copywriter salary in the US
What copywriters are paid in the US, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.
Median annual pay
$76,910
Middle half earn
$58,230 to $101,950
People in this job, US
47,940
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Writers and Authors, national, annual pay, May 2025
- 10th percentile
- $44,310
- 25th percentile
- $58,230
- Median
- $76,910
- 75th percentile
- $101,950
- 90th percentile
- $139,870
BLS counts copywriters within Writers and Authors.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 27-3043. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.
At a glance
What copywriters earn across the US
- The highest-paying large metros are San Jose, CA ($118,810), Washington, DC ($108,460), Seattle, WA ($98,730).
- At the other end are San Juan, PR ($44,300), Louisville/Jefferson County, KY ($52,520), Jacksonville, FL ($56,760): the top metro's median is 168% higher than the lowest.
- 13 of the 45 metros listed below pay a median above the national figure.
- About 47,940 people are employed in this occupation across the US.
- Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 3.2 times the 10th.
Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.
By metro
Copywriter pay by metro
Median annual pay in the largest US metros where BLS published figures for this occupation, highest first, May 2025.
- San Jose, CA$118,810
- Washington, DC$108,460
- Seattle, WA$98,730
- Hartford, CT$97,160
- Portland, OR$87,560
- Baltimore, MD$87,020
- Boston, MA$85,260
- Philadelphia, PA$84,130
- Sacramento, CA$82,690
- San Diego, CA$82,590
- Atlanta, GA$81,990
- Riverside, CA$78,990
- Los Angeles, CA$77,250
- Columbus, OH$76,490
- Minneapolis, MN$76,470
- Salt Lake City, UT$76,390
- Houston, TX$76,120
- Chicago, IL$75,940
- Detroit, MI$75,760
- Austin, TX$75,380
- Richmond, VA$74,300
- San Antonio, TX$74,030
- Virginia Beach, VA$73,460
- Tampa, FL$72,560
- Providence, RI$70,620
- Denver, CO$69,100
- Raleigh, NC$69,100
- Orlando, FL$68,880
- Las Vegas, NV$67,280
- Kansas City, MO$67,230
- Miami, FL$66,470
- Buffalo, NY$65,630
- Dallas, TX$64,520
- Oklahoma City, OK$64,100
- Milwaukee, WI$63,910
- Charlotte, NC$63,720
- Nashville, TN$63,270
- Cincinnati, OH$62,440
- Cleveland, OH$60,880
- Phoenix, AZ$58,870
- Memphis, TN$58,480
- St. Louis, MO$57,390
- Jacksonville, FL$56,760
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY$52,520
- San Juan, PR$44,300
Medians from BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Skills
What employers look for in a copywriter
The skills our copywriter resume example leads with, written for US employers.
- Conversion copywriting
- Landing pages
- Email sequences
- Ad copy
- A/B testing
- Brand voice
- Messaging frameworks
- Customer research
- Value propositions
- Direct response
See the full copywriter resume example, with bullets and keywords.
Negotiating
Using these numbers
Below $58,230 puts you in the bottom quarter for copywriters in the US. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.
The median, $76,910, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.
Asking for $101,950 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.
Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.
About the numbers
What these figures are
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in Writers and Authors, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.
They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living.
Questions
Questions about copywriter pay in the US
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