How much does a Technical Writer ACTUALLY make?

When people ask me “what does a technical writer make?”, my honest answer is: “which definition are we using?”

Some sources report base pay, others report total compensation (base + bonus + profit sharing + stock). That’s why you’ll see different numbers that are all “true” in their own context. Here are the most useful national benchmarks:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): Reports a median annual wage of $91,670 (May 2024) for technical writers, with the lowest 10% under $54,400 and the highest 10% over $130,430.
• Indeed: Shows an employer-side estimate of $38.28/hour for technical writers in the U.S. (updated February 2, 2026), plus an average $1,800 cash bonus.
• Salary.com: Lists an average U.S. technical writer salary of $99,786 (as of February 1, 2026) with a broad range depending on level and role type.
• PayScale: Reports an average technical writer salary of $70,144 (2026) based on market survey data.
• ZipRecruiter: Aggregates job-board data to report a national average of $81,001/year.
• Glassdoor: Lists an average salary of around $102k/year, with a typical range that varies by level and location. Glassdoor also includes “additional pay” like bonuses or stock in its total compensation estimates.

If you’re reading those and thinking “cool, but… which one should I trust?”, use this rule: BLS is the best baseline, and the other sites help you triangulate what companies are paying right now in your niche.

National And Regional Salary Data (Where Location Still Matters)

Even with remote work, location still shows up in salary bands. A helpful way to think about it is: employers either (a) pay a national band, (b) pay based on the company’s HQ market, or (c) adjust by where you live.

To make this concrete, BLS’ state and metro data (from OEWS) has long shown that some regions consistently sit at the top end.

For example, BLS metro data (May 2023 OEWS) lists San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara around $136,990 and San Francisco, Oakland, Hayward around $130,730 for annual mean wage, with other high-paying metros like Seattle also up there. 

On the state side (May 2023 OEWS), BLS lists top-paying states including California (~$109,380), Delaware (~$106,400), Massachusetts (~$104,960), Washington (~$104,440), and D.C. (~$102,070). 

Those numbers are a couple years older than the May 2024 national median, but the pattern is still useful: high-cost tech and government-adjacent markets tend to pay more, and they often set the ceiling for remote bands too. (If you want the latest state/metro tables, BLS links them directly from the technical writer profile.) 

Salary By Experience And Education Level

Most salary jumps in technical writing aren’t “because you’ve been employed for X years.” They happen when your scope changes. Here’s the most useful way to map experience to pay without getting stuck on titles:

Entry-Level (Junior / Associate)

Entry-level pay tends to track how quickly you can produce solid drafts, accept feedback without breaking structure, and work in a real documentation lifecycle.

A concrete benchmark: Salary.com’s “Technical Writer I” shows an average around $64,104 (December 2025) with a typical range depending on percentile. 

Mid-Level

This is where writers start getting paid more because they can own documentation end-to-end and manage review cycles with less supervision.

You’ll often see mid-level market numbers show up in Glassdoor segments like “intermediate technical writer,” which in one Glassdoor view is around $89,692/year.

Senior And Lead Roles

Senior writers get paid for more than output. They get paid for reducing risk: content standards, information architecture, release coordination, stakeholder alignment, and mentoring.

You’ll see that “upper range” shows up clearly in the BLS distribution (top 10% over $130,430). As for education: BLS notes technical writers typically need a bachelor’s degree, and that knowledge of a technical subject is beneficial. In real hiring, I see education matter most when it supports specialization (regulated industries, engineering-heavy domains, etc.), not as a magic salary switch.

Salary By Industry And Employer Type

Industry is one of the biggest salary levers because it changes the stakes. BLS provides a clean view of median pay by major employing industries (May 2024). For example: administrative and support services ~$90,400, professional/scientific/technical services ~$86,170, government ~$84,950, information ~$83,380, and manufacturing ~$80,070. 

What that doesn’t show (but hiring managers feel) is that certain niches pay more when the documentation is tied to higher risk or higher revenue.

Older OEWS industry tables (May 2023) show some top-paying industries well above the average, including examples like merchant wholesalers and electric power generation with six-figure annual mean wages. 

In plain English: if your docs sit close to compliance, regulatory expectations, or expensive systems, pay tends to rise.

Factors Influencing Salary (The Levers You Actually Control)

If you want to predict (or increase) your salary, stop staring at the title and look at these levers instead:

Specialization And Domain Knowledge

Specialization tends to pay because it increases speed, accuracy, and trust. That’s why writers with strong domain-specific knowledge (cloud, security, developer platforms, medical devices, fintech, aerospace) often out-earn generalists.

Scope And Ownership

There’s a big difference between “I write pages” and “I own a documentation system.” Scope increases when you handle information architecture, content standards, doc tooling decisions, release readiness, and cross-functional alignment.

If you want a simple way to frame that on your career ladder, compare your responsibilities to what employers list in a technical writer job description.

Negotiation And Market Timing

Compensation swings based on hiring cycles, company growth, and the difficulty of hiring in your niche. That’s why I like using multiple sources (BLS baseline + market sites) before you negotiate. Highlighting recent, measurable wins during salary discussions can also help you justify higher pay, especially in competitive hiring markets.

Freelance Vs Full-Time Compensation

This topic confuses a lot of people because freelance numbers can look both “higher” and “lower” depending on what you’re comparing.

Full-Time Compensation

Full-time pay is usually easiest to benchmark because the numbers are cleaner. Full-time roles often come with additional benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and career development opportunities, which can significantly increase total compensation.

Indeed reports $38.28/hour for technical writers (plus a cash bonus estimate), and Glassdoor salary pages often show base pay plus “additional pay” (bonus/stock/profit sharing) rolled into total compensation. While the hourly rate may seem lower compared to freelance rates, the stability, benefits, and predictable income streams often make full-time roles a preferred choice for many.

Freelance Compensation

Freelance income is variable because utilization matters (how much of your time is billable). For a real-world marketplace snapshot, Upwork reports a median technical writer hourly rate of $30, with typical rates between $20 and $45/hour. PayScale reports an average hourly pay of $39.49 for a “freelance writer, technical” (2026). 

My take: freelancing can out-earn employment, but only when you have (1) consistent project flow, (2) a niche, and (3) pricing that accounts for non-billable time and benefits.

If you’re building your “proof” to charge more (freelance or employed), your technical writer portfolio matters way more than most people admit.

Comparison With Similar Roles

Sometimes the fastest way to evaluate technical writer pay is to compare it to adjacent roles you might also qualify for.

BLS lists 2024 median pay for several similar occupations, including computer programmers ($98,670), editors ($75,260), writers and authors ($72,270), and public relations specialists ($69,780). Technical writers sit at $91,670 in that same BLS view. 

So if you’re choosing between “writer-ish” career tracks, technical writing tends to pay better than many traditional writing roles, and it often comes with more stable full-time opportunities.

Salary Growth And Career Advancement

If your goal is “make more money as a technical writer,” the fastest path usually isn’t grinding harder. It’s changing your scope. You’ll typically see bigger salary jumps when you move into one (or more) of these lanes:

• You specialize (API docs, developer experience, security, compliance-heavy docs).
• You own documentation strategy (IA, standards, governance, tooling).
• You take leadership (mentoring, onboarding, team processes, stakeholder management).
• You become the person who prevents doc-related churn (support tickets, onboarding friction, release confusion).

If you want the interview side of career advancement, use technical writer interview questions as a checklist for the skill stories you should be building.

Benefits And Job Satisfaction

Salary is only one part of compensation, and technical writing is one of those careers where quality of life depends heavily on the team.

BLS notes most technical writers work full time, and deadlines can create occasional evenings/weekends. In practice, your job satisfaction tends to hinge on:

• Whether the team respects the documentation lifecycle (reviews, approvals, realistic timelines)
• How healthy the cross-functional culture is (SMEs who collaborate vs disappear)
• Whether you have the authority to fix systemic doc issues (instead of playing “patch the page” forever)

On the compensation side, market sites like Glassdoor often include “additional pay” categories (bonus, stock, profit sharing) in total compensation estimates, which can meaningfully change your real take-home at larger companies. 

A Note On Gender Breakdown And Pay Gap Data

People ask about gender pay gaps in technical writing, and I think it’s a fair question.

BLS’ CPS table for median weekly earnings by detailed occupation includes a “technical writers” line, but in the 2024 table the men/women breakout appears suppressed (shown as dashes), which means you can’t reliably compute a gender gap from that particular table for this occupation/year. 

If pay equity is something you want to watch closely, it’s usually better to look at your local market, compare offers using consistent “base vs total comp” definitions, and use multiple salary sources when negotiating.

Tips To Increase Your Technical Writer Salary

If you want a practical plan, here’s what I’d do:

Build A Niche That Maps To High-Stakes Work

“Technical writer” is a broad label. The writers who earn more usually sit close to complex systems, compliance standards, or developer adoption.

Upgrade Your Tooling And Workflow Skills

Docs-as-code, CMS maturity, content strategy, and lightweight project management can move you into roles with more ownership (and better pay bands).

Make Your Portfolio Do The Negotiating For You

A resume says you can do the work. A portfolio proves it. Portfolios that highlight metrics like reduced support tickets or improved user adoption can make a stronger case for higher pay.

If you haven’t refreshed yours in a while, start with this technical writer portfolio guide, then make sure your resume points to it clearly using this technical writer resume guide.

Final Thoughts

Technical writer salaries depend on more than just numbers. Specialization, scope, and strategic career moves play a significant role. Focus on building a strong portfolio and targeting high-stakes work to increase your earning potential.

Your value isn’t just in creating documentation but in solving problems and driving clarity within complex systems. Use this guide to align your skills and career goals with the industries and roles that reward them most.

With preparation, measurable proof of your impact, and market insights, you can confidently pursue the compensation you deserve.

FAQs

Here, I answer the most frequently asked questions about technical writer’s salary.

What Is The Average Technical Writer Salary In 2026?

It depends on the source and whether it’s base pay or total compensation. BLS lists a median of $91,670 (May 2024), while other sources report different market averages such as Salary.com ($99,523 as of Jan 1, 2026) and PayScale ($70,144 in 2026). 

What Do Entry-Level Technical Writers Make?

Entry-level pay varies, but one concrete benchmark is Salary.com’s “Technical Writer I” average of $64,104 (Dec 2025). 

What States Or Cities Pay Technical Writers The Most?

BLS OEWS data (May 2023) shows top-paying states like California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Washington, and D.C., and top metros like San Jose and San Francisco. 

Is Freelancing More Profitable Than Full-Time?

It can be, but only if you stay booked and price correctly. Upwork reports a median technical writer rate of $30/hour (often $20–$45/hour), while PayScale reports $39.49/hour for a “freelance writer, technical.” 

How Do Technical Writer Salaries Compare To Similar Roles?

BLS lists technical writers at $91,670 median pay (May 2024), which is higher than editors and writers/authors in the same BLS comparison table.