Also called: Letterer
Places the speech balloons, captions, and sound effects in comic books and graphic novels.
A letterer gets finished comic pages and the script, then decides where each balloon goes so readers' eyes flow in the right order. They design custom lettering for a giant "KRAKOOM!" sound effect and fit dialogue without covering the art, often lettering a whole issue in a few days.
Freelance page rates; established letterers juggle several monthly series.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. Self-taught or design school; strong typography skills and Adobe Illustrator.
Ways in: Self-taught, 4-year college. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Graphic Design, Illustration.
Growing slowly. Steady but small, tied to comics and webtoon publishing.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. Software and AI place balloons and generate lettering fonts; storytelling lettering for big publishers stays human but thin.
Classes: Graphic design, English and creative writing, Art.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-1024.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.