Polishes writing—fixing grammar, spelling, style, and consistency.
Reads a 300-page book manuscript line by line, fixes errors, queries the author about confusing sentences, and checks the style guide.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in English or journalism.
Ways in: 4-year college, Self-taught. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: English, Journalism.
Shrinking (about -5% over 10 years). Estimate.
High risk for 10 years. AI grammar and style tools now do most proofreading; few human copy-editing jobs will remain outside premium books.
Classes: AP English Language, Journalism or school paper, AP Literature.
Official data: O*NET occupation 43-9081.
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.