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In United States of America, published freelance rates for are $63–$100 a piece.

Role

Audio producer$400 a day Copy editor$30 an hour Fact-checker$20 an hour Illustrator$300 a piece Journalist$50,000 a year Photographer$500 an 8-hour day Reporter$63–$100 a piece Tape syncer$235 an hour Transcriber$2 an audio minute
Freelance $63–$100 a piece8 freelance figures
Sources 5 documents13 figures from 5 bodies · latest 24 Mar 2026
Reporter in United States of America, every figure → 24 published sources · 71 figures · updated 1 Nov 2026 Open market: 1403 job ads with pay

Pay rates for journalists in United States of America, as published by unions, governments and surveys, each quoted as printed and turned into a day's pay to compare. How the pay guide works →

Each published rate as a day's pay

US$ a day at the ECB rate for the month. A month is 12 payments over 260 working days, or 13 or 14 where the agreement says so; a year is 260 days; a shift counts as a day.

Type of workWhatAs printedUS$ a daySource
On staffOn hire$50,000 a year$192.30NewsGuild of New York · Collective agreement · 23 Mar 2025
On staffMinimum salary, full-time employees$50,700 a year$195TNG-CWA · Collective agreement
On staffAfter 5 years' service$55,000 a year$211.53NewsGuild of New York · Collective agreement · 23 Mar 2025
On staffMinimum salary at ratification$60,000 a year$230.76NewsGuild of New York · Collective agreement · 3 Nov 2025
On staffMedian annual wage, national$62,200 a year$239.23BLS · Official statistics · 1 May 2025
On staffMedian hourly wage, national$29.91 an hour$239.27BLS · Official statistics · 1 May 2025
On staffAfter 10 years' service$63,000 a year$242.30NewsGuild of New York · Collective agreement · 23 Mar 2025
On staffLowest minimum salary in the agreement$65,000 a year$250SAG-AFTRA · Collective agreement
On staffAverage reporter top minimum across 134 contracts, weekly$1,272.49 a week$254.49TNG-CWA · Collective agreement · 1 Jan 2026
On staffSenior reporters and senior content editors$75,000 a year$288.46NewsGuild of New York · Collective agreement · 3 Nov 2025
FreelanceFact-checking, per hour$20 an hour$160NWU · Publisher’s rates
FreelanceProofreading and copy editing, per hour$30 an hour$240NWU · Publisher’s rates
FreelanceJunior producers, average hourly rate$40 an hour$320AIR · Survey · 20 Feb 2025
FreelanceAudio reporters and producers, day rate$400 a day$400NWU · Publisher’s rates
FreelanceCopyediting, nonfiction, per hour (median range)$45–$60 an hour$420EFA · Survey · 24 Mar 2026
FreelanceFact-checking, per hour (median range)$50–$60 an hour$440EFA · Survey · 24 Mar 2026
FreelanceDay rate at The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal$400–$500 a day$449.99Survey
FreelancePhoto essay, 8-hour day rate$500 an 8-hour day$500NWU · Publisher’s rates
FreelanceAdditional hours$50–$100 an hour$600AIR · Recommended minimums
FreelanceWriting, work-for-hire journalism, per hour (median range)$75–$85 an hour$639.99EFA · Survey · 24 Mar 2026

Advertised pay in United States of America

Open market

What employers offered in public job ads over the last 12 months, from 1403 job ads with pay. These figures come from the open job market, not from journalist.net, and we do not check them.

ReporterOn staff $75,150.40 a year middle half $65,000–$100,000 · 277 ads
Desk editorOn staff $94,400 a year middle half $78,950–$122,500 · 175 ads
ProducerOn staff $81,500 a year middle half $71,000–$98,500 · 169 ads
JournalistOn staff $125,000 a year middle half $82,750–$162,500 · 119 ads
ReporterOn staff $28.84 an hour middle half $19–$36.09 · 99 ads
PresenterOn staff $91,250 a year middle half $74,025–$131,875 · 70 ads
ReporterOther or not stated $75,000 a year middle half $64,000–$102,500 · 61 ads
ProducerOn staff $24.42 an hour middle half $18.94–$30 · 60 ads
Journalism jobs in United States of America → The middle figure of the ads for each job, with the middle half of them. Shown only where at least 3 employers posted ads with pay and none posted more than half of them.

Journalism in United States of America

Leading news outlets

The New York TimesIts journalists on journalist.net Aolaol.com New York PostIts journalists on journalist.net USA TodayIts journalists on journalist.net IGNign.com CNBCIts journalists on journalist.net NewsweekIts journalists on journalist.net Yahoo! FinanceIts journalists on journalist.net Business InsiderIts journalists on journalist.net CBS NewsIts journalists on journalist.net Sports IllustratedIts journalists on journalist.net okdiario.comokdiario.com

The highest-ranked news sites based in United States of America in EventRegistry's news-source ranking, most important first. Updated monthly.

Press freedom
64 / 180 Problematic

In the 2026 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), United States of America ranks 64 of 180, with a score of 62.6 out of 100. Down 7 places on the year before.

RSF World Press Freedom Index ↗

By job type

EFA · Writing, work-for-hire journalism, per word (median range)$0.40–$0.50 Word
EFA · Writing, work-for-hire journalism, per hour (median range)$75–$85 Hour
TNG-CWA · Average reporter top minimum across 134 contracts, weekly$1,272.49 Week
BLS · Median annual wage, national$62,200 Year
Reporter in United States of America, every figure →
NWU · Photo essay, 8-hour day rate$500 Day of 8 hours
Diversify Photo · Mileage in own car$0.56 Mile
Survey · Day rate at The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal$400–$500 Day
Survey · The New York Times day rate$450 Day
Photographer in United States of America, every figure →
NewsGuild of New York · On hire$50,000 Year
NewsGuild of New York · After 5 years' service$55,000 Year
NewsGuild of New York · After 10 years' service$63,000 Year
TNG-CWA · Minimum salary, full-time employees$50,700 Year
Journalist in United States of America, every figure →
EFA · Fact-checking, per hour (median range)$50–$60 Hour
EFA · Fact-checking, per page of 250 words (median range)$60–$72.50 Page (250 words)
NWU · Fact-checking, per hour$20 Hour
Fact-checker in United States of America, every figure →
AIR · Junior producers, average hourly rate$40 Hour
AIR · Senior producers, up to per hour$150 Hour
NWU · Audio reporters and producers, day rate$400 Day
Fewer than 3 figures, so this job stays as a row here.
EFA · Transcription, per hour (median range)$52.50–$57.50 Hour
EFA · Transcription, per audio minute (median range)$1.50–$1.75 Audio minute
NWU · Transcription, per minute of audio$2 Audio minute
Transcriber in United States of America, every figure →
EFA · Copyediting, nonfiction, per hour (median range)$45–$60 Hour
NWU · Proofreading and copy editing, per hour$30 Hour
Fewer than 3 figures, so this job stays as a row here.
AIR · Basic tape sync, first hour incl. labour and basic kit (minimum total)$235 Hour
AIR · Additional hours$50–$100 Hour
Fewer than 3 figures, so this job stays as a row here.
NWU · Illustration fee$300 Piece or item
Fewer than 3 figures, so this job stays as a row here.

Rates documents 24

AIR 2025 Rate Guide for freelance audio producers (survey 2024) · AIR20 Feb 2025 · 2 AIR recommended rates for public radio features and news spots, Sep 2019 · AIR1 Sep 2019 · 4 ASJA Paycheck Database (members only) · ASJA · 0 Average NewsGuild reporter top minimum, 1 Jan 2026 · TNG-CWA1 Jan 2026 · 1 BLS occupational wages: news analysts, reporters and journalists (SOC 27-3023), May 2025 · BLS1 May 2025 · 4 CBS News WGA contract: increases to all pay minimums, Apr 2025 · WGAE4 Apr 2025 · 0 Day rates paid to freelance photojournalists by US national newspapers, 2024 survey · Survey · 2 Diversify Photo pay equity benchmarks for editorial photographers, 2026 · Diversify Photo · 1 EFA editorial rate chart, 2026 (median rate ranges) · EFA24 Mar 2026 · 7 Freelance Solidarity Project rate-sharing database · NWU · 0 IWW Freelance Journalists Union: rate sharing · IWW FJU · 0 LNP | LancasterOnline and WITF first contract: minimum salary, Nov 2025 · TNG-CWA · 1 Oregon Public Broadcasting first SAG-AFTRA contract: salary floor, Apr 2026 · SAG-AFTRA · 1 Record Guild first contract with Gannett (The Record, Daily Record, New Jersey Herald), 2025 · NewsGuild of New York23 Mar 2025 · 3 Tape Syncers United minimum rates for tape syncs, adopted by AIR in 2025 · AIR · 2 The Nation freelancer agreement (negotiated with the NWU), last updated May 2025 · NWU · 8 Who Pays Writers? crowdsourced freelance rates by outlet · Who Pays Writers · 0 Daily News (New York) first contract: salary minimums, tentative agreement of 3 Nov 2025 · NewsGuild of New York3 Nov 2025 · 3

Unions and bodies in United States of America

TNG-CWA · union3 documents NewsGuild of New York · union2 documents SAG-AFTRA · union2 documents NWU · union2 documents IWW FJU · union1 document WGAE · union1 document AIR · professional body3 documents EFA · professional body1 document BLS · statistics office1 document Who Pays Writers · platform1 document Contently · platform1 document ASJA · professional body1 document Diversify Photo · NGO or survey1 document

Nearby

Lowest staff minimum in each country's agreements, as US$ a day.

United States of America$192.30Mexico$37.83
Journalism jobs in United States of America Find journalists

About this data. These rates are compiled from publicly available sources and quoted as printed, with their date. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any figure. For information only: Journalist.net does not recommend or set rates. How we count

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