SALARY DATA — SOC 27-3043
Writers and Authors
27-0000 Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations
The 90/10 ratio for Writers and Authors is 3.16× — the top decile earns $139,870 against the bottom decile at $44,310. That spread is 3.16× wide. The band is wider than employers typically represent; knowing where you sit in it is the whole game.
BLS OEWS reference period: May 2025. Employment: 47,940.
Wage distribution — the receipts
National OEWS annual wage percentiles. "vs. median" column shows each percentile relative to the occupation's own national median — this is where your position in the band lives. Source and series IDs: methodology page.
| Percentile | Annual wage | vs. median | Hourly (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th pct — bottom decile | $44,310 | -42% | ~$21 |
| 25th pct — lower quartile | $58,230 | -24% | ~$28 |
| Median — 50th pct | $76,910 | — | $36.98/hr |
| Mean — average | $86,090 | +12% | $41.39/hr |
| 75th pct — upper quartile | $101,950 | +33% | ~$49 |
| 90th pct — top decile | $139,870 | +82% | ~$67 |
Source: BLS OEWS national estimates. Annual wage ÷ 2,080 hrs = hourly estimate. Hourly-median is direct from OEWS when available; others are estimates only.
About this page
This page reports national wage data for Writers and Authors (SOC 27-3043) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. OEWS is the federal government's primary source for occupational wage data — a nationally representative survey of employers conducted annually, covering approximately 1.1 million establishments. All figures reflect the most recent May reference period available via the BLS public API.
The headline number is the annual median wage — the wage at which half of all workers in this occupation earn more and half earn less. The median is the right benchmark for most workers because it is not inflated by the top earners the way the mean (average) is. The 90/10 ratio compares the top decile (p90) to the bottom decile (p10): a ratio of 3.0 means workers at the 90th percentile earn three times those at the 10th percentile.
Writers and Authors is classified under 27-0000 Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations, placing it alongside other occupations in that sector of the labor market. BLS estimates total national employment in this occupation at approximately 47,940 workers. The wage spread shown in the percentile table is the bargaining-surface map your employer operates from. Most employers know exactly where each of their workers sits in the band; most workers don't. That information asymmetry is what this page is designed to close.
The 90/10 ratio is used as an implicit "bargaining power metric" here, but it measures structural spread — not your individual leverage. High ratio occupations have wide bands and more room to negotiate; narrow-ratio occupations are often governed more by title and tenure than by individual negotiation. Methodology at /methodology#oews-salaries.
OEWS data does not include equity, bonuses, benefits, or total compensation — only base wages. The true compensation gap is wider than what these numbers show. These are the floor numbers, not the ceiling. Federal law in many states also prohibits employers from asking about your current salary during hiring; knowing the market rate is the countermeasure.
Methodology · About Office Blues · Meeting Tax Calculator · Daily Pulse
Raw JSON: /salaries/writers-and-authors-27-3043.json · License: CC BY 4.0 · Source: BLS OEWS · Cite as: Office Blues OEWS Salary Data, Writers and Authors, officeblues.net/salaries/writers-and-authors-27-3043
The Salary Negotiation Script at /products/salary-negotiation-script uses frameworks like these to build a case — this is the data layer.