Editor's Note: This article is a reprint from the STC web site.

Where are salaries going up the most in specific states or metropolitan areas? How much should you expect to make if you apply for a job in another city? For the 2008 listing of the number of technical writer jobs and salaries by state and metropolitan area, read STC’s 2008 Salary Database. For each level of geographic and industry detail, the report provides the number of technical writers and annual and hourly wages by five salary levels, from the lowest (10th percentile), to the highest (90th percentile) and the change from 2007.

While 2008 proved to be a tough year for technical writers, the profession outperformed the labor market as a whole and the market for other writers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual Occupational Employment Statistics, U.S. businesses employed 47,460 technical writers in 2008, 720 more than in 2007, marking an increase of 1.5 percent from the previous year. By comparison, the employment of all other writers shrank slightly in 2008.

The profession is experiencing its first contraction in employment since 2006. It is unlikely, however, that the technical writing market will witness anything like the 9.5 percent contraction that decimated the profession in 2001. But that does not mean technical communicators should try to hunker down and ride out the recession. Technical communicators in industries that were severely hit by the recession should not wait for laid-off positions to return and should seek employment in other industries.

Many have already begun to make the shift as the Salary Database shows some substantial industry and geographic swings as hiring in some areas offset layoffs elsewhere. STC members can expect these shifts in employment to continue over the next year.

New This Year

STC has added several maps that plot changes in technical writer employment, hourly wages, and annual salaries for states and major metropolitan areas. These maps provide the reader with simple snapshots of the major shifts in technical writer jobs and pay levels across the United States and show clearly which markets best weathered the economic storm in 2008 and those that suffered declines.

The PDF of STC’s Salary Database is an exclusive member benefit and is available to members without charge. You must log in with your STC member user name and password to access the database. (If you don't know your user name and password, click Trouble logging in? on the login page and search by email address.)

STC can be reached at stc at stc dot org.