Film and Movie Editors

Median Salary: $50,800

Many film and movie editors across the country share a number of key professional traits. For example, independence, adaptability/flexibility, and persistence can be critical for success in the industry, especially when mixed with career training. Around 17,550 individuals were employed as film and movie editors nationwide in 2009. With that much workplace competition, it's crucial to develop these characteristics and receive proper training, particularly if you're looking to progress in the field.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual income for film and movie editors in the U.S. was $50,800 in 2009, which works out to a median hourly wage of $24.40. Of course, income can vary with training and by location. Below, you'll find more data about film and movie editors, including wages and job density for areas all over the country.

Film and movie editors should be skilled in:

Originality
Deductive Reasoning
Speech Recognition
Finger Dexterity
Hearing Sensitivity

Different individuals go into different careers; film and movie editors are typically:

Artistic
Investigative
Enterprising

Working as a film or movie editor requires knowledge in subjects like:

Computers and Electronics
English Language
Design
Fine Arts
Education and Training

Related Occupations

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Below, you'll see links to more information on the top cities for this occupation (based on the number of individuals employed as film and movie editors). Note: "Job density" refers to the proportion of film and movie editors in each city as compared to the national average.

Alabama
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Birmingham	60	$35,400	$17.00	$49,000	$23.60	-11.9%

Arizona
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Phoenix	130	$37,900	$18.20	$58,100	$27.90	-47%

California
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Los Angeles (Area)	4,920	$58,400	$28.10	$86,800	$41.70	387.3%
Oakland	NA	$74,200	$35.70	$92,400	$44.40	NA
Oxnard	40	NA	NA	NA	NA	-7.5%
Riverside	80	$40,200	$19.30	$62,000	$29.80	-53%
Sacramento	60	$51,300	$24.70	$115,500	$55.50	-51.5%
San Diego	230	$34,800	$16.70	$50,000	$24.10	31.3%
San Francisco (Area)	NA	$66,600	$32.00	$86,000	$41.30	NA
San Francisco (City)	500	$59,100	$28.40	$79,600	$38.30	280.6%
San Jose	80	$25,300	$12.20	$36,400	$17.50	-32.8%
Santa Rosa	50	$44,400	$21.40	$77,600	$37.30	126.9%

Colorado
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Boulder	110	$59,000	$28.40	$76,000	$36.60	441.8%
Denver	160	$55,300	$26.60	$69,800	$33.60	-0.7%

Connecticut
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Bridgeport	NA	$31,100	$14.90	$33,300	$16.00	NA
Hartford	80	$41,500	$20.00	$52,400	$25.20	11.2%

District of Columbia
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Washington (Area)	350	$56,500	$27.20	$74,300	$35.70	-21.6%

Florida
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Jacksonville	40	$31,400	$15.10	$39,500	$19.00	-45.5%
Miami (Area)	460	$47,000	$22.60	$62,300	$30.00	38.1%
Orlando	260	$25,600	$12.30	$41,300	$19.80	100%
Tallahassee	30	$25,500	$12.30	$34,800	$16.70	49.3%
Tampa	90	$54,900	$26.40	$70,400	$33.90	-38.1%

Georgia
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Atlanta	220	$49,000	$23.50	$59,500	$28.60	-29.9%

Hawaii
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Honolulu	80	$41,100	$19.80	$51,700	$24.90	42.5%

Illinois
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Chicago (Area)	560	$54,400	$26.20	$79,800	$38.40	14.9%

Iowa
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Des Moines	60	$49,200	$23.70	$58,100	$27.90	41%

Maine
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Portland	NA	$47,000	$22.60	$51,000	$24.50	NA

Maryland
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Baltimore	NA	$43,800	$21.10	$62,700	$30.10	NA

Massachusetts
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Boston (Area)	220	$71,700	$34.50	$110,300	$53.00	-3%

Michigan
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Detroit (Area)	270	$55,200	$26.60	$77,300	$37.20	4.5%

Minnesota
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Minneapolis	250	$33,900	$16.30	$64,800	$31.20	6%

Missouri
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Kansas City	140	$30,200	$14.50	$52,100	$25.00	4.5%
St. Louis	150	$50,400	$24.30	$71,500	$34.40	-13.4%

Nebraska
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Omaha	50	$28,200	$13.50	$35,400	$17.00	-14.2%

Nevada
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Las Vegas	80	$42,700	$20.50	$54,200	$26.10	-31.3%

New Mexico
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Albuquerque	30	$36,400	$17.50	$45,600	$21.90	-35.8%

New York
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Albany	30	$35,600	$17.10	$38,900	$18.70	-41.8%
New York (Area)	2,390	$60,300	$29.00	$89,900	$43.20	93.3%

North Carolina
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Charlotte	140	$36,700	$17.60	$50,200	$24.10	27.6%
Durham	40	$40,500	$19.50	$48,300	$23.20	14.9%
Raleigh	60	$30,000	$14.40	$41,900	$20.20	-14.9%

Ohio
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Cincinnati	60	$39,300	$18.90	$52,800	$25.40	-53%
Cleveland	50	$42,100	$20.20	$59,000	$28.40	-64.2%
Columbus	110	$40,000	$19.20	$51,500	$24.80	-13.4%

Oklahoma
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Oklahoma City	60	$23,800	$11.40	$26,100	$12.60	-23.9%
Tulsa	NA	$27,300	$13.10	$30,700	$14.80	NA

Oregon
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Portland	140	$56,500	$27.10	$69,800	$33.50	2.2%

Pennsylvania
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Philadelphia (Area)	190	$38,700	$18.60	$53,900	$25.90	-38.8%
Pittsburgh	50	$34,000	$16.40	$54,800	$26.30	-64.2%
Scranton	30	$31,800	$15.30	$38,000	$18.30	-10.4%

South Carolina
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Charleston	40	$31,700	$15.20	$36,100	$17.40	0.7%
Greenville	50	$30,800	$14.80	$34,400	$16.60	20.9%

Tennessee
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Knoxville	NA	$44,400	$21.30	$72,000	$34.60	NA
Nashville	70	$47,200	$22.70	$72,300	$34.70	-32.8%

Texas
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Austin	90	$41,300	$19.90	$53,900	$25.90	-8.2%
Dallas (Area)	180	$41,800	$20.10	$166,400+	$80.00+	-33.6%
Houston	130	$36,800	$17.70	$50,500	$24.30	-62.7%
San Antonio	NA	$40,100	$19.30	$46,800	$22.50	NA

Utah
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Provo	NA	$43,800	$21.10	$47,300	$22.70	NA
Salt Lake City	70	$40,600	$19.50	$56,100	$27.00	-14.9%

Virginia
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Richmond	30	$31,800	$15.30	$41,000	$19.70	-56.7%
Virginia Beach	NA	$35,700	$17.10	$51,900	$24.90	NA

Washington
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Seattle (Area)	190	$54,000	$26.00	$86,100	$41.40	0%
Spokane	70	$25,800	$12.40	$29,900	$14.40	143.3%

Wisconsin
City/Area	Employees	Median Annual Salary	Median Hourly Wage	Top 25% Annual Salary	Top 25% Hourly Wage	Job Density
Madison	30	$27,600	$13.30	$34,300	$16.50	-21.6%
Milwaukee	50	$46,400	$22.30	$57,900	$27.80	-58.2%