How Much Do News Directors Make?
Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary news directors make, you've come to the right place.
Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for news directors and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of news directors are offering as compensation.
Keep reading to learn more about how much news directors can expect to make in the United States.
At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for News Directors
According to data from 2023, there were about 44,793 positions for news directors in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for news directors was reported to be $57,491. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 10,405 job postings related to positions for news directors.
How Much Money Do News Directors Make?
Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money news directors and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.
Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for news directors.
Annual Salary for News Directors
According to the BLS, the lowest earners for news directors and related professions earned about $31,554 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $160,368 annually.
As mentioned previously, the median salary for news directors in the United States in 2023 was $57,491.
Annual Salary Range For News Directors In 2023
Hourly Salary for News Directors
The BLS also breaks down compensation for news directors by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for news directors in 2023 was $28. Lowest hourly earners took home $15 while the highest reported hourly salaries for news directors was $77.
Hourly Salary Range For News Directors In 2023
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Advertised Compensation for News Directors
Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for news directors, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for news directors.
Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™
Annual Salary from Job Postings for News Directors
Advertised Annual Salary
During a review of 13,905 job postings related to news directors, advertised salary was included in 3,629 of them, which was 26%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for news directors was $60,800 per year.
Hourly Salary from Job Postings for News Directors
Advertised Hourly Salary
A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for news directors. Based on 35% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for news directors in the United States is about $29.
Salary Trend for News Directors
If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for news directors. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.
Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for news directors dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for news directors have increased 62%.
Advertised Wage Trend For News Directors
What's the Job Growth for News Directors?
Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for news directors over the next 10 years.
According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 44,786 jobs for news directors in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 1,163 jobs will be removed. That's a 2.6% decrease over the next 10-year period.
Employment Projections For News Directors
Additional Links
Ready to dig deeper into career information about news directors? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for news directors.
What do news directors do?
News Directors: How do you become one?
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