JobAfterNext

Technical Writers

Write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions. May assist in layout work.

Wages

Median annual wage, U.S.$90,390
Employment, U.S.45,500
Median hourly wage$43.46
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$57,440$70,880$90,390$115,510$145,270
By state (51)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama630$85,8401.01
Alaska130$83,2001.35
Arizona730$79,7800.77
Arkansas150$61,1800.39
California5,280$104,0000.99
Colorado1,320$100,6101.57
Connecticut770$101,8701.54
Delaware80$90,3700.54
District of Columbia440$117,8102.15
Florida2,550$86,2400.88
Georgia1,680$73,0701.17
Hawaii30Not available0.17
Idaho430Not available1.73
Illinois1,040$88,7000.58
Indiana540$75,5100.58
Iowa640$66,5201.40
Kansas480$73,5501.13
Kentucky340$81,0700.59
Louisiana320$63,7900.57
Maine310Not available1.65
Maryland1,780$100,9902.20
Massachusetts1,850$109,2001.74
Michigan970$85,2700.75
Minnesota910$83,2701.05
Mississippi70$65,2200.21
Missouri500$80,8400.58
Montana160$75,0701.07
Nebraska190Not available0.64
Nevada230$88,7500.51
New Hampshire230$96,3001.16
New Jersey1,550$122,3201.24
New Mexico420$94,9701.66
New York1,610$98,3100.57
North Carolina2,860$86,3201.98
North Dakota70$72,9900.59
Ohio1,350$76,4800.83
Oklahoma600$69,7601.21
Oregon590$84,0001.02
Pennsylvania1,330$87,6200.75
Rhode Island150$102,3601.04
South Carolina700$82,5401.04
South Dakota70$63,3500.49
Tennessee480$79,5500.50
Texas3,340$82,7500.81
Utah570$80,2701.12
Vermont60$87,8600.72
Virginia2,280$93,6001.90
Washington1,620$104,0701.56
West Virginia130Not available0.63
Wisconsin910$80,0301.05
Wyoming30Not available0.37

Similar occupations

Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.

#OccupationJob ZoneSimilarity
1Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive1-20.925
2Document Management Specialists40.924
3Editors40.924
4Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers1-20.919
5Procurement Clerks1-20.919
6Information Security Analysts40.919
7Proofreaders and Copy Markers40.919
8Digital Forensics Analysts40.919
9News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists40.917
10Correspondence Clerks1-20.917

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Technical Writers, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.

OccupationSkill to buildLevel gapSimilarity
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and ExecutiveService Orientation1.240.925
News Analysts, Reporters, and JournalistsSocial Perceptiveness1.130.917
Correspondence ClerksService Orientation1.120.917
Intelligence AnalystsSystems Evaluation1.750.915
Legal Secretaries and Administrative AssistantsService Orientation1.120.908
Paralegals and Legal AssistantsService Orientation1.120.908
Medical Records SpecialistsService Orientation1.120.908
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative AssistantsService Orientation1.870.903
Office Clerks, GeneralService Orientation1.000.901
Compliance OfficersService Orientation1.240.895

All 11

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Technical Writers, excluding software Technical Writers already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.

SoftwareSimilar jobs using itLift
LexisNexis10 of 208.1x
Google Workspace software6 of 2010.7x
Web content management system CMS software4 of 2030.8x
Firewall software5 of 2011.5x
QuarkXPress5 of 2011.0x
WordPress5 of 2011.0x
Adobe Premiere Pro4 of 2012.3x
Avid Technology Media Composer3 of 2023.1x
Adobe After Effects5 of 205.6x
Apache Tomcat4 of 208.0x

Skills

From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
WritingEssential skill 4.88 5.00
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 4.12 4.88
Active ListeningEssential skill 3.75 3.88
SpeakingEssential skill 3.75 3.75
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 3.62 3.88
Active LearningEssential skill 3.25 3.62
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.12 3.00
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.12 3.00
CoordinationTransferable skill 3.00 3.00
MonitoringEssential skill 3.00 3.00
PersuasionTransferable skill 2.88 2.88
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 2.75 3.00
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 2.75 2.75
NegotiationTransferable skill 2.62 2.38
InstructingTransferable skill 2.50 2.75
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 2.50 2.50
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 2.50 2.25
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 2.38 2.12
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 2.25 1.88
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 2.12 2.12
Service OrientationTransferable skill 2.12 1.88
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 1.88 1.25
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 1.62 0.62
MathematicsEssential skill 1.62 0.62
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 1.50 0.50
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 1.38 0.38
ProgrammingTransferable skill 1.38 0.38
Technology DesignTransferable skill 1.38 0.38
ScienceEssential skill 1.25not rated
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 1.12not rated
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.00not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 1.00not rated
RepairingTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
English Language 4.81 5.39
Computers and Electronics 4.29 4.86
Administrative 3.76 5.15
Communications and Media 3.25 4.17
Administration and Management 3.24 3.82
Public Safety and Security 3.17 3.56
Education and Training 3.16 4.13
Production and Processing 3.13 3.05
Customer and Personal Service 2.98 2.58
Mathematics 2.93 3.36
Engineering and Technology 2.88 3.22
Mechanical 2.84 2.88
Telecommunications 2.42 2.47
Design 2.41 2.67
Transportation 2.32 1.24
Law and Government 2.29 1.90
Sales and Marketing 2.02 1.39
Medicine and Dentistry 2.02 0.98
Chemistry 1.80 1.36
Psychology 1.77 1.63
Economics and Accounting 1.74 1.00
Physics 1.67 1.42
Personnel and Human Resources 1.60 1.17
Building and Construction 1.42not rated
Biology 1.31not rated
Sociology and Anthropology 1.27not rated
Geography 1.21not rated
Foreign Language 1.17not rated
Fine Arts 1.12not rated
History and Archeology 1.10not rated
Therapy and Counseling 1.09not rated
Philosophy and Theology 1.02not rated
Food Production 1.00not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Written Expression 4.25 5.12
Written Comprehension 4.12 4.50
Near Vision 4.00 4.12
Oral Comprehension 3.88 4.25
Oral Expression 3.75 4.12
Deductive Reasoning 3.75 4.00
Information Ordering 3.62 4.00
Inductive Reasoning 3.38 3.12
Problem Sensitivity 3.38 3.12
Speech Clarity 3.38 3.00
Speech Recognition 3.12 3.00
Fluency of Ideas 3.00 3.25
Visualization 3.00 3.25
Category Flexibility 3.00 3.12
Originality 2.88 3.00
Selective Attention 2.50 2.38
Finger Dexterity 2.38 1.88
Flexibility of Closure 2.25 2.38
Visual Color Discrimination 2.25 2.00
Perceptual Speed 2.12 1.88
Speed of Closure 2.12 1.38
Far Vision 2.00 1.88
Arm-Hand Steadiness 2.00 1.38
Memorization 2.00 1.38
Manual Dexterity 2.00 1.00
Auditory Attention 1.88 1.75
Time Sharing 1.88 1.62
Number Facility 1.88 1.00
Mathematical Reasoning 1.88 0.88
Hearing Sensitivity 1.75 0.88
Control Precision 1.38 0.62
Depth Perception 1.38 0.38
Wrist-Finger Speed 1.38 0.38
Spatial Orientation 1.25not rated
Trunk Strength 1.12not rated
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Dynamic Strength 1.00not rated
Explosive Strength 1.00not rated
Extent Flexibility 1.00not rated
Glare Sensitivity 1.00not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.00not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 1.00not rated
Multilimb Coordination 1.00not rated
Night Vision 1.00not rated
Peripheral Vision 1.00not rated
Rate Control 1.00not rated
Reaction Time 1.00not rated
Response Orientation 1.00not rated
Sound Localization 1.00not rated
Speed of Limb Movement 1.00not rated
Stamina 1.00not rated
Static Strength 1.00not rated

Software used

Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.

All 71
  • PHP hot
  • SAS hot
  • Structured query language SQL hot
  • Adobe Captivate
  • Adobe Dreamweaver
  • Adobe FrameMaker
  • Adobe RoboHelp
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Author-it
  • Blink
  • Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite
  • Corel Paint Shop Pro
  • Corel Ventura
  • Darwin information typing architecture DITA
  • Dassault Systemes CATIA
  • Drupal
  • Dynamic hypertext markup language DHTML
  • Extensible hypertext markup language XHTML
  • FileMaker Pro
  • Google Sites
  • IBM Cognos Business Intelligence
  • IBM Notes
  • IBM Rational ClearCase
  • IBM Rational ClearQuest
  • JustSystems XMetaL
  • MadCap Software MadCap Flare
  • Microsoft Publisher
  • Objective C
  • Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer
  • Oracle E-Business Suite Financials
  • Oracle JavaServer Pages JSP
  • PTC Arbortext
  • PTC Creo Parametric
  • ParentSquare
  • Perforce Helix software
  • Quadralay WebWorks ePublisher
  • SAP Business Objects
  • SAP Crystal Reports
  • Standardized general markup language SGML
  • Talisma Knowledgebase
  • Web browser software

Where it concentrates

Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.

Metro areaEmploymentLocation quotientMedian annual
Huntsville, AL3404.41$96,470
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC3903.90$94,520
Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT1303.64$100,650
Raleigh-Cary, NC6302.89$93,580
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA9202.78$140,700
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL1902.70$80,640
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV2,3702.58$99,910
Boulder, CO1402.52$105,840
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC1602.40$103,730
Colorado Springs, CO2102.26$96,100

More metros, other thresholds