The majority of business journalists in the United States reported receiving a pay rise over the past year, further cementing the premium they earn over the average journalist. A majority also stated that their publication is in hiring mode, demonstrating the resilience of business publications in a difficult media environment.
Business reporters, correspondents, and freelancers who responded to the Reynolds Center’s annual survey reported a median salary of $85,000. Comparatively, the median salary published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for news analysts, reporters, and journalists in May 2024 – the most recently published employment data at the time of publishing – was significantly less at $60,280. This is the fourth consecutive year the Reynolds Center survey has shown business journalists earn at least 30% more than the average journalist in the U.S.
Two-thirds of respondents (66.7%) stated they are currently working as a reporter or freelancer, and almost one-third of respondents (29.8%) were in positions as editors, supervisors, or senior management. The median salary for all respondents in the survey was $96,316, with editors and managers reporting a combined median salary of $128,333. The majority of reporters (65.7%) and editors/managers (77.6%) stated their salary had increased over the previous year. Only a handful of respondents (2.3%) stated their salary had decreased in the last year, with the rest of the respondents stating their salary had not changed.
“It’s encouraging to see not only that salaries for business journalists continue to be much higher than average, but also that there are jobs available for journalists who are interested in business,” said Dr. Jeffrey Timmermans, director of the Reynolds Center.
As in past years, the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) provided invaluable support in helping to recruit participation from their members. SABEW President Pia Sarkar said: “It’s heartening to see the numbers reinforce what we already know – that business journalists play a crucial role in informing the public about everything from personal finance to corporate accountability, and their work is valued. That is true now more than ever, as we see business journalism intersect with so many different facets of life.” Sarkar is the deputy global business editor at the Associated Press.
Similar to years prior, nearly 92% of respondents stated they work in print or digital media outlets, with a very sparse distribution of business journalists in other media such as television or radio. For journalists working in print/digital outlets, fewer respondents this year reported working for one of the American Business Journals, 16.9% vs. 23.2% in 2024, and considerably more reported working for a trade publication, 15.4% vs. 4.2% in 2024. The majority of the remaining respondents reported working for a global/national publication (32.6%) or a regional/local publication (27.1%), and only a handful reported working for a newsletter, magazine, or other category of print/digital publication.
This year, survey respondents were asked if their newsroom was currently hiring journalists. A little over half of all respondents (59.1%) stated their newsroom was currently hiring. According to the responses from the survey, global/national publications were most likely to be hiring journalists (72.7%), while the American Business Journals were least likely to have open positions (32.5%).
A total of 258 journalists from 33 states and territories (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) responded to the survey, with almost a third of respondents reporting from New York, California, or Texas. The average age of respondents was 40.4, with an average of 15.9 years of experience as a journalist and an average of 11.3 years as a business journalist specifically.
A vast opportunity for graduates
One of the main objectives of the annual salary survey is to help promote the appeal of a business journalism career to journalism students by demonstrating the wide range of topics students are able to cover, the vast opportunities available to them, and the salary premium they are likely to receive compared to their general-news peers.
In this year’s survey, respondents who were under 30 had a median salary of $69,643, which is considerably higher than the average entry-level reporter position posted on ZipRecruiter in April 2025 ($42,378). Additionally, 56.9% of respondents under 30 said their salary had increased in the last year.
Some of the beat topics respondents under 30 listed that they cover include sports, tourism, technology, higher education, aerospace, immigration, startups, and transportation, among many other beats. Young respondents reported that they work for all types of media outlets, from large global publications to small regional and trade publications. They also reported working for newsletters, magazines, radio stations, and TV outlets, showcasing the abundance of opportunities all around the country for aspiring business journalists.
Incoming diversity
In 2024, the Reynolds Center reported that the survey data it collected demonstrated an incoming cohort of business journalists who are more diverse than prior generations. This year’s survey continued that trend with 32.4% of journalists under 35 identifying as a race other than white compared to 19.7% of journalists 35 and over. Journalists under 35 were also more likely to identify as female compared to those 35 and over (65.7% vs. 44.9%, respectively).
Journalists who are looking to join a more diverse newsroom may look towards the publications that are also more likely to be currently hiring: global/national print and digital publications. Almost a third of respondents who reported working for these organizations (31.2%) self-identified as a race other than solely white, compared to 20.1% of respondents who work at another type of print or digital publication. Journalists who work at media outlets other than print or digital, such as radio, podcast, or a wire service, are also considerably more likely to be from diverse backgrounds (50%).
This year’s survey also had the least amount of respondents self-identifying their race/ethnicity as solely white (74%) – compared to 79.9% in 2024, 81.3% in 2023, and 80.8% in 2022. The next largest race categories selected by respondents this year were Asian (9.7%) and Latinx/Hispanic (6.2%). An additional 4.3% of respondents selected Black, and 2.7% selected multiracial.
Differences across regions
Business journalists work for a variety of media outlets and live all across the United States. The largest share of respondents (31.4%) currently live in the Northeast Census region, which includes states such as New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Nearly a quarter of respondents (23.3%) live in the South region in states such as Texas and Florida, and another quarter are split between the West region (14.7%) and the Midwest region (11.2%). The remaining 19.4% of respondents chose not to share where they currently reside.
Respondents who live in the Northeast region reported a median salary of $117,857 – a salary that is 22.3% higher than the median salary for all survey respondents ($96,316). This region has a combined annual average cost of living that is higher than the national average (115.8 vs. 103.6), which may account for the higher salary. However, the West region has a similarly high average cost of living (114.4), but respondents reported a median salary of $90,000, which is 6.6% lower than the median salary for all respondents.
When comparing the two groups of journalists, the main difference appears to be that journalists in the Northeast are more likely to work for global/national or trade publications than their peers in the West. In the Northeast, 38.3% of respondents work for a global/national publication and 18.5% work for a trade publication, compared to 21.1% and 10.5%, respectively. Additionally, in the West region, 21.1% of respondents reported working for one of the American Business Journals, while only 3.7% of journalists in the Northeast stated the same.
About the salary survey
The Reynolds Center reached out to business journalists throughout the country from small and large publications, including the American City Business Journals. The Center also collaborated with SABEW to invite their 2500+ members to participate between April 2 and April 23, 2025. Although this survey is by invitation only, business journalists are welcome to sign up to receive information about participating in future surveys.
This is the fourth consecutive year the Center has conducted this salary survey after reviving it in 2022. You can view past data results, compare between years, and read more about the survey process on The Reynolds Center website at businessjournalism.org/salary-survey.
The Reynolds Center for Business Journalism was established in 2003 in order to broaden the understanding of business journalism among journalism students, give journalists tools to improve their business coverage while promoting industry best practices, and help freelancers navigate working with a variety of publications. The Reynolds Center is housed inside the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
For more information about the Reynolds Center’s salary survey, contact: reynoldscenter@gmail.com.
