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The national median salary for Archivists is $64,542 per year ($31.03/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $50,690 and $83,034 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $110,552 per year. There are approximately 7,970 archivists employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Appraise, edit, and direct safekeeping of permanent records and historically valuable documents. Participate in research activities based on archival materials.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
+3.8%
About as fast as average
Annual openings
1K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
9K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
4% from new growth96% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
Master's degree
Experience
None
On-the-job training
None
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
NAICS 611300
1K
$64,260
Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions
NAICS 712100
1K
$52,450
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999300
860
$70,930
State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999200
830
$60,280
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999100
560
$109,970
Wage range across top 5 industries: $52,450 to $109,970 (110% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$19.22
$39,978
P25
$24.37
$50,690
P50MEDIAN
$31.03
$64,542
P75
$39.92
$83,034
P90
$53.15
$110,552
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · professional sector
Cooling
Openings Rate
4.2%
Quits Rate
2.0%
Professional & Business Services openings tumbled 318K in March -- the largest single-sector drop in this release. Openings rate fell from 5.5% to 4.2%. Layoffs jumped to 527K (+99K). White-collar demand has cooled abruptly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average archivists salary?
The national median salary for Archivists is $64,542 per year ($31.03/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $50,690 and $83,034 annually.
How much do top-earning archivists make?
The 90th percentile salary for Archivists is $110,552 per year ($53.15/hr). The 75th percentile is $83,034 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for archivists?
Entry-level Archivists (10th percentile) earn approximately $39,978 per year ($19.22/hr). The 25th percentile is $50,690 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
Built and maintained by Falcon Incentives, a compensation strategy and incentive design consultancy.