Through the power of the written word, copywriters help brands to express themselves, and if this process is done correctly, sales start flooding in. With such a vital role to play in the digital age, it can leave you wondering: how many copywriters are there? Well, let’s break it down.
What we know
In the U.S., there are approximately 131,200 employed copywriters; this is forecasted to grow by 7.6% between 2016 and 2026. Roughly 4,536+ in the United States are freelance copywriters.
The United Kingdom has around 5,000 copywriters in London, with an estimated third being freelancers. However, the data outside of London is a little thin.
Filling in the gaps
Unfortunately, data is a little sparse outside the UK & USA, but it’s estimated there are 1.2 billion freelancers around the world. And we know that 17% of freelancers in the United Kingdom and the United States specialize in writing, journalism, and content services.
If we apply this trend to the rest of the world, we can say there are roughly 204,000,000 million. And a small fraction of these are copywriters. With that being said, you’re less likely to see individuals in this profession who live in developing nations. I’m not sure about you, but I haven’t heard of a North Korean copywriter!
Average copywriter salary
According to Reed, the average UK copywriting salary is £34,996, which isn’t bad considering the average salary in the country is £31,447.
Jumping across the pond to the US, the standard salary for a copywriter is $55,438, with a low of $37,265 and a high of $82,472. The median income in the US is $69,717, so it looks like the middle-of-the-bunch copywriter makes less than the average.
Average Age
The approximate age of a copywriter in the US is 41 years old. This is quite surprising as you’d think it would be lower, considering that a significant amount of copywriters are used for digital marketing (which tends to attract younger generations).
Other considerations
It’s not uncommon for copywriters to have a wide range of duties outside of just creating copy. Therefore, their job title may be something completely different. For instance, website content copywriters can also be website designers. A content manager may also be in charge of producing some of the copy for their business as well.
When this happens, you’re likely to see salaries that differ a massive amount, even though they all include copywriting duties.
To wrap things up
The world of copywriting is a mystery, well, in terms of how many copywriters there are. But what isn’t so murky is the impact good copy has on generating leads. That’s why we ensure all of our SEO campaigns for UK businesses include spectacular copy.
That’s why it’s likely that copywriters are likely to stay a core pillar in marketing teams for many years to come. And this is still true even with the rise of AI writing tools because, at the end of the day, only humans can understand emotions and empathy.