Build a Career You'll Love

Ghostwriter Salary in the United States

How much does a Ghostwriter make in the United States? The salary range for a Ghostwriter job is from $51,525 to $58,615 per year in the United States. Click on the filter to check out Ghostwriter job salaries by hourly, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, and yearly.

Average base salary
updated at January 01, 2025
$55,204
Per Year
The average salary for a Ghostwriter is $55,204
per Year in the United States.
Individually reported data submitted by users of our website

HOW SHOULD YOU USE THIS DATA?

Employees: Use this as a guide for salary expectations, but be aware that responsibilities can change across companies for the same job title, so there may be differences between this data, other free site and our subscription products bought by employers.

Employers: This data could be used as reference point in your market pricing, but not the only source, due to differences across jobs locations, and sizes of companies.Consider additional sources like our Employer reported data.

Base Salary
$51,525
$55,204
Medium
$58,615

Highest Paying Cities for Ghostwriter in the United States

Ghostwriter salaries in the United States will pay differently by cities. Below following are the eight cities with the highest income for Ghostwriter jobs in the United States. The city with the highest salary is San Jose. Click on the Ghostwriter salary in cities you are interested in to view detailed job salary information.

States with Higher Salaries for Ghostwriter

The five states where Ghostwriter jobs get higher salaries in the United States are: District of Columbia, California, New Jersey, Alaska, and Massachusetts. Compared with the average salary of a Ghostwriter in the United States, the state of District of Columbia with the highest job income for this job. The second and third states are California and New Jersey respectively. The high or low salary paid to Ghostwriter by the US has a greater relationship with the demand for jobs and the cost of living.

How Much Do Similar Professions Get Paid in the United States?

There are some different titles for Ghostwriter jobs, and the job title of Ghostwriter will vary in different companies. The job title has a lot to do with the department and responsibilities, and the same job title will vary in different departments. The following list is the salary of jobs similar to Ghostwriter, start to view Ghostwriter-related jobs you are interested in.
Freelance Ghostwriter
Average salary
United States
$73,878
per Year

How Much Should You Be Earning?

Get an estimated calculation of how much you should be earning and insight into your career options.

What Does a Ghostwriter Do?

In addition, ghostwriters are often given copies of several of the previous books in the series to help them match the style.

December 21, 2021

If you have an important story to tell, but don’t possess the writing skills (or the time) to put it down on paper, you can hire a ghostwriter to write that book for you.

December 20, 2021

Ghostwriters will often spend from several months to a full year researching, writing, and editing non-fiction and fiction works for a client, and they are paid based on a price per hour, per word or per page, with a flat fee, a percentage of the royalties of the sales, or some combination thereof.

December 19, 2021

Ghostwriters are rarely the official “author” of the book, though they are sometimes mentioned as a “co-author” in a book’s Acknowledgments.

December 17, 2021

In other cases, publishers use ghostwriters to increase the number of books that can be published each year under the name of well-known, highly marketable authors, or to quickly release a topical book that ties in with a recent or upcoming newsworthy event.

December 17, 2021

Most Common Benefits for Ghostwriter

Social Security
Healthcare
401(k)
Pension
Disability
Time Off (days)

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about salaries for a Ghostwriter
Get a personal salary report to know your salary based on location, education, experience, and other influence factors.
Is this information useful?
Thank you!
In addition, ghostwriters are often given copies of several of the previous books in the series to help them match the style.
Is this information useful?
Thank you!
Check the below career pages for detailed pay ranges for similar professions to Ghostwriter:
Is this information useful?
Thank you!
Explore our personal salary report to know the Ghostwriter market value in the United States. And find out if any places are having a higher Ghostwriter salary.
Is this information useful?
Thank you!
The highest Ghostwriter salary is $58,615, while the lowest is $51,525 in the United States.
Is this information useful?
Thank you!

Career Insights

What is Pay-for-Performance Compensation?
pay and salary
What is Pay-for-Performance Compensation?
What Is a Salary Grading Scale?
pay and salary
What Is a Salary Grading Scale?
The Gender Pay Gap in America in 2022
pay and salary
Understanding the Gender Pay Gap in America