BLS OEWS, May 2025

Technical writer salary in Buffalo, NY

What technical writers are paid in Buffalo, NY, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.

Median annual pay

$78,300

Middle half earn

$65,840 to $100,080

People in this job here

80

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Technical Writers, Buffalo, NY, annual pay, May 2025

10th percentile
$56,990
25th percentile
$65,840
Median
$78,300
75th percentile
$100,080
90th percentile
$136,150

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 27-3042. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.

At a glance

How Buffalo, NY compares

  • The median here is 13% below the national median of $90,390.
  • Buffalo, NY ranks 44th for median pay among the 49 largest US metros with published figures for this occupation.
  • About 80 people work in this occupation here, roughly 1 in every 6,682 jobs in the metro.
  • Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 2.4 times the 10th.

Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.

Buffalo, NY against the national figures
PercentileBuffalo, NYNational
10th percentile$56,990$57,440
25th percentile$65,840$70,880
Median$78,300$90,390
75th percentile$100,080$115,510
90th percentile$136,150$145,270

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 27-3042. National page for technical writers

Skills

What employers look for in a technical writer

The skills our technical writer resume example leads with, written for US employers.

  • API documentation
  • Developer guides
  • Docs as code
  • Markdown
  • Git
  • OpenAPI and Swagger
  • Information architecture
  • Style guides
  • Editing and review
  • Screenshots and diagrams

See the full technical writer resume example, with bullets and keywords.

Negotiating

Using these numbers

Below $65,840 puts you in the bottom quarter for technical writers in Buffalo, NY. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.

The median, $78,300, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.

Asking for $100,080 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.

Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.

About the numbers

What these figures are

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in Technical Writers, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.

They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living. The metro is Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY as BLS defines it.

Questions

Questions about technical writer pay in Buffalo, NY

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