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Editorial Services in the US - Market Research Report (2014-2029)

IBISWorld IBISWorld New York, United States Last Updated: January 2024 NAICS OD6290 Spotlight Report

Revenue

$2.6bn

2024

$2.6bn

Past 5-Year Growth

Profit

$XXX.Xm

Employees

94,516

Businesses

71,608

Wages

$X.Xbn

Editorial Services in the US industry analysis

Editors in the United States have traditionally provided essential services, but the rise of the internet has caused their importance to diminish. Online tools such as Google Docs, Ginger, Grammarly and Microsoft Word Spellcheck have encouraged businesses, individuals and other customers to forego using traditional editing services, hindering revenue. Poor economic conditions during COVID-19 discouraged the in-house production of editorial services, reducing external competition. Alternatively, sluggish growth inhibited demand for printing. These factors caused revenue to creep upward in 2020. As restrictions were relaxed during the pandemic recovery, consumer spending surged, causing corporate profit to rise. Companies used these increased funds to hire their own editors, causing revenue to plunge in 2021 and 2022.

Trends and Insights

  • Soaring corporate profit during the pandemic recovery has contributed to falling revenue during the current period. Slow economic growth during COVID-19 caused the industry to expand slightly in 2020.
  • Document editing is the industry's primary service and includes content revision, structural revisions and formatting and styling changes. Investment in document editing has plunged recently because of the increased prevalence of online tools.
  • The importance of localization for editors keeps market share concentration low. Small editing companies that have a high reputation in their community retain customers, making it difficult for large players to take over the industry.

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  • Reliable market estimates from 2014-2029
  • Competitive analysis, industry segmentation, financial benchmarks
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  • Market estimates from 2014-2029
  • Critical performance data and rankings
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Industry Statistics and Trends

Market size and recent performance (2014-2029)

Industry revenue has declined at a CAGR of 3.8 % over the past five years, to reach an estimated $2.6bn in 2024.

Trends and Insights

Greater internet usage has inhibited demand for traditional editing services

  • Before the advent of the Internet, businesses, households, government agencies and other organizations didn't have access to tools that helped them with spelling, grammar, sentence structure, flow and other elements of writing, so they turned to editors to ensure their documents were written correctly and structurally sound.
  • Additional trends and insights available with purchase
Editorial Services in the US
Revenue (2014-2029)
IBISWorld Logo Source: IBISWorld

Industry outlook (2024-2029)

Market size is projected to decline over the next five years.

Trends and Insights

Steady economic growth will reduce revenue from businesses

  • Despite current concerns related to high inflation, rising interest rates and recessionary fears, GDP is expected to rise steadily during the outlook period.

Biggest companies in the Editorial Services in the US

There are no companies that hold a large enough market share in the Editorial Services in the US industry for IBISWorld to include in this product.

Products & Services Segmentation

Editorial Services in the US
Products & Services
IBISWorld Logo Source: IBISWorld

Industry revenue is measured across several distinct product and services lines, including Proofreading, Document editing and Other. Proofreading is the largest segment of the Editorial Services in the US.

Trends and Insights

Document editing is the industry's primary service

  • Document editing is the comprehensive examination and review of journal articles, books and other materials that are subject to edit. Forms of editing include content revision, structural modifications, changes in formatting and styling, inserting or removing elements and other services.
  • More insights available in the full report

Table of Contents

About this industry

Industry definition

Companies in this industry offer many types of editorial services to ensure their customers' documents sound functionally and grammatically correct. These include proofreading, document editing and fact-checking services. Editing companies sell their services to hospitals, households, government agencies and other businesses.

What's included in this industry?

ProofreadingDocument editingLine editingFact checkingDevelopmental editing

Companies

Purchase this report to view all major companies in this industry.

Related Terms

OUTSOURCINGSPELL CHECKWORD PROCESSOR

Industry Code

NAICS 2017

NAICS 561410 - Editorial Services in the US

Performance

Get an indication of the industry's health through historical, current and forward-looking trends in the performance indicators that make or break businesses.

Analyst insights

Soaring corporate profit during the pandemic recovery has contributed to falling revenue during the current period. Slow economic growth during COVID-19 caused the industry t...

In this chapter (4)

  • Current Performance
  • Outlook
  • Volatility
  • Life Cycle

Key metrics

  • Annual Revenue, Recent Growth, Forecast, Revenue Volatility
  • Number of Employees, Recent Growth, Forecast, Employees per Business, Revenue per Employee
  • Number of Businesses, Recent Growth, Forecast, Employees per Business, Revenue per Business
  • Total Profit, Profit Margin, Profit per Business

Charts

  • Revenue, including historical (2014-2023) and forecast (2024-2029)
  • Employees, including historical (2014-2023) and forecast (2024-2029)
  • Businesses, including historical (2014-2023) and forecast (2024-2029)
  • Profit, including historical (2014-2024)
  • Industry Volatility vs. Revenue Growth
  • Industry Life Cycle

Detailed analysis

  • Trends in supply, demand and current events that are driving current industry performance
  • Expected trends, economic factors and ongoing events that drive the industry's outlook
  • Factors that influence volatility in the industry
  • Key success factors for businesses to overcome volatility

Products and Markets

Learn about an industry's products and services, markets and trends in international trade.

Analyst insight

Document editing is the industry's primary service and includes content revision, structural revisions and formatting and styling changes. Investment in document editing has ...

In this chapter

  • Products & Services
  • Major Markets

Key metrics

  • Largest market segment and value in 2024
  • Product innovation level

Charts

  • Products & services segmentation in 2024
  • Major market segmentation in 2024

Detailed analysis

  • Trends impacting the recent performance of the industry's various segments
  • Innovations in the industry's product or service offering, specialization or delivery method
  • Key factors that successful businesses consider in their offerings
  • Buying segments and key trends influencing demand for industry products and services

Geographic Breakdown

Discover where business activity is most concentrated in an industry and the factors driving these trends to find opportunities and conduct regional benchmarking.

Analyst insights

Purchase this report to unlock analyst insights.

In this chapter (1)

  • Business Locations

Charts

  • Share of revenue, establishment, wages and employment in each state
  • Share of population compared to establishments in each region in 2024

Tables

  • Number and share of establishments in each state in 2024
  • Number and share of revenue each state accounts for in 2024
  • Number and share of wages each state accounts for in 2024
  • Number and share of employees in each state in 2024

Detailed analysis

  • Key success factors for businesses to use location to their advantage

Competitive Forces

Get data and insights on what's driving competition in an industry and the challenges industry operators and new entrants may face, with analysis built around Porter's Five Forces framework.

Analyst insights

The importance of localization for editors keeps market share concentration low. Small editing companies that have a high reputation in their community retain customers, maki...

In this chapter (4)

  • Concentration
  • Barriers to Entry
  • Substitutes
  • Buyer & Supplier Analysis

Key metrics

  • Industry concentration level
  • Industry competition level and trend
  • Barriers to entry level and trend
  • Substitutes level and trend
  • Buyer power level and trend
  • Supplier power level and trend

Charts

  • Market share concentration among the top 4 suppliers from 2019-2024
  • Supply chain including upstream supplying industries and downstream buying industries, flow chart

External Environment

Understand the demographic, economic and regulatory factors that shape how businesses in an industry perform.   

Analyst insights

Editing documents creates very few negative externalities, so regulation for this industry is low. The few existing regulations relate to occupational health and safety, inte...

In this chapter

  • External Drivers
  • Regulation & Policy
  • Assistance

Key metrics

  • Regulation & policy level and trend
  • Assistance level and trend

Detailed analysis

  • Demographic and macroeconomic factors influencing the industry, including Regulation & Policy and Assistance

Financial Benchmarks

View average costs for industry operators and compare financial data against an industry's financial benchmarks over time. 

Analyst insights

Profit for editing companies rises and falls with revenue. The industry's performance has been severely constrained by competition with substitutes, so profitability has plun...

In this chapter

  • Cost Structure
  • Financial Ratios
  • Key Ratios

Key metrics

  • Profit margin, and how it compares to the sector-wide margin
  • Average wages, and how it compares to the sector-wide average wage
  • Largest cost component as a percentage of revenue
  • Industry average ratios for days' receivables, industry coverage and debt-to-net-worth ratio

Charts

  • Average industry operating costs as a share of revenue, including purchases, wages, depreciation, utilities, rent, other costs and profit in 2024
  • Average sector operating costs as a share of revenue, including purchases, wages, depreciation, utilities, rent, other costs and profit in 2024
  • Investment vs. share of economy

Data tables

  • Industry Multiples (2017-2022)
  • Industry Tax Structure (2017-2022)
  • Income Statement (2017-2022)
  • Balance Sheet (2017-2022)
  • Liquidity Ratios (2017-2022)
  • Coverage Ratios (2017-2022)
  • Leverage Ratios  (2017-2022)
  • Operating Ratios (2017-2022)
  • Cash Flow & Debt Service Ratios (2014-2029)
  • Revenue per Employee (2014-2029)
  • Revenue per Enterprise (2014-2029)
  • Employees per Establishment (2014-2029)
  • Employees per Enterprise (2014-2029)
  • Average Wage (2014-2029)
  • Wages/Revenue (2014-2029)
  • Establishments per Enterprise (2014-2029)
  • IVA/Revenue (2014-2029)
  • Imports/Demand (2014-2029)
  • Exports/Revenue (2014-2029)

Detailed analysis

  • Trends in the cost component for industry operators and their impact on industry costs and profitability 

Key Statistics

Industry Data

Data Tables

Including values and annual change:

  • Revenue (2014-2029)
  • IVA (2014-2029)
  • Establishments (2014-2029)
  • Enterprises (2014-2029)
  • Employment (2014-2029)
  • Exports (2014-2029)
  • Imports (2014-2029)
  • Wages (2014-2029)

Top Questions Answered

Unlock comprehensive answers and precise data upon purchase. View purchase options.

What is the market size of the Editorial Services in the US industry in United States in 2024?

The market size of the Editorial Services in the US industry in United States is $2.6bn in 2024.

How many businesses are there in the Editorial Services in the US industry in 2024?

There are 71,608 businesses in the Editorial Services in the US industry in United States, which has declined at a CAGR of 0.0 % between 2019 and 2024.

Has the Editorial Services in the US industry in United States grown or declined over the past 5 years?

The market size of the Editorial Services in the US industry in United States has been declining at a CAGR of 3.8 % between 2019 and 2024.

What is the forecast growth of the Editorial Services in the US industry in United States over the next 5 years?

Over the next five years, the Editorial Services in the US industry in United States is expected to decline.

What does the Editorial Services in the US in United States include?

Proofreading and Document editing are part of the Editorial Services in the US industry.

How competitive is the Editorial Services in the US industry in United States?

The level of competition is high and increasing in the Editorial Services in the US industry in United States.

Related Industries

Widen your competitive advantage with related industries

View all industries in United States

Methodology

How are IBISWorld reports created?

IBISWorld has been a leading provider of trusted industry research for over 50 years to the most successful companies worldwide. With offices in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and China, we are proud to have local teams of analysts that conduct research, data analysis and forecasting to produce data-driven industry reports.

Our analysts start with official, verified and publicly available sources of data to build the most accurate picture of each industry. Analysts then leverage their expertise and knowledge of the local markets to synthesize trends into digestible content for IBISWorld readers. Finally, each report is reviewed by one of IBISWorld’s editors, who provide quality assurance to ensure accuracy and readability.

IBISWorld relies on human-verified data and human-written analysis to compile each standard industry report. We do not use generative AI tools to write insights, although members can choose to leverage AI-based tools within the platform to generate additional analysis formats.

What data sources do IBISWorld analysts use?

Each industry report incorporates data and research from government databases, industry-specific sources, industry contacts, and our own proprietary database of statistics and analysis to provide balanced, independent and accurate insights.

Key data sources in the US include: 

  • US Census Bureau
  • US Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • US International Trade Commission

Analysts also use industry specific sources to complement catch-all sources, although their perspective may focus on a particular organization or representative body, rather than a clear overview of all industry operations. However, when balanced against other perspectives, industry-specific sources provide insights into industry trends.

These sources include:

  • Industry and trade associations
  • Industry federations or regulators
  • Major industry players annual or quarterly filings

Finally, IBISWorld’s global data scientists maintain a proprietary database of macroeconomic and demand drivers, which our analysts use to help inform industry data and trends. They also maintain a database of statistics and analysis on thousands of industries, which has been built over our more than 50-year history and offers comprehensive insights into long-term trends.

How does IBISWorld forecast its data?

IBISWorld’s analysts and data scientists use the sources above to create forecasts for our proprietary datasets and industry statistics. Depending on the dataset, they may use regression analysis, multivariate analysis, time-series analysis or exponential smoothing techniques to project future data for the industry or driver. Additionally, analysts will leverage their local knowledge of industry operating and regulatory conditions to impart their best judgment on the forecast model.

IBISWorld prides itself on being a trusted, independent source of data, with over 50 years of experience building and maintaining rich datasets and forecasting tools. We are proud to be the keystone source of industry information for thousands of companies across the world.

Learn more about our methodology and data sourcing on the Help Center.