A person working as Technical Writer in New Zealand typically earns around 81,800 NZD. Salaries range from 43,400 NZD (lowest) to 124,000 NZD (highest).
This is the average salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Technical Writer salaries in New Zealand vary drastically based on experience, skills, gender, or location. Below you will find a detailed breakdown based on many different criteria.
Minimum Salary 43,400 NZD |
Median 73,800 NZD |
Maximum 124,000 NZD |
Salaries for the position Technical Writer in New Zealand range from 43,400 NZD (starting salary) to 124,000 NZD (maximum salary). It should be noted that the given figure is not the legally mandated minimum wage; rather, it represents the lowest figure reported in a salary survey that included thousands of participants and professionals from all regions of the country.
With a median salary of 73,800 NZD, half of the professionals who work as Technical Writer in New Zealand earn less than this amount, and the other half earn more. The median salary denotes the middle value of salaries. Ideally, you would want to belong to the group earning more than the median salary, located on the right side of the salary distribution graph.
The median is closely associated with two other values known as the 25th and 75th percentiles. By examining the salary distribution chart, it can be determined that 25% of professionals employed as Technical Writer in New Zealand earn less than 61,400 NZD, while 75% earn more. Similarly, the chart shows that 75% earn less than 83,500 NZD while 25% earn more.
To provide a better understanding of expected salaries, we categorized the frequently occurring salaries into different ranges. This approach provides a more precise representation of salary distribution for the job title Technical Writer in New Zealand compared to simply calculating the average. The majority of reported salaries, approximately 65%, fall within the range of 48,300 NZD to 65,600 NZD. About 20% of salaries are below the 48,300 NZD mark, while 10% fall within the range of 65,600 NZD to 73,500 NZD. Only 5% of individuals have salaries exceeding 73,500 NZD.
0 - 2 Years | 49,800 NZD | |
2 - 5 Years | +23% | 61,200 NZD |
5 - 10 Years | +42% | 86,700 NZD |
10 - 15 Years | +17% | 101,000 NZD |
15 - 20 Years | +10% | 111,000 NZD |
20+ Years | +6% | 118,000 NZD |
The experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. Naturally, the more years of experience the higher the wage. We broke down salaries by experience level for people working as Technical Writer and this is what we found.
Employees with less than two years of experience earn approximately 49,800 NZD.
While someone with an experience level between two and five years is expected to earn 61,200 NZD, 23% more than someone with less than two year's experience.
Moving forward, an experience level between five and ten years lands a salary of 86,700 NZD, 42% more than someone with two to five years of experience.
Additionally, professionals whose expertise span anywhere between ten and fifteen years get a salary equivalent to 101,000 NZD, 17% more than someone with five to ten years of experience.
If the experience level is between fifteen and twenty years, then the expected wage is 111,000 NZD, 10% more than someone with ten to fifteen years of experience.
Lastly, employees with more than twenty years of professional experience get a salary of 118,000 NZD, 6% more than people with fifteen to twenty years of experience.
High School | 60,400 NZD | |
Certificate or Diploma | +13% | 68,500 NZD |
Bachelor's Degree | +31% | 89,500 NZD |
Master's Degree | +32% | 118,000 NZD |
We all know that higher education equals a bigger salary, but how much more money can a degree add to your income? We broke down salaries by education level for the position Technical Writer in order to make a comparison.
Employees at this education level have an average salary of 60,400 NZD.
At this level, the average salary becomes 68,500 NZD, 13% more than the previous level.
At this level, the average salary becomes 89,500 NZD, 31% more than the previous level.
At this level, the average salary becomes 118,000 NZD, 32% more than the previous level.
A Master's degree program or any post-graduate program in New Zealand costs anywhere from 40,700 NZD to 122,000 NZD and lasts approximately two years. That is quite an investment.
You can't really expect any salary increases during the study period, assuming you already have a job. In most cases, a salary review is conducted once education is completed and the degree has been attained.
Many people pursue higher education as a tactic to switch to a higher-paying job. The numbers seem to support the theory. The average increase in compensation while changing jobs is approximately 10% more than the customary salary increment.
If you can afford the costs of higher education, the return on investment is definitely worth it. You should be able to recover the costs in roughly a year or so.
Though gender should not have an effect on pay, in reality, it does. So who gets paid more: men or women? For the people who work as Technical Writer in New Zealand, the average difference between the salary of male and female employees is 5%.
Male | 83,700 NZD | |
Female | -5% | 79,600 NZD |
Individuals working as Technical Writer in New Zealand are likely to observe a salary increase of approximately 10% every 17 months. The national average annual increment for all professions combined is 8% granted to employees every 16 months.
The term Annual Salary Increase usually refers to the increase in 12 calendar month period, but because it is rare that people get their salaries reviewed exactly on the one-year mark, it is more meaningful to know the frequency and the rate at the time of the increase.
The annual salary Increase in a calendar year (12 months) can be easily calculated as follows: Annual Salary Increase = Increase Rate x 12 / Increase Frequency
Not all compensation increases are reflected directly in the salary. Some companies offer upgraded packages to their staff instead of cash money. The figures displayed here account only for direct increments to the base salary.
72% of surveyed staff reported that they haven't received any bonuses or incentives in the previous year while 28% said that they received at least one form of monetary bonus.
Those who got bonuses reported rates ranging from 1% to 3% of their annual salary.
Received Bonus | 28% | |
No Bonus | 72% |
The most standard form of bonus, where the employee is awarded based on their exceptional performance.
Company Performance BonusesOccasionally, some companies like to celebrate excess earnings and profits with their staff collectively in the form of bonuses that are granted to everyone. The amount of the bonus will probably be different from person to person depending on their role within the organization.
Goal-Based BonusesGranted upon achieving an important goal or milestone.
Holiday / End of Year BonusesThese types of bonuses are given without a reason and usually resemble an appreciation token.
People tend to confuse bonuses with commissions. A commission is a prefixed rate at which someone gets paid for items sold or deals completed while a bonus is in most cases arbitrary and unplanned.
The main two types of jobs | |
Revenue Generators | Supporting Cast |
Employees that are directly involved in generating revenue or profit for the organization. Their field of expertise usually matches the type of business. | Employees that support and facilitate the work of revenue generators. Their expertise is usually different from that of the core business operations. |
Example: | Example: |
Revenue generators usually get more and higher bonuses, higher salaries, and more frequent salary increments. The reason is quite simple: it is easier to quantify your value to the company in monetary terms when you participate in revenue generation.
Top management personnel and senior employees naturally exhibit higher bonus rates and frequencies than juniors. This is very predictable due to the inherent responsibilities of being higher in the hierarchy. People in top positions can easily get double or triple bonus rates than employees down the pyramid.
The hourly wage is the salary paid in one worked hour. Usually, jobs are classified into two categories: salaried jobs and hourly jobs. Salaried jobs pay a fixed amount regardless of the hours worked. Hourly jobs pay per worked hour. To convert salary into hourly wage the above formula is used (assuming 5 working days in a week and 8 working hours per day which is the standard for most jobs). The hourly wage calculation may differ slightly depending on the worked hours per week and the annual vacation allowance. The figures mentioned above are good approximations and are considered to be the standard. One major difference between salaried employees and hourly paid employees is overtime eligibility. Salaried employees are usually exempt from overtime as opposed to hourly paid staff.
The minimum pay rate per hour for people working as Technical Writer in New Zealand is 21 NZD. This is the minimum as per the gathered data in the salary survey not the minimum hourly rate mandated by law.
Job Title | Average Salary |
Publishing and Printing | -100% | |
Advertising Copywriter | 83,700 NZD | +2% |
Art Director | 95,500 NZD | +17% |
Art Supervisor | 80,600 NZD | -1% |
Artist | 91,400 NZD | +12% |
Assistant Editor | 66,800 NZD | -18% |
Associate Content Management Specialist | 90,100 NZD | +10% |
Associate Editor | 73,300 NZD | -10% |
Audio Book Producer | 104,000 NZD | +27% |
Binder and Finisher | 41,300 NZD | -50% |
Bindery Supervisor | 53,600 NZD | -34% |
ChatGPT Content Production Expert | 74,300 NZD | -9% |
Circulations Director | 133,000 NZD | +63% |
Color Matcher | 46,800 NZD | -43% |
Color Technician | 45,100 NZD | -45% |
Commissioning Editor | 75,600 NZD | -8% |
Communications Editor | 79,000 NZD | -3% |
Content Copywriter | 85,500 NZD | +5% |
Content Creator | 85,500 NZD | +5% |
Content Curator | 85,800 NZD | +5% |
Content Designer | 79,200 NZD | -3% |
Content Management Assistant | 72,100 NZD | -12% |
Content Publisher | 77,700 NZD | -5% |
Content Writer | 85,200 NZD | +4% |
CopyWriter | 82,500 NZD | +1% |
Corporate Print Center Specialist | 66,600 NZD | -19% |
Curator | 70,600 NZD | -14% |
Digital Rights Manager | 106,000 NZD | +30% |
DTP Operator | 72,100 NZD | -12% |
Editor | 84,800 NZD | +4% |
Electronic Publisher | 84,500 NZD | +3% |
Fashion Subeditor | 85,700 NZD | +5% |
Media Design Manager | 147,000 NZD | +80% |
Media Planner | 92,400 NZD | +13% |
Photographer | 72,900 NZD | -11% |
Planning and Supply Manager | 155,000 NZD | +90% |
Print Designer | 74,200 NZD | -9% |
Print Production Coordinator | 73,800 NZD | -10% |
Print Production Manager | 157,000 NZD | +92% |
Print-on-Demand Coordinator | 75,000 NZD | -8% |
Printing Press Operator | 68,200 NZD | -17% |
Production Editor | 77,600 NZD | -5% |
Proofreader | 73,600 NZD | -10% |
Publisher | 93,200 NZD | +14% |
Publishing and Printing Coordinator | 65,800 NZD | -20% |
Publishing and Printing Manager | 156,000 NZD | +91% |
Publishing and Printing Supervisor | 123,000 NZD | +50% |
Publishing Specialist | 98,600 NZD | +21% |
Reporter | 109,000 NZD | +33% |
Technical Writer | 81,800 NZD | +0% |
Technical Writing Manager | 122,000 NZD | +49% |
Where can you get paid more, working in a private company or the government? The difference between the public or government sector salaries and the private sector salaries in New Zealand is 5% on average across all career fields.
Private Sector | 94,900 NZD | |
Public Sector | +5% | 99,900 NZD |
A good and competitive compensation would range anywhere between 73,800 NZD and 83,500 NZD. This is a very rough estimate. Experience and education play a very huge part in the final earnings.
All salary and compensation figures displayed here are gross salary figures, that is the salary before tax deductions. Because taxes may differ across sectors and locations, it is difficult to accurately calculate the net salary after tax for every career.
The base salary for a careers like Technical Writer in New Zealand ranges from 43,400 NZD to 61,400 NZD. The base salary depends on many factors including experience and education. It is not easy to provide a figure with very little information, so take this range with a grain of salt.
Both are indicators. If your salary is higher than both the average and the median then you are doing very well. If your salary is lower than both, then many people earn more than you and there is plenty of room for improvement. If your wage is between the average and the median, then things can be a bit complicated. We wrote a guide to explain all about the different scenarios. How to compare your salary