Jobs by Region | Placements & Salaries 2019

LJ's 2019 Placements & Salaries survey looked at grads entering the LIS field and discovered that the highest paying jobs are in the Pacific region, and that the regional differential between salary extremes is 59 percent larger than last year.

LJ's 2019 Placements & Salaries survey looked at grads entering the LIS field and discovered that the highest paying jobs are in the Pacific region, and that the regional differential between salary extremes is 59 percent larger than last year. 

 

REGIONAL SALARIES VARY IN SURPRISING WAYS

Average full-time salaries are again highest in the Pacific region ($78,448). This year the lowest was the South Central region ($46,581). This regional differential of $31,867 is 59 percent greater than last year’s contrast between the highest and lowest paying regions.

 

TABLE 2: PLACEMENTS & FULL-TIME SALARIES OF 2018 GRADUATES BY REGION
Placement Region Number of Placements NO. RESPONDING LOW SALARY HIGH SALARY AVERAGE SALARY   MEDIAN SALARY
Women Men

Non

binary*

All Women Men

Non

binary*

Women Men

Non

binary*

Women Men

Non

binary*

All

DIF IN

AVG M/F

SALARY†

Women Men

Non

binary*

All
Southeast 272 154 32 4 190 16,000 30,000 25,550 160,000 165,000 61,000 49,392 61,363 44,375 51,302 24.2% 46,826 53,000 45,475 47,000
Midwest 272 125 38 2 166 21,840 28,000 35,360 107,500 122,500 48,000 51,937 57,511 41,680 53,036 10.7% 50,000 50,000 41,680 50,000
Northeast 250 119 35 6 160 34,800 30,000 30,000 125,000 117,500 61,000 55,743 61,808 50,185 56,862 10.9% 52,500 57,500 52,750 53,000
South Central 186 111 29 1 141 20,000 26,000 52,500 107,500 102,500 52,500 46,707 45,892 52,500 46,581 -1.7% 44,529 45,000 52,500 45,000
Pacific 176 74 20 4 98 23,000 40,000 47,300 140,000 147,500 80,000 78,508 81,550 61,825 78,448 3.9% 69,247 69,500 60,000 68,547
Mountain 59 20 9 - 29 35,000 25,000 - 75,000 77,500 - 52,835 46,944 - 51,007 -11.1% 50,752 49,000 - 50,000
Canada/Int'l 23 7 4 2 13 22,000 32,000 26,000 82,500 144,000 46,000 50,829 73,775 36,000 55,608 45.1% 49,000 59,550 36,000 46,000
TOTAL 1,238 610 167 19 797 16,000 25,000 25,550 160,000 165,000 80,000 54,325 59,831 49,146 55,341 10.1% 50,000 52,000 52,000 50,000
This table represents only salaries reported as full-time. Some data were reported as aggregate without breakdown by gender or region. Comparison with other tables may show different number of placements.
*Includes nonbinary, other, and declined to answer gender.
†The nonbinary sample is too small to yield statistically significant results when compared to placements and salaries of other genders. Therefore, all gender comparisons shown are male to female only.
 

 

The other five regions cluster more closely: Average salaries range from low to mid $50,000. The Southeast region claimed the highest individual salary earned in 2018 ($165,000), and the highest paid to a female graduate ($160,000), but was also responsible for the lowest reported salary (only $16,000, paid to a woman). Of course, salary levels are only part of the picture when comparing potential positions across different regions, which have substantial variation in cost of living expenses.

 

TABLE 7: COMPARISON OF FULL-TIME SALARIES BY TYPE OF ORGANIZATION AND PLACEMENT REGION
  TOTAL PLACEMENTS LOW SALARY HIGH SALARY AVERAGE SALARY MEDIAN SALARY
PUBLIC LIBRARIES          
Northeast 50 30,000 72,000 49,085 49,040
Southeast 52 16,000 64,000 40,592 41,408
South Central 34 20,000 72,800 39,653 39,797
Midwest 50 21,840 80,000 43,255 41,750
Mountain 9 25,000 75,000 47,911 49,000
Pacific 18 42,000 73,000 56,602 55,500
Canada/Int'l 1 49,000 49,000 49,000 49,000
ALL PUBLIC 214 16,000 80,000 44,743 45,000
COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY          
Northeast 39 30,000 125,000 57,988 55,000
Southeast 44 25,000 165,000 49,030 47,750
South Central 41 25,000 68,750 44,345 47,000
Midwest 51 28,000 75,000 48,363 47,840
Mountain 7 42,000 53,000 47,429 48,000
Pacific 22 35,400 92,000 61,366 60,500
Canada/Int'l 2 32,000 37,800 34,900 34,900
ALL ACADEMIC 206 25,000 165,000 50,754 50,000
SCHOOL LIBRARIES          
Northeast 20 36,000 80,000 56,228 56,850
Southeast 36 30,000 105,000 50,270 45,500
South Central 30 25,500 69,000 50,110 51,075
Midwest 9 38,500 70,000 54,897 53,000
Mountain 3 41,000 68,000 55,000 56,000
Pacific 11 23,000 105,000 69,099 69,094
Canada/Int'l 2 22,000 26,000 24,000 24,000
ALL SCHOOL 111 22,000 105,000 53,196 51,000
GOVERNMENT LIBRARIES          
Northeast 1 71,100 71,100 71,100 71,100
Southeast 13 43,680 87,500 59,550 56,233
South Central 6 33,722 56,000 42,787 42,000
Midwest 5 38,900 72,500 49,880 43,000
Mountain 0        
Pacific 2 36,350 41,369 38,860 38,860
Canada/Int'l 1 46,000 46,000 46,000 46,000
ALL GOVERNMENT 28 33,722 87,500 52,682 53,500
PRIVATE INDUSTRY          
Northeast 16 38,000 117,500 80,625 87,500
Southeast 10 51,400 112,500 76,640 78,750
South Central 10 47,000 107,500 76,550 74,750
Midwest 24 40,000 107,500 72,479 77,750
Mountain 3 42,500 77,500 64,000 72,000
Pacific 34 77,500 147,500 111,324 112,500
Canada/Int'l 6 32,000 82,500 61,017 66,250
ALL PRIVATE INDUSTRY 103 32,000 147,500 86,451 82,500
SPECIAL LIBRARIES          
Northeast 5 34,800 75,000 51,160 45,500
Southeast 9 41,600 75,000 51,563 45,000
South Central 5 26,000 62,500 50,000 52,500
Midwest 5 33,800 65,000 48,360 50,000
Mountain 1 50,000 50,000 50,000 50,000
Pacific 5 42,000 117,500 66,100 60,000
Canada/Int'l 0        
ALL SPECIAL 30 26,000 117,500 53,072 50,000
ARCHIVES/SPECIAL COLLECTIONS          
Northeast 9 40,000 55,000 47,167 45,000
Southeast 4 40,000 50,000 44,750 44,500
South Central 4 39,500 57,000 46,500 44,750
Midwest 3 37,620 48,500 44,818 48,333
Mountain 4 35,000 54,000 47,500 50,500
Pacific 3 55,000 61,000 57,667 57,000
Canada/Int'l 0        
ALL ARCHIVES/SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 27 35,000 61,000 47,665 47,500
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS          
Northeast 10 43,000 87,000 53,161 49,804
Southeast 5 36,000 92,500 54,500 50,000
South Central 5 30,000 44,000 40,400 44,000
Midwest 9 38,000 86,000 58,556 56,000
Mountain 1 51,500 51,500 51,500 51,500
Pacific 1 45,000 45,000 45,000 45,000
Canada/Int'l 1 144,000 144,000 144,000 144,000
ALL NONPROFIT 32 30,000 144,000 55,425 50,000
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS          
Northeast 9 54,000 107,500 70,389 65,000
Southeast 17 32,000 160,000 71,382 65,000
South Central 6 27,300 56,000 39,667 39,400
Midwest 10 35,000 122,500 78,850 74,250
Mountain 1 67,500 67,500 67,500 67,500
Pacific 2 45,200 102,500 73,850 73,850
Canada/Int'l 0        
ALL OTHER 45 27,300 160,000 68,638 62,500
This table represents only full-time salaries and all placements reported by type. Some individuals omitted placement information, rendering some information unusable.
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