Archivists vs Instructional Coordinators: $65K vs $77K Median Pay

Archivists vs Instructional Coordinators: what changes?

Consider Archivists if you want to appraise, edit, and direct safekeeping of permanent records and historically valuable documents. Consider Instructional Coordinators if you would rather develop instructional material, coordinate educational content, and incorporate current technology into instruction in order to provide guidelines to educators and instructors for developing curricula and…. Both list master's degree; compare training and prior experience separately. Prior experience in a related occupation is typically needed for Instructional Coordinators (5 years or more).

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Archivists and Instructional Coordinators. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Archivists

National median pay (2025): $64,550
Route into the job: Master's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Organize archival records and develop classification systems to facilitate access to archival materials.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 1,100

Know before you choose

This is a small national occupation (10,300 jobs in 2025), so location and employer concentration can matter more than the national median suggests.

See the full Archivists brief

Instructional Coordinators

National median pay (2025): $77,440
Route into the job: Master's degree; Prior related experience: 5 years or more
Prior related experience: Prior related experience: 5 years or more.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Observe work of teaching staff to evaluate performance and to recommend changes that could strengthen teaching skills.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 23,100

Know before you choose

BLS lists 5 years or more of related experience. This is normally reached through feeder roles, not directly from school.

See the full Instructional Coordinators brief

How the national numbers differ

Instructional Coordinators has the edge on annual openings

Instructional Coordinators is at 23,100 annual openings, compared with 1,100 annual openings for Archivists.

Archivists has the edge on projected growth

Archivists is at 3.4% projected growth, compared with 1.6% projected growth for Instructional Coordinators.

Instructional Coordinators has the edge on median pay

Instructional Coordinators is at $77,440, compared with $64,550 for Archivists.

38.3/ 100

Archivists

55.1/ 100

Instructional Coordinators

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence