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Quick answer · Balanced priorities

Film and Video Editors vs Graphic Designers: what changes?

Consider Film and Video Editors if you want to edit moving images on film, video, or other media. Consider Graphic Designers if you would rather design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Film and Video Editors and Graphic Designers. 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
What this means in practice

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Start with earnings, the route into the job, training, available openings, and a day-to-day reality.

Film and Video Editors

National median pay (2025)
$75,420
Route into the job
Bachelor'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 and string together raw footage into a continuous whole according to scripts or the instructions of directors and producers.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
3,100
Know before you choose

Deadline pressure is a recurring condition rather than an occasional emergency.

See the full Film and Video Editors brief

Graphic Designers

National median pay (2025)
$62,960
Route into the job
Bachelor'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
Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
16,000
Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 1.7% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Graphic Designers brief
See scores, detailed data, and how the comparison works

How the national numbers differ

1

Graphic Designers has the edge on annual openings

Graphic Designers is at 16,000 annual openings, compared with 3,100 annual openings for Film and Video Editors.

2

Film and Video Editors has the edge on projected growth

Film and Video Editors is at 3.7% projected growth, compared with -1.7% projected growth for Graphic Designers.

3

Film and Video Editors has the edge on median pay

Film and Video Editors is at $75,420, compared with $62,960 for Graphic Designers.

51/ 100

Film and Video Editors

vs
47.8/ 100

Graphic Designers

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

Film and Video Editors vs Graphic Designers

DimensionFilm and Video EditorsGraphic Designers
Median pay (2025)$75,420$62,960
Pay percentile65.4 percentile53.8 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)3.7%-1.7%
Annual openings (2025–2035)3,10016,000
2025 employment39,400253,100
How you qualifyBachelor's degreeBachelor's degree
O*NET preparation groupJob Zone 4Job Zone 4
Related work experienceNo prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job trainingBLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Film and Video Editors briefRead Graphic Designers brief

Try another comparison

Film and Video Editors vs Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Film and Video Editors
$75,420 · 3.7% growth
Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film
$74,990 · 1.3% growth
Compare careers →

Film and Video Editors vs Fashion Designers

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Film and Video Editors
$75,420 · 3.7% growth
Fashion Designers
$80,960 · 0.1% growth
Compare careers →

Graphic Designers vs Fashion Designers

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Graphic Designers
$62,960 · -1.7% growth
Fashion Designers
$80,960 · 0.1% growth
Compare careers →

Graphic Designers vs Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Graphic Designers
$62,960 · -1.7% growth
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
$55,490 · -2.9% growth
Compare careers →
ChooseField compares fields using public labor-market and professional sources.