Answers
How much does a video editor cost? Rates per hour, minute, and video (2026)
US staff video editors earn a median of about $36 an hour. Freelancers usually charge $20 to $130 an hour by experience, and quote per video for social and YouTube.
By Sulan Zhang, co-founder of Vyra · Updated 2026-10-28
- US staff editor median
- $75,420 a year, about $36/hr (BLS, May 2025)
- Freelance, junior
- About $20 to $40/hr
- Freelance, mid-level
- About $40 to $75/hr
- Freelance, senior
- About $75 to $130/hr
- Biggest cost driver
- Hours of work, which follow raw footage length
A video editor costs whatever their hourly rate is times the hours the edit takes. In the US, staff film and video editors earned a median of $75,420 a year in May 2025, about $36 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Freelancers charge more per hour than staff pay because they cover their own software, gear, and gaps between jobs. A 2026 rate guide from the goLance marketplace puts junior freelancers at about $20 to $40 an hour, mid-level at $40 to $75, and senior editors at $75 to $130. Global marketplaces go much lower. goLance's own median is $12 an hour.
Rates by experience
| Level | Hourly rate | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Junior, 0 to 2 years | About $20 to $40 | Clean cuts, captions, music from a brief. Needs clear notes. |
| Mid-level, 2 to 5 years | About $40 to $75 | Pacing, b-roll choices, simple motion graphics, fewer revisions |
| Senior, 5 to 10 years | About $75 to $130 | Story structure, sound design, color, brand look |
| Expert, 10+ years or a niche | About $130 to $220 | Ads, documentary, broadcast |
Freelance tiers are from goLance's 2026 rate guide. Staff pay is from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. In the BLS May 2023 survey, the middle half of US staff editors earned between $23.52 and $48.99 an hour, and the top 10 percent earned more than $74.27 (BLS OEWS).
What a video costs, by type
Hours are the real price. Multiply the editing time by the rate.
| Video | Typical editing time | At $40/hr | At $75/hr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 to 60 second Reel or TikTok | 30 to 60 minutes | $20 to $40 | $40 to $75 |
| 60-second UGC ad with b-roll | 1 to 2 hours | $40 to $80 | $75 to $150 |
| 5-minute YouTube video | 2.5 to 5 hours | $100 to $200 | $190 to $375 |
| 10-minute YouTube video with b-roll | 5 to 10 hours | $200 to $400 | $375 to $750 |
| 20-minute vlog | 10 to 20 hours | $400 to $800 | $750 to $1,500 |
Editing times are from our editing time estimates. Most editors round up to a flat per-video price once they've done one for you.
The four ways editors price
| Model | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly | You pay for time spent | Unclear scope, ongoing changes |
| Per finished minute | A fixed rate for each minute delivered | YouTube, courses |
| Per video | A flat fee for a defined deliverable | Social clips, ads |
| Monthly retainer | A set number of videos a month | Creators posting weekly or more |
A day rate is usually eight hours at a small discount to the hourly rate.
What pushes the price up
- Raw footage. Two hours of clips for a 5-minute video takes longer than 20 minutes of clips for a 10-minute video. Editors price the review time.
- Motion graphics and color. Custom titles, animated lists, and grading add hours.
- Revisions. Most quotes include one or two rounds. More rounds cost extra.
- Turnaround. Next-day delivery often costs more.
- Vague briefs. If the editor has to guess, the quote gets padded.
How to pay less
- Write the brief. Length, platform, captions, music, graphics, revision rounds.
- Send a reference video. It saves the editor hours of guessing and you a revision round.
- Send less footage. Pick your best takes first. Less raw footage means fewer billed hours.
- Hand over a rough cut. An AI editor like Vyra can cut the takes, pauses, and captions first. The editor bills only for the finishing pass.
- Start with one paid test. One video, clear brief, fixed price. Move to a retainer after three good videos.
Do it in Vyra
Build a 60-second Reel from this raw footage. Best takes, no pauses, phrase captions, music under my voice. This is the rough cut I'll hand to my editor, so keep straight cuts and no effects.
Export a 1080x1920 draft and give me a list of cuts with timestamps to send with it.
Vyra has a 3-day free trial, and plans begin at $24 a month. See Is Vyra free?
FAQ
How much does a video editor charge per hour? Most freelancers charge between about $20 and $130 an hour depending on experience. US staff editors earn a median of about $36 an hour.
How much does it cost to edit a YouTube video? A 10-minute YouTube video with b-roll is typically 5 to 10 hours of work, so roughly $200 to $750 at common freelance rates.
How much does it cost to outsource video editing for YouTube? Most channels pay per video or on a monthly retainer. At four videos a month, that's typically four times the per-video price with a small discount.
Is it cheaper to hire an editor or use AI? For short social video at volume, an AI subscription costs less per video. For a flagship YouTube video with heavy graphics, a human editor still adds a lot, often on top of an AI rough cut.
How do I know if a quote is fair? Get two or three quotes for the same brief. A big spread usually means the brief is unclear.
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