Librarians and library media specialists
Salary, job outlook, AI risk & career information
Librarians and library media specialists in the United States earn a median salary of $68,270 per year — about $33 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roughly 142K people work in this occupation nationwide, with projected employment growth of +2%.
AI & Automation Risk
Librarianship is fundamentally about information retrieval, organization, and research—domains where LLMs and AI search engines excel. While the physical presence in schools and public libraries provides a buffer through community programming and interpersonal support, the core technical tasks of cataloging, database management, and reference assistance are highly exposed to AI automation and displacement.
Salary by City — What You Actually Take Home
Real purchasing power = salary adjusted for cost of living. Higher = more money in your pocket.
| City | Local Salary | Cost of Living | Real Purchasing Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kennewick-Richland, WABEST VALUE | $105,240 | Average (98.9) | $106,427 |
| Naples-Marco Island, FL | $106,550 | Above avg (106.5) | $100,067 |
| Merced, CA | $98,630 | Average (99.6) | $99,008 |
| Yakima, WA | $96,250 | Average (97.9) | $98,313 |
| McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | $81,470 | Below avg (86.1) | $94,650 |
| Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA | $100,240 | Above avg (107.4) | $93,316 |
| Laredo, TX | $82,130 | Below avg (88.3) | $92,990 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $103,240 | Above avg (113.1) | $91,315 |
| Odessa, TX | $84,260 | Below avg (92.6) | $90,956 |
| Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | $77,930 | Below avg (85.7) | $90,935 |
| Mankato, MN | $79,420 | Below avg (87.6) | $90,613 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $101,780 | Above avg (112.7) | $90,286 |
| Lincoln, NE | $81,810 | Below avg (91.9) | $89,027 |
| Brunswick-St. Simons, GA | $79,660 | Below avg (89.9) | $88,632 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $95,480 | Above avg (109.5) | $87,162 |