Education, Training, and Library · Holland code CIS

Archivists

Appraise, edit, and direct safekeeping of permanent records and historically valuable documents. Participate in research activities based on archival materials.

Also called: Archivist, Records Manager, Registrar, State Archivist, Accessioning Archivist, Digital Archivist, Film Archivist, Museum Archivist.

O*NET 25-4011.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $64,550; Middle half earn $50,680 to $83,020. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Master's Degree; 84% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Organize archival records and develop classification systems to facilitate access to archival materials.
Provide reference services and assistance for users needing archival materials.
Prepare archival records, such as document descriptions, to allow easy access to information.
Create and maintain accessible, retrievable computer archives and databases, incorporating current advances in electronic information storage technology.
Establish and administer policy guidelines concerning public access and use of materials.
Direct activities of workers who assist in arranging, cataloguing, exhibiting, and maintaining collections of valuable materials.
Preserve records, documents, and objects, copying records to film, videotape, audiotape, disk, or computer formats as necessary.
Research and record the origins and historical significance of archival materials.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.1 / 5
Active Listening3.9 / 5
Writing3.9 / 5
Speaking3.5 / 5
Critical Thinking3.4 / 5
Active Learning3.4 / 5

Knowledge areas

History and Archeology4.3 / 5
English Language4.0 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.9 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.8 / 5
Administration and Management3.7 / 5
Administrative3.5 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic31
Investigative62
Artistic32
Social33
Enterprising14
Conventional83

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

museum director · DE Museumsdirektor/Museumsdirektorin · FR directeur de musée/directrice de musée
archivist · DE Archivar/Archivarin · FR archiviste
collection manager · DE Wissenschaftlicher Sammlungsmanager/Wissenschaftliche Sammlungsmanagerin · FR gestionnaire de collections
exhibition curator · DE Kurator/Kuratorin · FR responsable des expositions
exhibition registrar · DE Museumsregistrar/Museumsregistrarin · FR régisseur des collections/régisseuse des collections
museum scientist · DE Museologe/Museologin · FR conservateur du patrimoine/conservatrice du patrimoine

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed
Librarians (2471)30,700 employed
Archivists, conservators and curators (2472)17,100 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.68. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (25-4011).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test