How to Hire a Video Editor
Last updated . Every number on this page was checked October 2, 2026.
To hire a video editor, decide what kind of video you need cut, pick the kind of hire, and ask for finished work like yours before you pay for more than a sample. Those steps hold whether your "hire video editor" search is for YouTube, ads or client work. As an employee in Texas, a full-time film and video editor at the middle (median) wage costs $5,515.69 a month, and a part-time editor at 20 hours a week costs $2,769.47 a month. Both are wages plus employer taxes, before benefits, from BLS May 2025 wages and 2026 tax rates.
This page is a plain reading of the rules. It isn't legal or tax advice.
Where do you find a video editor for hire?
You find a video editor in three kinds of places: job boards, marketplaces for contract work, and outside teams that sell editing as a service.
- Job boards, for an editor you'd bring on as an employee.
- Marketplaces, for a freelance video editor. Upwork is one of them.
- Outside teams, for editing as a service. DeskTeam360, the company that runs this site, is one. Its video work covers long YouTube videos, short clips, webinar and course videos, ad cuts and thumbnails. Every plan includes the full team.
Wherever you look, ask for finished videos close to the kind you make.
How do you hire a video editor for YouTube?
To hire a video editor for YouTube, hire for the kind of video you make and test the editor on your own footage. A long video and a short clip are different edits, so a sample of one doesn't prove the other.
- Name the format. Long videos, short clips, or both.
- Send a real recording. Add a link to a finished video you like.
- Pay for a sample edit. A few minutes of finished video is enough to judge.
- Check the sample. Look at the pacing, the sound, the captions and the opening.
- Agree on what's included. The thumbnail, the captions, the rounds of changes, and who uploads the video.
- Agree on the files. Say where raw files go and where finished files land.
A YouTube video needs words too: a title, a description and sometimes a script. For a content writer, see hire content writer. For the search skills a writer needs, see hire seo content writer.
If editing is one of several things you'd hand off, a team may fit better than one editor. A call with DeskTeam360 shows whether it does.
The button opens DeskTeam360's Book a Call page.
Should you hire a freelance video editor?
A freelance video editor fits work that comes in batches, with a clear brief for each video. Steady weekly editing, or editing mixed with other production work, may fit an employee or a team better.
| Your work | What it looks like | What it may point to |
|---|---|---|
| Batch work | A few videos a month, each with its own brief | A freelance video editor |
| Steady work | A video every few days, with your feedback on every cut | An employee or a team. It's a standing job |
| Mixed work | Editing plus thumbnails, short clips and ad cuts | A team. One editor may not do all of them |
The table is about fit, and it doesn't decide tax status. "Freelance" describes the setup of the work, not the worker's tax status. Who counts as a contractor is set by two tests, one from the IRS and one from the Texas Workforce Commission. Not legal or tax advice. Ask your accountant.
On price, this site has one published source, and its page gives more than one figure. The opening line under the main heading of Upwork's own cost page says video editors on Upwork typically cost $6 to $25 an hour, as of October 2026. That page shows other figures too. Its search description gives a median of $35 an hour and a range of $10 to $60, and its three pricing cards give medians of $10, $40 and $100 an hour, with rates up to $150 (each read October 2, 2026). Every one is Upwork's own figure, for the people who list there. None of them is a market rate.
For where the role sits in an agency, see marketing agency team structure.
What does a video editor cost as an employee?
In Texas, a full-time film and video editor hired as an employee at the middle (median) wage costs $5,515.69 a month. At the US median, the figure is $6,769.30 a month, with no state unemployment tax counted. Both are wages plus employer taxes, before benefits (BLS May 2025 wages, 2026 tax rates).
| Texas | US | |
|---|---|---|
| Middle (median) wage, an hour | $29.43 | $36.26 |
| Middle (median) wage, a year | $61,220 | $75,420 |
| Full time, a month: wages plus employer taxes, before benefits | $5,515.69 | $6,769.30 |
| Full time, a year: wages plus employer taxes, before benefits | $66,188.33 | $81,231.63 |
| Part time (20 hours a week), a month: wages plus employer taxes, before benefits | $2,769.47 | $3,386.44 |
| State unemployment tax counted | $243 a year, at the 2.70% entry rate for 2026 | None |
How to read the table:
- The job. BLS's title is Film and Video Editors. That's wider than people who edit online video.
- The taxes. Each total adds employer Social Security at 6.2%, Medicare at 1.45%, and $42 of federal unemployment tax. The Texas column adds $243 of Texas unemployment tax. The US column counts no state unemployment tax.
- Part time. It's 20 hours a week for 52 weeks, at the hourly median. The 20 hours is this site's assumption.
- Middle wages. A median sits in the middle of a job's wages: half of the workers earn less than it and half earn more. These figures aren't a quote, and your hire can cost less or more.
Ask your accountant how the taxes apply to you.
For the other kinds of first hire, and a flat-rate team's published price, see the four first-hire options by the month.
One Trustpilot reviewer on working with DeskTeam360:
"We have been very happy with the support DeskTeam360 provides. They are quick to respond to requests and their team has the breadth of experience we need to keep things moving."
Stu Swineford (Trustpilot review)
More on first hires for an agency
Bring a list of the videos you make each month to a call, and see how DeskTeam360's team would handle them.
The button opens DeskTeam360's Book a Call page.
Sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 Occupation Profiles, Film and Video Editors (BLS code 27-4032), Texas and US
- IRS Topic 751, Social Security and Medicare
- IRS Topic 759, federal unemployment tax
- Texas Workforce Commission, unemployment tax rates
- IRS, independent contractor (self-employed) or employee
- Texas Workforce Commission, classifying employees and independent contractors
- Upwork, video editor cost, read October 2, 2026
- This site's math: each total worked out two different ways
- DeskTeam360, video editing page and home page (deskteam360.com)
- Trustpilot, DeskTeam360 reviews
All checked October 2, 2026.
This site isn't connected to the State of Texas or any government agency.
What changed
- October 2, 2026: First version of this page.