What it pays
Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.
Half of all Historians in the U.S. earn more than $76,750 a year — the middle 80% land between $42,730 and $131,810. About 3,450 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Historians”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$76,750typical pay / year
3,450people in this work
$131,810+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
Think you get this job?Six quick questions on how it really works — with a hint and the reason behind every answer.
Test yourself →The work, task by task
These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.
Keeping the record2
Organize and maintain historical collections
+Organize the archive of community development reports from 1990–2015 into a searchable historical collection,…
Organize and maintain historical collections
+Organize the archive of community development reports from 1990–2015 into a searchable historical collection, create consistent descriptive records for each file, verify provenance and rights, and relocate originals into the climate-controlled storage shelf A3 by Friday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft SharePointjob descriptionsO*NET
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Write research papers, articles, or books
+Draft the 5,000–7,000 word research paper on rural electrification impacts using the field notebooks,…
Write research papers, articles, or books
+Draft the 5,000–7,000 word research paper on rural electrification impacts using the field notebooks, government reports, and beneficiary interviews, include clear source citations and a 300-word executive summary for donor review by next Tuesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET
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Learning2
Advise on historical authenticity and accuracy
+Review the period illustrations, procurement records, and oral histories for the film project and write a…
Advise on historical authenticity and accuracy
+Review the period illustrations, procurement records, and oral histories for the film project and write a memo listing three factual corrections, two suggestive wording changes, and one staging concern to ensure historical authenticity before the location shoot on Monday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET
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Evaluate the reliability of historical sources
+Assess the reliability of the six contested land tenure sources by checking authorship, date, archival…
Evaluate the reliability of historical sources
+Assess the reliability of the six contested land tenure sources by checking authorship, date, archival provenance, corroborating documents, and bias, and rank them from trustworthy to unreliable with a short justification for the legal team by Thursday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Exceljob descriptionsWikipedia
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Analysing2
Research historical data and evidence
+Compile all colonial census fragments and tax lists for the district, digitise the tables, harmonise place…
Research historical data and evidence
+Compile all colonial census fragments and tax lists for the district, digitise the tables, harmonise place names and units, run basic frequency checks for outliers, and hand over a cleaned dataset with a methodology note by Tuesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelESCOjob descriptionsO*NETWikipedia
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Analyze and interpret historical data
+Run the comparative analysis of harvest yields from 1870–1900: import the cleaned dataset, calculate annual…
Analyze and interpret historical data
+Run the comparative analysis of harvest yields from 1870–1900: import the cleaned dataset, calculate annual means and variance, test for trend significance, and produce annotated charts and a short interpretation note for the program lead by Friday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS Statisticsjob descriptionsO*NETWikipedia
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The daily work12
Do historical research
+Gather contemporary reports, mission logs, government memos and oral histories about the 1983 irrigation…
Do historical research
+Gather contemporary reports, mission logs, government memos and oral histories about the 1983 irrigation reform, verify provenance and bias for each source, extract dates, actors and contradictory claims, and produce a calibrated chronology with citations for the program office by Friday.
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Research the past in recorded sources
+Locate British and local administrative records, NGO field notes and newspaper coverage for the 1967–1972…
Research the past in recorded sources
+Locate British and local administrative records, NGO field notes and newspaper coverage for the 1967–1972 resettlement, cross-check names and dates against oral interviews, flag irreconcilable versions and produce a source-critical dossier for the country director by Wednesday.
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Present findings at conferences or public events
+Present my conference findings on land tenure and displacement in northern Ghana at the Accra Development…
Present findings at conferences or public events
+Present my conference findings on land tenure and displacement in northern Ghana at the Accra Development Forum next Wednesday: prepare a 20‑minute illustrated talk with two case study maps, three quick policy recommendations, a five‑slide appendix for Q&A, and send the final slide deck to Dr. Mensah and Lydia in events by Monday noon for approval.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft PowerPointjob descriptions
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Create and interpret timelines and chronological sequences
+Create a clear chronological timeline of settlement shifts in the Upper River basin from 1950–2020: compile…
Create and interpret timelines and chronological sequences
+Create a clear chronological timeline of settlement shifts in the Upper River basin from 1950–2020: compile dated events, attach primary source citations, produce a visual sequence with decade markers and uncertainty flags, and share the timeline PDF with Professor Agyapong and the field team by Thursday for accuracy checks.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Exceljob descriptions
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Present the past of human societies
+Prepare a public lecture tracing the social history of market towns in eastern Sierra Leone: design a…
Present the past of human societies
+Prepare a public lecture tracing the social history of market towns in eastern Sierra Leone: design a 40‑minute talk with three thematic sections, historical images with captions, a short reading list, and an accessible two‑paragraph summary for the programme; send materials to the festival organiser and to Tariq in communications by Monday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft PowerPointESCO
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Source criticism
+Conduct source criticism on the 1974 resettlement report: list provenance, authorship, intended audience,…
Source criticism
+Conduct source criticism on the 1974 resettlement report: list provenance, authorship, intended audience, internal consistency issues, and three testable hypotheses about bias; annotate the PDF with notes and circulate the annotated copy to Elena and to the senior researcher by Friday noon.
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Trace historical development in a particular field, such as social, cultural, political, or diplomatic history.
+Map the intellectual lineage of twentieth-century land reform debates in East Africa, assemble primary source…
Trace historical development in a particular field, such as social, cultural, political, or diplomatic history.
+Map the intellectual lineage of twentieth-century land reform debates in East Africa, assemble primary source citations and dated archival copies, note contested interpretations and gaps, and produce a concise annotated timeline for the grant report due in three weeks.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelO*NET
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Determine which topics to research, or pursue research topics specified by clients or employers.
+Decide which research questions to pursue on urban migration impacts: list three feasible questions, estimate…
Determine which topics to research, or pursue research topics specified by clients or employers.
+Decide which research questions to pursue on urban migration impacts: list three feasible questions, estimate data needs and local contacts for each, flag ethical risks, and recommend which two to pitch to the program director by Tuesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeO*NET
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Edit historical society publications.
+Edit the historical society newsletter article on the 1930s labour strikes for clarity and accuracy: correct…
Edit historical society publications.
+Edit the historical society newsletter article on the 1930s labour strikes for clarity and accuracy: correct factual errors, tighten chronology, standardise footnotes to the society style, and return a print-ready proof to the editor by Friday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeO*NET
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Coordinate activities of workers engaged in cataloging and filing materials.
+Coordinate the cataloguing team to process the donated estate: assign batch ranges, confirm metadata fields…
Coordinate activities of workers engaged in cataloging and filing materials.
+Coordinate the cataloguing team to process the donated estate: assign batch ranges, confirm metadata fields and controlled vocabularies, set daily targets for digitisation, and circulate the revised workflow and deadline to the team lead this morning.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft SharePointO*NET
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Collect detailed information on individuals for use in biographies.
+Compile a biographical dossier on Miriam Oketch: gather birth, education, employment records, major…
Collect detailed information on individuals for use in biographies.
+Compile a biographical dossier on Miriam Oketch: gather birth, education, employment records, major publications, and contemporaneous press mentions; verify contradictory dates, cite each source, and deliver a source-checked narrative of 1,200 words in five days.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft AccessO*NET
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Translate or request translation of reference materials.
+Locate non-English archival references on postwar housing policy, request certified translations for five key…
Translate or request translation of reference materials.
+Locate non-English archival references on postwar housing policy, request certified translations for five key documents, note which require full translation versus summary, estimate cost and turnaround, and send the request to the translations unit by Wednesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeO*NET
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Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses