What about Salaries?

The Society for Technical Communication (STC), one of the primary professional organizations for this career, has chapters all over the U.S., including Austin, Texas. Most chapters hold a yearly salary survey as does STC-Austin:

• Freelance Rate Chart. From Writing Assistance, Inc. No date.
• Austin STC Salary Survey. See salaries made by technical communicators right here in the Austin area.
• Technical Writers. From Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition. For other editions, go to U.S. Department of Labor Home Page and search "technical writer."
• salary.com. In the Click Salary Wizard, enter "technical writer" and a zip code and press Search. The base salary ranges are free to view.
• craiglist, inc. Provides an Austin listing of jobs, internships, and salaries, plus a forum for discussion.
• computerjobs.com. Listing of technical-writer jobs (unfortunately mixed with programmer jobs), plus a "ticker" on average hourly rates and yearly salaries.
• IBM Job Listings. Job descriptions IBM - U.S.
• WinWriters Salary Survey. Primarily online-help writers' salaries.
• STC Silicon Valley Chapter Job Listings. Job descriptions from the Bay Area.

As you will see in the STC-Austin survey, the average for entry-level writers is $35,000, going up to a high of $52,500.