Salaries for historians in academia gained a little ground this past year—at least at private institutions—after lagging ever further behind average salaries for the academy over the past few years. The average salary for historians at four-year institutions rose from $61,006 in the 2004–05 academic year to $63,119, according to a new report from the College and University Personnel Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR).

The report provides information on the nine-month salaries for almost 6,200 historians at 705 four-year colleges and universities. This is only a partial representation of the full number of historians employed and the institutions that employ them, but does provide the most up-to-date barometer of historians’ income.1