Occupation salary profile

Interpreters and Translators

SOC 27-3091 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Interpret oral or sign language, or translate written text from one language into another.

National median · BLS
$60,170
▲ +1.23% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$58,710
▼ -13.66% YoY · 85 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$66,360
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
52,060
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Interpreters and Translators

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 85 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$37,070$43,888
25th$46,530$49,712
Median (50th)$60,170$58,710
75th$80,830$75,000
90th — top pay$103,660$98,400
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $58,710 for Interpreters and Translators — 2.4% below the BLS national median of $60,170.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Interpreters and Translators

BLS projects employment of interpreters and translators to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, slower than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 6,000 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
73,900 → 75,400
+1,500 jobs
Projected change
+2%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
6,000
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
27.6% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $58,710
Change vs prior year -13.66%
After inflation (CPI-U) -16.28%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 34 40% $45,594 $49,960 $54,413
Level II 29 34.1% $51,646 $60,000 $65,541
Level III 14 16.5% $73,272 $80,212 $94,500
Skills & tools

Skills needed for Interpreters and Translators

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Speaking4.1
  • Active Listening4.0
  • Reading Comprehension3.9
  • Writing3.8
  • Critical Thinking3.6
  • Monitoring3.6
  • Active Learning3.1
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.1
  • Service Orientation3.1
  • Social Perceptiveness3.1
Top knowledge areas
  • English Language4.7
  • Foreign Language4.1
  • Customer and Personal Service3.9
  • Education and Training3.4
  • Administrative3.2
  • Public Safety and Security3.1
  • Law and Government3.0
  • Computers and Electronics2.9
Software and technology used
Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft PowerPointProductivity softwareHypertext markup language HTMLMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft WordAceTools.biz Ace TranslatorAdapt ItAmoK TranslatorAshkon Translation PadBabylon Online TranslatorDocTranslateElectronic dictionariesExcelTrans TranslatorExtensible hypertext markup language XHTMLGoogle Translate Client

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What interpreters and translators do

  • Follow ethical codes that protect the confidentiality of information.
  • Translate messages simultaneously or consecutively into specified languages, orally or by using hand signs, maintaining message content, context, and style as much as possible.
  • Listen to speakers' statements to determine meanings and to prepare translations, using electronic listening systems as necessary.
  • Compile terminology and information to be used in translations, including technical terms such as those for legal or medical material.
  • Refer to reference materials, such as dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopedias, and computerized terminology banks, as needed to ensure translation accuracy.
  • Check translations of technical terms and terminology to ensure that they are accurate and remain consistent throughout translation revisions.
  • Identify and resolve conflicts related to the meanings of words, concepts, practices, or behaviors.
  • Compile information on content and context of information to be translated and on intended audience.
Also called
InterpreterMedical InterpreterSign Language InterpreterTranslatorAmerican Sign Language Interpreter (ASL Interpreter)Court InterpreterEducational InterpreterLinguistSpanish InterpreterSpanish Translator
More job titles for this occupation (25)
Arabic TranslatorBilingual InterpreterBilingual SecretaryBraille TranscriberBraille TranslatorCommunity InterpreterContract TranslatorCryptologic LinguistDeaf InterpreterDiplomatic InterpreterEnglish TranslatorFarsi LinguistForeign Language InterpreterFreelance TranslatorLanguage InterpreterLanguage TranslatorLegal TranslatorParaprofessional InterpreterRussian LinguistSchool Sign Language InterpreterSign Language TranslatorSpanish Analytic LinguistSpanish-English InterpreterTechnical TranslatorVietnamese Interpreter

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.