Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners salary

SOC 27-3092 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$72,420

per year, nationally

Middle half

$53,760–$100,780

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

12,870

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-0.3%

1,700 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$42,130$130,560

10th: $42,130
25th: $53,760
Median: $72,420
75th: $100,780
90th: $130,560

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Postsecondary nondegree award
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where court reporters and simultaneous captioners earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$116,020	110.7	1,400	0.93×
2	Texas	$110,080	97.1	1,270	1.09×
3	Washington	$107,670	107.0	80	0.27×
4	New York	$101,990	107.9	1,400	1.75×
5	Iowa	$93,810	87.8	160	1.27×
6	Rhode Island	$92,250	102.3	60	1.56×
7	Minnesota	$83,680	98.6	320	1.32×
8	Colorado	$83,010	103.1	260	1.11×
9	Massachusetts	$79,940	105.8	50	0.17×
10	Arizona	$77,770	100.7	70	0.27×
11	Nebraska	$76,480	90.1	60	0.73×
12	Illinois	$75,890	100.0	770	1.52×
13	South Dakota	$75,210	88.6	40	0.92×
14	North Carolina	$73,510	94.3	110	0.27×
15	Missouri	$72,500	90.8	270	1.09×
16	North Dakota	$70,540	89.0	60	1.73×
17	Idaho	$69,330	95.5	40	0.58×
18	Alabama	$67,340	88.8	350	1.98×
19	Ohio	$67,330	92.8	340	0.73×
20	Mississippi	$67,300	87.0	40	0.38×
21	Wisconsin	$65,640	94.1	60	0.23×
22	Pennsylvania	$65,100	97.6	670	1.33×
23	Louisiana	$63,380	88.2	270	1.70×
24	Montana	$62,730	94.6	50	1.22×
25	Nevada	$62,030	100.0	70	0.56×
26	Michigan	$61,600	96.2	260	0.72×
27	South Carolina	$61,100	93.7	140	0.73×
28	Oklahoma	$60,800	87.8	180	1.29×
29	Connecticut	$59,390	103.6	210	1.50×
30	Maryland	$59,300	105.0	—	—
31	Arkansas	$59,180	86.9	130	1.20×
32	West Virginia	$56,790	89.5	90	1.52×
33	Virginia	$55,210	101.1	320	0.95×
34	Indiana	$54,740	93.3	890	3.37×
35	Kentucky	$50,350	90.2	80	0.46×
36	Florida	$49,240	103.4	1,110	1.35×
37	Maine	$49,110	97.0	30	0.60×
38	Delaware	$44,760	99.8	40	0.90×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where court reporters and simultaneous captioners wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for court reporters and simultaneous captioners

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$143,170	110.4	50	0.54×
2	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$138,340	105.1	30	1.30×
3	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$133,900	106.4	230	1.61×
4	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$130,730	98.1	130	1.23×
5	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$129,380	98.6	260	0.96×
6	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$129,270	115.6	260	1.32×
7	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$125,970	103.1	220	0.67×
8	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$123,900	94.7	150	1.60×
9	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$123,230	111.9	110	0.88×
10	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$118,200	106.7	110	1.27×
11	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$113,200	111.1	40	0.24×
12	Visalia, CA	$108,790	99.8	30	2.37×
13	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	$108,230	90.0	30	2.24×
14	El Paso, TX	$106,010	89.9	50	1.87×
15	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$102,900	100.9	30	1.14×
16	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$99,620	95.8	60	1.43×
17	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$92,250	101.8	70	1.15×
18	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$90,230	112.6	1,060	1.35×
19	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$86,900	104.8	160	0.99×
20	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$86,510	113.6	290	0.55×
21	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$85,690	95.4	70	0.72×
22	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$83,000	105.8	190	1.43×
23	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$82,040	91.7	50	1.35×
24	Fargo, ND-MN	$80,720	90.9	30	2.47×
25	Mobile, AL	$80,110	88.1	30	2.17×
26	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$80,000	100.1	260	1.10×
27	Colorado Springs, CO	$79,100	100.7	30	1.19×
28	Omaha, NE-IA	$77,900	91.9	40	0.92×
29	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$76,790	103.6	510	1.37×
30	Birmingham, AL	$76,560	91.6	60	1.41×
31	St. Louis, MO-IL	$76,310	95.1	130	1.14×
32	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$75,980	92.6	90	2.31×
33	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$74,760	102.6	240	1.01×
34	Baton Rouge, LA	$74,630	90.8	50	1.53×
35	Boise City, ID	$69,330	98.4	40	1.14×
36	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$69,100	100.3	100	0.61×
37	Columbus, OH	$67,330	95.5	80	0.85×
38	Wichita, KS	$67,200	88.9	30	1.21×
39	Cleveland, OH	$66,220	93.9	50	0.57×
40	Fort Wayne, IN	$66,160	92.6	40	1.93×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where court reporters and simultaneous captioners wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Public Relations Specialists$74,750
Editors$77,920
Interpreters and Translators$60,170
Writers and Authors$76,910
Technical Writers$90,390
News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists$62,200
Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys$47,340
Media and Communication Workers, All Other$73,620

Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where court reporters and simultaneous captioners earn the most

Best paying metro areas for court reporters and simultaneous captioners

Similar occupations

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