Market performance and unemployment rates are standard indicators of the mood of the economy. For the language industry, rates and employment levels are two additional important factors.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in an April 2025 update to its Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), reported some mixed news for translators and interpreters (T&Is) — specifically those who are employees. 

The BLS estimated about 78,300 jobs in 2023, with nearly one-third (32%) of those being self-employed. (Data on their earnings was not included in the OOH.)

The majority of the remaining T&Is worked in professional, scientific, and technical services (26%); educational services (18%); hospitals (6%); and government (5%).

One coup is a 5% increase to the median T&I annual wage, from USD 57,090 in 2023 to USD 59,940 in 2024; the median hourly wage grew to USD 28.58. 

This is about 20% higher than the median salary for all occupations, USD 49,500, but 17% lower than the median salary for the broader category of “media and communications” workers, USD 70,300. The average hourly wage reached USD 31.22; the average annual salary, USD 64,950.

The lowest paid 10% of T&Is earned less than USD 35,630, while the highest 10% earned more than USD 99,830. 

As veterans of the language industry well know, earnings depend on a number of variables, including language pair, education level, certification, work experience, and specialty.

The highest-paid T&Is in 2024 worked in scientific R&D (annual mean wage of USD 126,120), the federal executive branch (USD 104,570), and software publishing (USD 91,940). The top five were rounded out by grantmaking and giving services (USD 90,570) and architectural and engineering services (USD 89,450).

The majority of T&Is in the US, however, do not take home that level of pay. The median annual salary for the industries with the most T&Is ranges from USD 69,950 for the government, to USD 60,890 for hospitals, to USD 60,560 for educational services. The broad category of “professional, scientific, and technical services,” which employs an estimated 19,430 T&Is, provides an average salary of USD 59,020.

Location also plays a factor, with T&Is in Washington, DC, averaging the highest annual wage (USD 88,370), followed closely by New York (USD 86,810) and Maryland (USD 84,710). California employs the greatest number of T&Is (6,710), significantly outpacing runners-up Texas (5,820) and Florida (4,500).

“Many of these jobs cannot be entirely automated because computers cannot yet produce work comparable to what human translators do in most cases.” — OOH

Open Jobs vs New Jobs

The BLS has slightly downgraded its expectations for job growth in the language industry, previously at 3%, or “about as fast as the average for all occupations,” to 2%, “slower than the average” 4%. The broader media and communications industry, meanwhile, is expected to grow 3%.

“Despite limited employment growth, about 7,500 openings for interpreters and translators are projected each year, on average, over the decade,” the OOH states. “Most of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.”

In other words, most openings will not be for new jobs, but for existing, vacated jobs. The BLS estimates that T&I employment will grow from 78,300 in 2023 to 80,100 in 2033, translating to an additional 1,800 jobs.

The OOH attributes increased demand to a more diverse US population, increasing globalization, an ongoing need for military and security translation and interpreting, and, for American Sign Language, the widespread use of video relay services.

“Computer tools, including artificial intelligence (AI), have made the work of translators and localization specialists more efficient,” the OOH acknowledges. “However, many of these jobs cannot be entirely automated because computers cannot yet produce work comparable to what human translators do in most cases.”