How Much Do Interpreters and Translators Make in 2021 (including Starting Salary)

Stan T.Career, SalaryLeave a Comment

Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries

Interpreters and Translators

Interpreters and Translators interpret oral or sign language, or translate written text from one language into another.

Salary
$58140
Becoming One
Hard
Education
Bachelor's degree
Job Satisfaction
Job Growth

Personality
Interest Match



Table of contents
  1. Average salary
  2. Starting salary
  3. Salary rank
  4. Salary range
  5. Highest paying states
  6. Highest paying industries

Average salary

Annual salary
$58140 per year
Hourly wage
$28 per hour

Starting salary

Entry-level annual salary
$29,740 to $38,410 per year
Entry-level hourly wage
$14 to $18 per hour

Entry-level Interpreters and Translators with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $29,740 to $38,410 per year or $14 to $18 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.

Salary rank

Salary rank
C

We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Interpreters and Translators to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.

Salary range

Level Hourly Annual
Highest (Top 10%) $46 $96,480
Senior (Top 25%) $35 $72,630
Middle (Mid 50%) $25 $52,330
Junior (Bottom 25%) $18 $38,410
No experience (Bottom 10%) $14 $29,740

Highest paying states

State Hourly Annual
VA $38 $79,440
NJ $35 $73,560
MD $35 $71,840
NY $34 $71,230
CA $32 $67,160
CT $32 $66,260
ME $29 $61,350
CO $29 $61,290
MA $29 $60,140
TX $28 $59,240

Another simple way to increase your salary as an Interpreter and Translator is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like VA doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at VA might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.

According to BLS, the highest paid Interpreters and Translators are in the states of VA, NJ, MD, NY and CA.

Highest paying industries

Salary by industry Annual Hourly
Federal Executive Branch $87410 $42.03
Computer Systems Design and Related Services $77010 $37.03
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools $71460 $34.36
Junior Colleges $69480 $33.40
Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals $67980 $32.68
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services $64720 $31.11
Employment Services $64670 $31.09
Management of Companies and Enterprises $64000 $30.77
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers $63150 $30.36
Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services $63070 $30.32
State Government $60360 $29.02
Legal Services $59830 $28.77
Other Information Services $59300 $28.51
Specialty Hospitals $56980 $27.39
Local Government $56850 $27.33
Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities $56740 $27.28
Other Residential Care Facilities $55890 $26.87
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals $55160 $26.52
Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing $54260 $26.09
Scientific Research and Development Services $53960 $25.94
Social Advocacy Organizations $53190 $25.57
Religious Organizations $52160 $25.08
Software Publishers $51480 $24.75
Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses $50260 $24.17
Individual and Family Services $49560 $23.83
Elementary and Secondary Schools $49480 $23.79
Outpatient Care Centers $49450 $23.78
Vocational Rehabilitation Services $49100 $23.61
Telecommunications $48590 $23.36
Offices of Dentists $47660 $22.91

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