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Interpreters and Translators

Education and TrainingO*NET 27-3091.00United States

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

COMING SOON See related ASU learning
Median annual earnings
$60,118

50th percentile, United States

Projected change
+5.1%

2025 to 2035

Typical education
Bachelor's degree

54.7% of the workforce

Employment
82.04K jobs

Growing to 86.21K by 2035

Explore this career by location

Compare nationwide estimates with state or county job-market data.

Showing United States

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Build the skills

ASU learning related to this career

These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.

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The work

What interpreters and translators do

Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.

  • 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.

Pay and outlook

What the job pays and where it is heading

Annual earnings range

Reported earnings by percentile, United States

10th percentile
$31,414
25th percentile
$42,544
50th percentile
$60,118
75th percentile
$86,584
90th percentile
$130,122

The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $60,118 and half earn less.

Employment outlook

2025 to 2035 projection

+5.1%average or slower
202582,043 jobs
2035 projected86,213 jobs

4,170 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.

Preparation

Education levels

What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.

Bachelor's degree
54.7%
Master's or Professional degree
31.6%
High school diploma or less
8%
Associate degree
4.4%
Certificate
1.3%

Skills

Skills employers ask for

Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.

  • Language Interpretation
  • American Sign Language (ASL)
  • Sign Language Interpretation
  • Language Translation
  • Transcribing
  • Effective Communication
  • Bilingual (Spanish/English)
  • Social Work
  • Medical Terminology
  • Individualized Education Programs (IEP)
  • Vocabulary
  • Human Services
  • Productivity Software
  • Special Education
  • Physical Stamina
  • Pronunciation
  • Hearing Disorders
  • Linguistics
  • Language Assessment
  • Manual Dexterity

How the work gets done

Core competencies

Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.

Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Persuasion
Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.

In the market

Job titles and employers

Recent job postings in United States

Common job titles

  1. 01Sign Language Interpreters3,050 postings
  2. 02Interpreters2,516 postings
  3. 03American Sign Language Interpreters2,088 postings
  4. 04Educational Interpreters1,196 postings
  5. 05Translators1,063 postings
  6. 06Spanish Interpreters895 postings
  7. 07Educational Sign Language Interpreters521 postings
  8. 08Linguists502 postings
  9. 09Spanish Medical Interpreters395 postings
  10. 10Medical Interpreters329 postings
  11. 11School Sign Language Interpreters306 postings
  12. 12Vietnamese Interpreters303 postings
  13. 13Spanish Linguists285 postings
  14. 14Legal Translators236 postings
  15. 15Spanish-English Interpreters233 postings
  16. 16Interpreters/Translators213 postings
  17. 17Language Interpreters211 postings
  18. 18Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing171 postings
  19. 19Portuguese Teachers165 postings
  20. 20Arabic Interpreters160 postings

Top employers

  1. 01Soliant Health2,590 postings
  2. 02Cayuse Holdings1,472 postings
  3. 03LanguageLine Solutions512 postings
  4. 04Blazerjobs467 postings
  5. 05ProCare Therapy426 postings
  6. 06Universal Language Service376 postings
  7. 07Kelly Services305 postings
  8. 08Language Trainers301 postings
  9. 09VocoVision294 postings
  10. 10Amergis290 postings
  11. 11Sunbelt Staffing283 postings
  12. 12Hanna Interpreting Services254 postings
  13. 13Purple Communications201 postings
  14. 14Language Services Associates193 postings
  15. 15Sosi International188 postings
  16. 16The Kace Company183 postings
  17. 17Sos Ministries178 postings
  18. 18Edjoin.Org163 postings
  19. 19Adastra143 postings
  20. 20National Security Agency140 postings

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