occupation · 27-3091 · detailed
Interpreters and Translators — wages and employment
Interpreters and Translators earned a median annual wage of $59,440 in the United States in May 2024, with 53,360 people employed, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
What stands out
Interpreters and Translators earned a median annual wage of $59,440 in the United States in May 2024, with 53,360 people employed, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The lowest-paid tenth earned $35,630 or less, the best-paid tenth $99,830 or more. Since May 2023 the median moved from $57,090 to $59,440, +4.1 %. The best-paying state is New York at $84,650; the lowest Mississippi at $43,410. Among metropolitan areas, Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA pays the highest median, $98,910. Wages are as published by BLS for May of each year; '≥ $239,200' is BLS's top code. Every value links to its fact record.
United States, year by year
Annual wages at the median, mean and four percentiles; employment is the May estimate.
| Reference | Employment | Median | Mean | 10th | 25th | 75th | 90th | Median hourly | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | 53,360 | $59,440 | $64,950 | $35,630 | $45,020 | $80,020 | $99,830 | $28.58 | evidence → |
| May 2023 | 51,560 | $57,090 | $63,080 | $35,410 | $44,810 | $76,960 | $97,100 | $27.45 | evidence → |
By state
Median annual wage, May 2024, highest first. Each state has its own record with the full series.
| State | Median annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $84,650 | 3,650 |
| District of Columbia | $81,140 | 160 |
| Maryland | $78,350 | 870 |
| Virginia | $74,250 | 2,610 |
| California | $73,510 | 6,710 |
| Washington | $69,620 | 1,620 |
| Colorado | $66,590 | 890 |
| Utah | $65,990 | 690 |
| Massachusetts | $65,490 | 2,250 |
| West Virginia | $63,750 | 60 |
| Minnesota | $63,440 | 1,060 |
| Georgia | $61,610 | 1,730 |
| Oregon | $61,520 | 1,220 |
| Wisconsin | $61,000 | 1,190 |
| Vermont | $60,210 | 80 |
| Alaska | $59,280 | 100 |
| New Mexico | $59,010 | 460 |
| Ohio | $57,850 | 1,670 |
| Connecticut | $57,700 | 220 |
| Wyoming | $57,700 | 30 |
| Idaho | $56,340 | 300 |
| Maine | $54,890 | 130 |
| New Hampshire | $54,650 | 50 |
| Illinois | $53,870 | 1,860 |
| Kentucky | $53,820 | 570 |
| Michigan | $52,240 | 540 |
| Missouri | $52,080 | 400 |
| Arkansas | $50,880 | 230 |
| North Carolina | $50,830 | 1,800 |
| Iowa | $50,110 | 510 |
| Delaware | $49,790 | 90 |
| South Dakota | $49,630 | 230 |
| Tennessee | $49,270 | 710 |
| Nebraska | $49,070 | 570 |
| Pennsylvania | $49,010 | 1,050 |
| Arizona | $48,200 | 2,040 |
| Nevada | $47,890 | 450 |
| Kansas | $47,830 | 440 |
| Hawaii | $47,580 | 70 |
| Indiana | $47,470 | 990 |
| South Carolina | $47,060 | 440 |
| Puerto Rico | $46,700 | 180 |
| Oklahoma | $46,640 | 330 |
| Florida | $46,320 | 4,500 |
| Montana | $46,240 | 60 |
| North Dakota | $46,150 | — |
| Alabama | $45,760 | 360 |
| Texas | $45,610 | 5,820 |
| New Jersey | $45,120 | 1,090 |
| Louisiana | $45,060 | 150 |
| Mississippi | $43,410 | — |
Highest-paying metropolitan areas
Top 20 by median annual wage.
| Metro area | Median annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $98,910 | 30 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $96,510 | 340 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $85,660 | 40 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $85,590 | 2,000 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $84,670 | 840 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $83,740 | 3,060 |
| Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL | $81,600 | 60 |
| Salinas, CA | $80,120 | 760 |
| Colorado Springs, CO | $80,020 | 150 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $78,140 | 40 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $77,710 | 540 |
| Salem, OR | $77,320 | 100 |
| Rochester, NY | $76,610 | 520 |
| St. Cloud, MN | $76,500 | 70 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $75,730 | 1,120 |
| Savannah, GA | $75,230 | 40 |
| Lancaster, PA | $75,010 | 30 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $73,520 | 240 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $73,220 | 520 |
| Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | $73,080 | 50 |
Machine access — free, no API key
Every figure shown here about Interpreters and Translators — wages and employment can also be queried live: FACTANKER runs an MCP server at https://factanker.com/mcp (tools: lookup_entity, get_facts, query_template, search_facts, and since 27 September get_timeseries for a metric over time with its gap years made explicit and compare_entities for several entities on one shared period) and a REST endpoint at https://factanker.com/api/get_facts. Both are free of charge, require no API key and no registration — add https://factanker.com/mcp as a connector in Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot. Every answer carries its source document and a citation reference. Setup: /quickstart.
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