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Interpreters and Translators Salary in the United States

DOL-verified data from 2,282 government filings, with BLS survey comparison.

DOL Median Salary
$45,594
BLS median: $59,440
DOL Median Salary
$45,594
From 2,282 DOL filings
BLS Median Salary
$59,440
BLS OEWS 2024 survey
Total Employers
1,072
Companies with DOL filings
Total Employment
53,360
Estimated US workers (BLS)

DOL Filings vs BLS Survey

What Employers File with DOL

$45,594
DOL-Filed Salary Range
$15,080$37,939$45,594$55,982$247,000

This figure comes from 2,282 employer filings with the US Department of Labor under legal obligation. Employers file this salary when sponsoring workers for PERM green cards or H-1B visas.

What BLS Says the Market Pays

$59,440
BLS Survey Salary Range
$35,630$45,020$59,440$80,020$99,830

This figure comes from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey of 53,360 establishments. This is an independent survey-based estimate of what all workers in this occupation earn.

DOL-filed salaries are 23.3% lower than BLS survey data, which may reflect that sponsored positions concentrate in high-cost locations or experience-intensive roles.

Salary Distribution

Top Paying Employers for Interpreters and Translators

Ranked by median salary from DOL filings
RankEmployerMedian SalaryFilingsvs Market
1Facebook Inc.$126,5559+112.9%
2Apple Inc.$105,00024+76.7%
3eBay Inc.$90,0005+51.4%
4Stanford Health Care$79,7265+34.1%
5BLOOMBERG LP$73,0007+22.8%
6Netflix, Inc.$72,90415+22.7%
7Welocalize, Inc.$70,00026+17.8%
8LE TECHNOLOGY INC$67,5006+13.6%
9Faraday&Future Inc.$65,0006+9.4%
10LAW OFFICES OF ELAINE H CHANG$62,4215+5%
11Capital Communications Group, Inc.$62,4006+5%
12MASTERWORD SERVICES, INC.$62,40014+5%
13Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation$61,40214+3.3%
14TRANS-M, LTD.$60,0005+0.9%
15Nikkei America, Inc.$56,5505-4.9%
16Z-AXIS TECH SOLUTIONS INC$56,00411-5.8%
17R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company$55,0006-7.5%
18Soundhound, Inc$54,8426-7.7%
19DISCO INTERNATIONAL, INC.$54,0006-9.2%
20Interpreting Services International$52,97842-10.9%
21HIGHTECH PASSPORT LTD.$52,8008-11.2%
22HONDA LANGUAGE SERVICES, INC.$52,8007-11.2%
23HONDA KAIHATSU KOGYO USA, INC.$52,80010-11.2%
24Uber Group, PLLC$52,5006-11.7%
25Donnelley Financial LLC$52,00014-12.5%
26R.R. DONNELLEY AND SONS COMPANY$51,0006-14.2%
27VOX ORBIS LLC$50,8005-14.5%
28AGNEW MULTILINGUAL$50,0005-15.9%
29MediaLocate, Inc.$50,00014-15.9%
30Eriksen Translations Inc.$49,8045-16.2%
31Lionbridge Technologies, Inc$49,1348-17.3%
32GLOBAL LANGUAGE SOLUTIONS$49,00010-17.6%
33Honda Kaihatsu Americas, Inc.$48,0007-19.3%
34Goken America, LLC$47,9239-19.4%
35ALLEGRAVITA LLC$47,8405-19.5%
36KEROSKY PURVES AND BOGUE$47,21612-20.6%
37International Baccalaureate Organization$47,00013-20.9%
38Zhou Law Inc$46,0305-22.6%
39TRANSLATING SPECIALISTS CORP$45,7605-23%
40UNIVERSE TECHNICAL TRANSLATION$45,76011-23%
41TransPerfect Translations International Inc.$45,59490-23.3%
42CETRA, INC.$45,2409-23.9%
43Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP$45,0005-24.3%
44Arete Solutions Inc.$44,2426-25.6%
45CMA LAW GROUP, PLLC$43,6805-26.5%
46Link Translations, Inc.$43,5555-26.7%
47Wei Bo Learning Organization Inc$42,9005-27.8%
48UNITED STATES CHINA EXCHANGE COUNCIL$42,5156-28.5%
49HIPR Pacsoft Technologies, Inc$41,6008-30%
50Emurasoft, Inc.$40,0635-32.6%

View all companies hiring Interpreters and Translators

Salary by Metro Area

Metro AreaMedianvs NationalFilingsEmployers
Cupertino, CA$83,200+82.5%334
San Mateo, CA$73,440+61.1%105
Washington, DC$61,901+35.8%1410
San Jose, CA$60,000+31.6%3518
Glendale, CA$55,411+21.5%242
San Diego, CA$55,127+20.9%108
San Francisco, CA$53,966+18.4%3216
Santa Clara, CA$53,000+16.2%199
Brooklyn, NY$51,500+13%118
Gardena, CA$50,253+10.2%158
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA$50,000+9.7%153
New York, NE$50,000+9.7%2520
Bethesda, MD$47,000+3.1%111
New York, NY$46,000+0.9%19386
City of Industry, CA$45,760+0.4%179
Houston, TX$45,469-0.3%3714
Philadelphia, PA$45,000-1.3%1514
Irvine, CA$41,300-9.4%2411
San Gabriel, CA$39,208-14%114
Los Angeles, CA$38,000-16.7%5444
Torrance, CA$37,918-16.8%1710
ARCADIA, CA$37,440-17.9%279
Coral Gables, FL$37,440-17.9%101
Newport Beach, CA$36,598-19.7%103
Flushing, NY$33,280-27%2217
Chicago, IL$31,200-31.6%1410
Miami, FL$29,750-34.7%2016

Salary by State

StateMedianvs NationalFilings
Minnesota$65,485+3.2%2
Maryland$61,402-21.6%36
District of Columbia$61,402-24.3%15
New Mexico$51,750-12.3%3
Arizona$50,400+4.6%15
California$50,000-32%559
Nebraska$49,608+1.1%47
Hawaii$48,252+1.4%9
Ohio$47,962-17.1%28
Massachusetts$47,528-27.4%38
Colorado$47,434-28.8%6
Delaware$47,000-5.6%3
Arkansas$46,322-9%3
Oregon$46,010-25.2%9
Louisiana$45,804+1.7%4
Virginia$45,760-38.4%20
Utah$45,760-30.7%15
New York$45,000-46.8%246
Iowa$44,350-11.5%5
New Jersey$43,150-4.4%42
Texas$43,000-5.7%69
Nevada$42,796-10.6%6
North Carolina$42,203-17%6
Pennsylvania$41,956-14.4%34
West Virginia$41,800-34.4%2
Michigan$40,082-23.3%21
Alabama$40,000-12.6%19
Connecticut$39,562-31.4%6
Washington$38,306-45%20
Tennessee$38,064-22.7%9
Georgia$37,939-38.4%24
Wisconsin$37,835-38%4
Kentucky$37,440-30.4%3
Indiana$37,000-22.1%8
Florida$36,525-21.2%82
Missouri$36,504-29.9%1
South Carolina$36,370-22.7%8
Illinois$36,250-32.7%48
South Dakota$34,000-31.5%1
Oklahoma$24,814-46.8%1

Salary Trend - DOL Data

Education Requirements

From PERM filings

For Interpreters and Translators positions, 57% of PERM filings required a Bachelor's degree, 22% required a Master's degree, and 16% required no formal degree.

Education by Top Employer

Most common minimum education from PERM filings
EmployerMost Common EducationMedian Salary
TransPerfect Translations International Inc.Bachelor's$45,594
Interpreting Services InternationalMaster's$52,978
Law Offices of Deacon Zhang, P.C.Bachelor's$36,566
Welocalize, Inc.Not specified$70,000
Apple Inc.Master's$105,000
American Education and Translation Services CorpBachelor's$37,669
Professional Translating Services, Inc.Not specified$37,440
Taki Law Offices, A Professional CorporationHigh School$32,864
Law offices of Melanie M YangNot specified$39,208
Netflix, Inc.Master's$72,904

Salary by Industry

Same occupation, different industries (NAICS)

The highest-paying industry for Interpreters and Translators is Information (Technology) at $62,850. The lowest-paying industry with significant hiring is Wholesale Trade at $39,943.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a Interpreters and Translators make?

Based on 2,282 DOL filings, the median salary for a Interpreters and Translators is $45,594, ranging from $37,939 to $55,982.

What is the highest salary for a Interpreters and Translators?

The 90th percentile salary is $99,830 according to BLS data.

Which city pays the most for Interpreters and Translators?

Based on DOL filings, Cupertino, CA offers the highest median at $83,200.

Does this data include all Interpreters and Translators salaries or only visa-sponsored workers?

DOL filing data covers positions where the employer filed for PERM green card sponsorship or an H-1B visa. These filings represent a subset of all Interpreters and Translators positions. We compare this data against BLS OEWS data which covers all workers in this occupation.

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Source: US Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) public disclosure files (PERM Form ETA-9089 and LCA Form ETA-9035), and US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Salary figures represent employer filings and government survey estimates, not individual worker pay.