Also called: Certified Court Interpreter, Legal Interpreter
Interprets between English and another language so people can understand and speak in court.
A Spanish court interpreter might work six hearings in a morning, switching between English and Spanish instantly while a defendant speaks. Every word must be exact because someone's freedom may depend on it. Rare-language interpreters (like Mixtec or Somali) are in high demand.
Federally certified interpreters earn more.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Fluency in two languages and passing state or federal court interpreter certification.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification, Self-taught. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Spanish, Linguistics, Translation and Interpreting, Chinese.
Growing about average (about 2% over 10 years). BLS interpreters and translators overall.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. AI translation helps with documents and simple hearings; certified in-person interpreters stay required for trials, but less routine work.
Classes: Spanish or another world language, AP language and culture, Speech and debate, AP English Language.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-3091.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.