Turns written text—contracts, manuals, books, websites—from one language into another.
Translates a 30-page medical device manual from German to English, researching technical terms, then proofreads a colleague's work.
BLS interpreters & translators, May 2024 (approx).
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's usually; fluency in two languages and ATA certification matter most.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification, Self-taught. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Foreign Languages, Translation Studies, Linguistics.
Growing about average (about 2% over 10 years). BLS 2024-34 (approx).
High risk for 10 years. Machine translation now handles most routine text; remaining work is editing AI output and high-stakes legal, literary or medical text.
Classes: AP Spanish, French, Chinese or other, AP English Language, AP World History.
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.