Transcribers produce written copies of audio or video files, meetings, and interviews. This work includes listening to and interpreting audio into long-form text, editing published copy drafts, and liaising with consumers.
Generally, a transcriptionist's salary is about $15, while an advanced transcriptionist receives around $25 to $30 per hour. For this charge, if they work 2.5 hours a day for 24 days, they can comfortably receive $1,500 per month.
Transcriptionists are good typists with fair hearing or listening abilities and are comfortable using a machine for stuff like reading and uploading data.
To be a transcriptionist, candidates require a transcription license alongside a bachelor's degree. No one can pass a transcription exam without preparation or practice, so there's no use in perpetuating the misconception that "anyone can be a transcriptionist."
Transcriber Overview
Transcriber Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a transcriber. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.13 an hour? That's $41,864 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -2,000 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Transcriber Do
There are certain skills that many transcribers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed computer skills, listening skills and time-management skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a transcriber, we found that a lot of resumes listed 18.9% of transcribers included wpm, while 15.8% of resumes included online, and 14.9% of resumes included transcription services. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the transcriber job title. But what industry to start with? Most transcribers actually find jobs in the education and health care industries.
How To Become a Transcriber
If you're interested in becoming a transcriber, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 54.8% of transcribers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 11.7% of transcribers have master's degrees. Even though most transcribers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a transcriber. When we researched the most common majors for a transcriber, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on transcriber resumes include master's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a transcriber. In fact, many transcriber jobs require experience in a role such as internship. Meanwhile, many transcribers also have previous career experience in roles such as administrative assistant or cashier.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Transcriber Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of legal secretary you might progress to a role such as office manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title account manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Transcriber
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Pearson Transcriber (Remote) Transcriber (Remote) | Pearson Pearson | 05/27/2020 05/27/2020 | $37,56605/27/2020 $37,566 |
Pearson Transcriber (Remote) Transcriber (Remote) | Pearson Pearson | 05/27/2020 05/27/2020 | $37,56605/27/2020 $37,566 |
Pearson Transcriber (Remote) Transcriber (Remote) | Pearson Pearson | 05/27/2020 05/27/2020 | $37,56605/27/2020 $37,566 |
Pearson Transcriber (Remote) Transcriber (Remote) | Pearson Pearson | 05/27/2020 05/27/2020 | $37,56605/27/2020 $37,566 |
Pearson Transcriber (Remote) Transcriber (Remote) | Pearson Pearson | 05/27/2020 05/27/2020 | $37,56605/27/2020 $37,566 |
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Top Skills For a Transcriber
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 18.9% of transcribers listed wpm on their resume, but soft skills such as computer skills and listening skills are important as well.
- WPM, 18.9%
- Online, 15.8%
- Transcription Services, 14.9%
- Internet, 11.3%
- Legal Documents, 6.1%
- Other Skills, 33.0% See All Transcriber Skills
Best States For a Transcriber
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a transcriber. The best states for people in this position are New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Transcribers make the most in New York with an average salary of $64,298. Whereas in New Jersey and Rhode Island, they would average $64,129 and $61,289, respectively. While transcribers would only make an average of $60,495 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New Jersey
$64,129
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$64,298
Avg. Salary
3. Alaska
$54,838
Avg. Salary
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