Court reporters and simultaneous captioners
Salary, job outlook, AI risk & career information
Court reporters and simultaneous captioners in the United States earn a median salary of $72,420 per year — about $35 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roughly 18K people work in this occupation nationwide, with projected employment growth of 0%.
AI & Automation Risk
The core product of this occupation is a verbatim digital transcript, a task where AI speech-to-text and natural language processing are already highly proficient. While legal requirements for human oversight and the need to clarify inaudible speech provide a temporary buffer, the rapid advancement of AI in transcription and real-time captioning creates extreme pressure for automation and massive productivity gains that reduce the need for human workers.
Salary by City — What You Actually Take Home
Real purchasing power = salary adjusted for cost of living. Higher = more money in your pocket.
| City | Local Salary | Cost of Living | Real Purchasing Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TXBEST VALUE | $130,730 | Average (98.1) | $133,308 |
| Stockton-Lodi, CA | $138,340 | Above avg (105.1) | $131,641 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $129,380 | Average (98.6) | $131,178 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | $123,900 | Below avg (94.7) | $130,812 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $143,170 | Above avg (110.4) | $129,656 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $133,900 | Above avg (106.4) | $125,796 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $125,970 | Above avg (103.1) | $122,194 |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | $108,230 | Below avg (90.0) | $120,194 |
| El Paso, TX | $106,010 | Below avg (89.9) | $117,904 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $129,270 | Above avg (115.6) | $111,813 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $118,200 | Above avg (106.7) | $110,809 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $123,230 | Above avg (111.9) | $110,138 |
| Visalia, CA | $108,790 | Average (99.8) | $108,981 |
| Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | $99,620 | Below avg (95.8) | $103,940 |
| Bakersfield-Delano, CA | $102,900 | Average (100.9) | $101,996 |
Education & Requirements
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