Medical transcriptionists
Salary, job outlook, AI risk & career information
Median Salary
$37,550
~$18/hr · ~$3,129/mo
US Jobs
44K
Decline
AI & Automation Risk
10/10
Critical
AI & Automation Risk
Critical 10/10
Medical transcription is a purely digital, routine information-processing task that has already been heavily impacted by speech recognition. Modern AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) can now handle complex medical terminology, formatting, and summarization with high accuracy, transforming the human role into a diminishing oversight function or eliminating it entirely.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Cloud, MNBEST VALUE | $52,190 | Below avg (89.3) | $58,443 |
| Rapid City, SD | $52,310 | Below avg (90.3) | $57,931 |
| Duluth, MN-WI | $49,950 | Below avg (87.2) | $57,295 |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | $51,880 | Below avg (90.8) | $57,143 |
| Eau Claire, WI | $49,720 | Below avg (91.5) | $54,322 |
| Portland-South Portland, ME | $56,250 | Above avg (104.4) | $53,903 |
| Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH | $49,460 | Below avg (92.4) | $53,541 |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | $54,290 | Above avg (103.3) | $52,559 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | $49,290 | Below avg (95.7) | $51,520 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $57,970 | Above avg (113.1) | $51,274 |
| Green Bay, WI | $47,230 | Below avg (92.2) | $51,228 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $53,050 | Above avg (104.3) | $50,862 |
| Jackson, TN | $43,970 | Below avg (86.8) | $50,668 |
| Sioux Falls, SD-MN | $45,580 | Below avg (90.1) | $50,593 |
| Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA | $42,930 | Below avg (85.0) | $50,513 |
Cost of Living Index: 100 = US national average. Below 100 = cheaper. Above 100 = more expensive.
Education & Requirements
Education Required
Postsecondary nondegree award
10-Year Growth
-5% (Decline)
Hourly Rate
~$18/hr
Monthly Income
~$3,129/mo
Related Careers
Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics OOH (2024)