Court Reporters Salary in the U.S

A court reporter is the official keeper of records in all legal proceedings, capturing all the words spoken in court and documenting them. In the US, there are two main types of court reporters; official reporter and independent court reporter. Official court reporters work for the government and are appointed by the court.

Independent reporters, also known as freelance reporters, work with different agencies to provide deposition, arbitration, and other court related services. All court reporters are professionally trained in preparing transcripts and verbatim of legal proceedings, making sure that the data they compile is completely unbiased. There are different roles in which a court reporter can work.

• Scopist – Professional Transcript Editor.
• Officials – Convert all spoken words during proceeding into text.
• Legislative – Work in a specific capacity for state legislatures and the United States Congress.
• Hearing – Make use of specialized equipment and verbatim techniques to capture and transcribe legal proceedings.
• Real-Time – Specifically trained in broadcast captioning and real-time translation.
• Freelancers – Work on contractual basis, hired by attorneys, unions, and corporations on need basis.

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Various factors determine the salary of a court reporter that includes education, experience, and job location. Court reporter’s salary automatically increases in the US with experience and years spent in the courtroom. Similarly, location also plays an important role in salary as some states pay more, keeping in view the demand for the profession.

To rise in the ranks and obtain a lucrative salary package for yourself, it is recommended to strengthen your skills and earn advanced certifications in court reporting. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021, the annual mean wage of court reporters in the US is $ 65,240. Find below the salary trend of court reporters over the past few years, from 2018 to 2021

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021)

The mean annual salaries for court reporters and simultaneous captioners in the top paying industries in the US in 2021 were as follows:

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021)

Below are the top paying states for court reporters and simultaneous captioners in the US:

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021)

As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021, New York is the highest paying state with the annual mean wage of $ 100,270. Colorado is ranked at the 5^th spot with the annual mean wage being $ 76,410.

According to BLS, the employment of court reporters is projected to grow by 3% between 2020 to 2030. Even though its slower than the average as compared to the other occupations, there are around 2,100 projected openings for court reporters for the same time period. The projected employment by 2030 is predicted to be 21,800 employees. Below are the States with the highest employment level in court reporters and simultaneous captioners:

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021)