Occupational Employment and Wages, 2002

27-3091 Interpreters and Translators

Translate or interpret written, oral, or sign language text into another language for others.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
18,600	3.3 %	$16.78	$34,900	1.1 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$9.37	$11.97	$15.67	$20.33	$25.99
Annual Wage (2)	$19,480	$24,900	$32,590	$42,290	$54,050

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Employment rank	Wage rank
Elementary and secondary schools	4,020	$14.70	$30,580	1	27
Other professional and technical services	2,050	$17.60	$36,600	2	14
General medical and surgical hospitals	1,380	$15.87	$33,000	3	20
Junior colleges	1,370	$18.58	$38,640	4	11
Local government (OES designation)	1,150	$15.32	$31,870	5	23

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Employment rank	Wage rank
Advertising and related services	70	$27.00	$56,160	28	1
Management and technical consulting services	80	$26.90	$55,960	25	2
Architectural and engineering services	60	$26.16	$54,410	29	3
Radio and television broadcasting	100	$24.08	$50,090	19	4
Federal government (OES designation)	490	$24.01	$49,930	9	5

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of State employment	Wage rank within State
Washington	940	$20.81	$43,280	0.037%	283
Arizona	700	$14.40	$29,950	0.031%	349
Maryland	700	$19.99	$41,570	0.029%	239
District of Columbia	160	$27.95	$58,130	0.027%	118
Rhode Island	120	$15.95	$33,180	0.025%	276

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of State employment	Wage rank within State
District of Columbia	160	$27.95	$58,130	0.027%	118
Connecticut	300	$20.90	$43,480	0.018%	238
Washington	940	$20.81	$43,280	0.037%	283
Alaska	60	$20.78	$43,230	0.021%	198
Maryland	700	$19.99	$41,570	0.029%	239

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of MSA employment
Salem, OR PMSA	110	$21.28	$44,250	0.081%
Yakima, WA MSA	50	$18.69	$38,880	0.064%
Bryan-College Station, TX MSA	40	$18.22	$37,890	0.053%
Rochester, NY MSA	260	$14.49	$30,140	0.051%
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA PMSA	540	$23.81	$49,510	0.042%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of MSA employment
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA PMSA	540	$23.81	$49,510	0.042%
Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV PMSA	820	$22.22	$46,210	0.031%
Anchorage, AK MSA	(6)	$21.93	$45,600	(6)
Nassau-Suffolk, NY PMSA	60	$21.36	$44,430	0.005%
Salem, OR PMSA	110	$21.28	$44,250	0.081%

About 2002 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

To see profiles of other occupations, select from the major groups below:

    Select a major group to view     All Occupations Management Occupations Business and Financial Operations Occupations Computer and Mathematical Science Occupations Architecture and Engineering Occupations Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations Community and Social Services Occupations Legal Occupations Education, Training, and Library Occupations Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Occupations Healthcare Support Occupations Protective Service Occupations Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations Personal Care and Service Occupations Sales and Related Occupations Office and Administrative Support Occupations Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations Construction and Extraction Occupations Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations Production Occupations Transportation and Material Moving Occupations

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files(XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.

(1) Data for detailed occupations does not sum to the totals because the totals include data for occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(6) Estimates not released.

All Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations

2002 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download 2002 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: November 26, 2003