Court Reporting Salary: How Much Do They Make In A Year?

Courts of law will always need court reporters, and every court proceeding will remain incomplete without a stenographer (another term for them) present to ensure the complete and precise recording of what transpires during a hearing or deposition.

Given this solid demand for their skills, court reporters enjoy steady employment. According to the United States Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), they make an hourly average wage of $25.61. That's roughly $53,000 per year. Starting salary is usually at $12 to $16 or $25,000 to $35,000 annually. Some of them even make it to $30 to $45 hourly rate - that is $60,000 to $90,000 per year.

The OES reports that the best employers for court reporters remain to be state and federal courts. They pay $27 per hour on the average, and that's on top of the benefits package that government workers receive such as insurances, sick leaves, and paid vacations.

Court reporters are limited in terms of career advancement since their career path starts and stops at court reporting. This does not mean that stenographers cannot enjoy pay increases and opportunities to boost their earning power.

Many of them who have regular employment in courts and law firms also take on other part-time jobs where they can apply their fast typing skills and transcription skills. They find part-time transcription jobs online which pay per project or per hour of work completed. Aside from legal transcription, some are also engaged in medical transcription wherein they put their typing and listening skills to work in order to transcribe the legal meetings, depositions, and medical consultations.

Others are also engaged in freelance work. They take on jobs from businesses and other service providers. They go out to the field to do the recording using their stenographic machines, special audio recording devices and computers, or voice writing devices. After successfully recording, they return to the comfort of their own homes to type up the transcription. Aside from the hourly pay they get for the recording job, they also get a per-page fee for the transcription they print and submit to their clients.

As with most jobs, experience and expertise count towards higher hourly rates. Private entities such as law firms and transcription service providers take into consideration such credentials as years of experience in the job, certification with any of the handful of stenographer professional organizations, and certain expertise.

For those who have been in the job for some time can also work as trainers of the next generation of court reporters. There are many business schools that offer training programs, and dozens more online court reporting schools that hire seasoned court clerks. Broadcast media also hire them for closed captioning of certain programs for the benefit of persons with hearing impairment.