Interpreters and Translators
SOC 27-3091 · 2024-2034
Interpret oral or sign language, or translate written text from one language into another.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $72,751per year
- Projected openings
- 7,550
- Projected change
- +6.6%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $101,598 | 50 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $99,133 | 520 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $95,271 | 60 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $87,594 | 510 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $86,632 | 10 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $82,360 | 640 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $82,297 | 920 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $80,264 | 60 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $79,822 | 790 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $74,152 | 140 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $74,121 | 130 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $73,392 | 10 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $69,324 | 80 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $67,958 | 740 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $67,835 | 640 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $67,524 | 2,220 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $66,561 | 730 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $66,037 | 210 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $64,301 | 80 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $64,096 | 30 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $62,945 | 30 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $61,117 | 100 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $55,026 | 80 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $51,071 | 80 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $50,916
- A quarter earn under
- $57,804
- Half earn under
- $72,751
- Three quarters earn under
- $104,866
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $123,164
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speech-Language Pathologists | $122,300 | 13,740 | +24% |
| Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary | $102,655 | 1,700 | 0% |
| Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors | $104,886 | 1,700 | -11.8% |
| Healthcare Support Workers, All Other | $50,374 | 32,750 | +7.1% |
| English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary | $134,143 | 3,890 | -3.4% |
| Tutors | $46,362 | 91,790 | +6.8% |
Programs that train for this job — 10
Spanish/English Interpretation
SF State, College of Professional & Global Education · San Francisco · $3,650
Healthcare Interpreter Certificate of Achievement
City College of San Francisco · San Francisco · $1,084
Professional Translator
Loyola Marymount University - LMU Extension · Los Angeles · $3,145
Medical Interpreter (Spanish/English)
Loyola Marymount University - LMU Extension · Los Angeles · $3,145
Professional Interpreter Online
Loyola Marymount University - LMU Extension · Los Angeles · $1,445
Certificate in Legal Interpretation and Translation, Chinese/English (Online)
UCLA Extension · Los Angeles · $5,809
Certificate in Legal Interpretation and Translation, Spanish/English (Online)
UCLA Extension · Los Angeles · $5,849
Medical Interpreter Program - ONLINE
FUHSD Adult School · Sunnyvale · $1,135
ASL Interpreter Training - BC
Kern Community College District · Bakersfield · $3,760
Professional Analytic Linguist
Translation Skills Training', LLC · Newport Beach · $5,663