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Creative & Media

Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners

Use verbatim methods and equipment to capture, store, retrieve, and transcribe pretrial and trial proceedings or other information. Includes stenocaptioners who operate computerized stenographic captioning equipment to provide captions of live or prerecorded broadcasts for hearing-impaired viewers.

Median salary (BLS)

$72,420

10th–90th percentile (BLS)

$42k – $131k

Job outlook

No separate BLS projection for this specific role

AI exposure

Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $91,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.

Plan a path to Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners

Qualification costsStack incomeBest cities/statesSchool ROIJob-posting fitTailored resume

Education

Typical entry: Associate degree

Plan my path to this →

How to qualify

Estimate

Cost to qualify

$8,000–$22,000

Time to qualify

2 yr

Renewal

—

  1. 1

    Associate degree (community college)

    Degree

    Two years at in-district rates — average published tuition & fees ≈ $4,050/yr, plus ~$1,200/yr books & supplies.

    $8,000–$22,000 · 2 years source

Estimated typical U.S. route for "Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners" — built from BLS education requirements and College Board 2024–25 average published prices (public, in-state tuition + fees + books). Not yet verified against a specific state's licensing rules — confirm with your state licensing board or program.

Typical progression

  1. Junior Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners

    Entry / Junior

    $42,130

    ~2 yrs to advance

  2. Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners

    Established

    $72,420

    ~3 yrs to advance

  3. Senior Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners

    Senior

    $101,490

Key skills

A typical day

  • •Record verbatim proceedings of courts, legislative assemblies, committee meetings, and other proceedings, using computerized recording equipment, electronic stenograph machines, or stenomasks.
  • •Proofread transcripts for correct spelling of words.
  • •Ask speakers to clarify inaudible statements.
  • •Provide transcripts of proceedings upon request of judges, lawyers, or the public.
  • •Transcribe recorded proceedings in accordance with established formats.

Fields of study

Any field

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Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.