At TypeWell, our commitment to transcribers goes beyond training—we actively support them throughout their careers. We believe in maintaining strong connections with our transcribers, and we check in with them regularly to understand their experiences in the field.

One of the ways we do this is through our Transcriber Annual Survey, which is sent each year on a transcriber’s “Transcribiversary”—the anniversary of when they first passed the Basic Skills Course. This survey provides valuable insights into their workload, the types of assignments they accept, their location, pay rates, and whether they feel they are being compensated fairly. Additionally, our Transcriber Insights Survey, distributed every spring, explores these topics in even greater depth.

These surveys serve a vital purpose. We work closely with the organizations that hire transcribers, who want guidance on finding qualified candidates in their region and determining competitive pay rates.

By collecting and analyzing this data, we provide these organizations with fair, evidence-based insights to help shape equitable hiring practices. We also make recommendations to transcribers who negotiate their own pay.

We have been tracking transcriber pay rate trends since 2015. As 2024 came to a close, we took a step back to examine a decade’s worth of data to better understand shifts in transcriber wages, job satisfaction, and purchasing power.

Here’s what we discovered.

Transcriber Pay Trends: 2015 vs. 2024

Our survey asks transcribers to report their hourly pay by selecting from predefined pay ranges in $5 increments (e.g., $10–15/hour, $16–20/hour, etc.). The graph above illustrates the distribution of transcriber earnings by year.

Distribution of Earnings in 2015:

• The middle 50% of transcribers earned an hourly rate of $21—35.
• The bottom 20% earned less than $21, while the top 30% earned more than $35.
• At the highest end, only 10% of transcribers earned more than $40 per hour.

A Shift in Earnings by 2024:

By 2024, transcriber pay had increased across the board.

• The middle 45% now earn an hourly rate between $31—40.
• The bottom 25% now earn less than $30 per hour, while the top 30% earn more than $40.
• At the highest end, the top 10% earn more than $50 per hour.

Notably, no transcriber has reported earning less than $15 per hour since 2021.

These trends reflect a positive shift in transcriber compensation over the past decade, with higher overall wages and fewer professionals at the lower end of the pay scale.

What Drove the Increase in Transcriber Pay?

Transcriber wages saw a notable shift over the past decade, with key inflection points shaping the current pay landscape.

Between 2017 and 2018, the proportion of transcribers earning $31–35 per hour increased. Wages then remained relatively stable until 2020, when they began to rise again. A major factor in this shift was the surge in demand for remote transcribers during the COVID-19 pandemic, as remote learning and virtual events created a greater need for real-time transcription services.

However, even after pandemic restrictions were lifted and students returned to in-person classes, transcriber pay did not revert to pre-pandemic levels—instead, it continued to climb.

Since 2021, wages have seen their most significant gains, with the proportion of transcribers earning more than $40 per hour doubling from 15% to 30%.

One likely factor behind this sustained increase is inflation.

Have Transcriber Salaries Kept Pace with Inflation?

To answer this question, we calculated the average transcriber pay and adjusted it for inflation. The graph below illustrates transcriber wages from 2015 to 2024 in 2024 dollars, providing a clearer picture of transcribers’ actual purchasing power.

While wages appeared stagnant between 2015 and 2017, they were actually declining in terms of purchasing power. By contrast, 2021—the height of the pandemic—was a strong year for transcriber earnings, reflecting the increased demand for remote transcription services.

The wage increases from 2018 to 2019 and from 2022 to 2024 largely served to correct for inflation rather than significantly raising real earnings. Since 2018, inflation-adjusted transcriber wages have remained relatively stable, fluctuating within $1.50 of a $37.70 baseline.

In short, while transcriber wages have increased nominally over time, their purchasing power has remained steady for the past six years.

Do Transcribers Feel That Wages Are Fair?

Overall, most transcribers believe their wages are fair. In 2024, 79% of transcribers reported feeling that their pay was reasonable, while only 6% felt their wages were unfair—an all-time low.

However, perceptions of fairness have fluctuated over time. The highest percentage of “not fair” responses occurred in 2018 and 2023, lagging behind inflation peaks by about a year. Meanwhile, the proportion of transcribers who considered their pay “more than fair” increased slightly during the pandemic years (2020–2022), reaching 16% before leveling off after 2022, when inflation rose.

What Can We Learn From These Numbers?

Transcribers have strong opinions on wage fairness. Fewer than 10% are unsure whether their pay is fair.

Transcribers are sensitive to economic trends, and their perceptions of purchasing power are accurate. Concerns about unfair wages closely track with periods of high inflation.

Overall, transcriber satisfaction with pay remains high. Even when the markets fluctuate, the majority of transcribers feel fairly compensated.

About the Author

Bit Blair has a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science. She completed her Typewell training in 2013, and loves the way transcribing allows her to learn new things every day. Bit joined the TypeWell team in 2022 as a Scheduling Assistant and is now our Digital Content & Support Specialist.