Medical Transcriptionists

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$40,410

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$34,150 – $48,000

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

41,550

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

-4.4%

Shrinking (below 0%)

Openings a year (projected)

6,200

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

Postsecondary nondegree award

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Transcribe medical reports recorded by physicians and other healthcare practitioners using various electronic devices, covering office visits, emergency room visits, diagnostic imaging studies, operations, chart reviews, and final summaries. Transcribe dictated reports and translate abbreviations into fully understandable form. Edit as necessary and return reports in either printed or electronic form for review and signature, or correction.

Main tasks

• Return dictated reports in printed or electronic form for physician's review, signature, and corrections and for inclusion in patients' medical records.
• Produce medical reports, correspondence, records, patient-care information, statistics, medical research, and administrative material.
• Identify mistakes in reports and check with doctors to obtain the correct information.
• Review and edit transcribed reports or dictated material for spelling, grammar, clarity, consistency, and proper medical terminology.
• Transcribe dictation for a variety of medical reports, such as patient histories, physical examinations, emergency room visits, operations, chart reviews, consultation, or discharge summaries.
• Distinguish between homonyms and recognize inconsistencies and mistakes in medical terms, referring to dictionaries, drug references, and other sources on anatomy, physiology, and medicine.
• Set up and maintain medical files and databases, including records such as x-ray, lab, and procedure reports, medical histories, diagnostic workups, admission and discharge summaries, and clinical resumes.
• Translate medical jargon and abbreviations into their expanded forms to ensure the accuracy of patient and health care facility records.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

Postsecondary nondegree award

O*NET Job Zone 3

Medium preparation

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

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