Please note that the numbers mentioned in this blog post are taken from average rates mentioned in different associations rates surveys and the average rates reported by language pair on Proz.com. They should not be taken as recommendations or standard. 

Granted, being a translator is not an easy job. And let’s be real for a moment, no one graduates from high school and college with the dreams of becoming a top end translator or interpreter who makes a lot of money – not many of us, anyway.

For the most of us, it was our second job, or part-time job, the job-to-get-us-some-extra-cash job. As we gained experience, it later became our profession and we excelled at it.

But these days, there is a new trend. People actually want to make this their profession from the start. More people take courses and earn degrees that will help them accelerate their careers and take in more money as translators.

For some people, this is their passion and they want to exploit it to the best of their abilities. However, they are a little hesitant to join the translation services community because they have no idea about the average salary for new translators.

It’s a tough market, especially when you work with international clients. Most of the time, translators set their own rates for how much they will be paid. They don’t to shortchange themselves, but they also don’t want to propose rates that are too high and risk losing business.

So how much money do translators make? It all depends upon the experience, specialization and education of translators. They all have equal importance and must be taken seriously when translators think about getting paid.

Most of the time, people prefer to hire translators with a degree in their specialized language. However, people without these degrees are still judged on how well they write, their experience and their skills.

Basically, you need to be fluent in a language and then you are paid according to your experience and how well you translate in your second language.

A person must understand one thing: the pay scale and pay type is his or her own choice. Either they can choose to be paid per word, or they can be paid by the hour. Also, you must decide whether you want to be self-employed or be part of a company. On average, a translator can charge $20 per hour. However, the most experienced translators charge even $100 per hour.

Similarly, the average annual income of a translator will range between $20,000 to $80,000 However, with a little more experience, you can even earn more than six figures. If you become a part of a translation service provider, you can get addition income like up to $5,081 bonus and up to $3,000 profit sharing. There has been a steady rise in the wages of translators and interpreters. Since 2004, the average annual salary of a translator has increase by 30%.

Some of the translation services pay more or offer additional work like document translation. Plus, the industry you specialize in will have a huge impact on what translators can expect to be paid.

For example, if you specialize in the chemical engineering document translation service, you will earn slightly higher than the other because of the area of translation. Plus, there is always one or another options for translators to earn additional income, like the newly announced opportunities for translators by Amazon and the Iranian Government.

There are plenty of opportunities for the translators. It is all about staying up to date with the translation community. Plus, there are new opportunities coming your way, every day. You just have to embrace the one that is more suitable for you and matches how much money you want to make.

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