The ATA Chronicle - March/April 2022 - 12

Figure 2: Gross Household Income (Single and Dual Role Respondents Only)
Gross Household Income
25th
50th
Median
All respondents
Language services company
owner, president, or executive
Self-employed/freelance
interpreter
Self-employed/freelance
translator
Self-employed/freelance
translator; Language services
company owner, president, or
executive
Self-employed/freelance
translator; Self-employed/
freelance interpreter
Self-employed/freelance
translator; Self-employed/
freelance interpreter; Staff
interpreter
Self-employed/freelance
translator; Staff translator
Staff interpreter
Staff translator
Staff translator; Staff
interpreter
($71,000), and freelance
translators ($49,000). The
lowest income was reported
by multiple-role staff
translators/interpreters who
are also freelance translators/
interpreters ($32,000).
Education and Language
Services Income: The results
showed an unexpected
dichotomy between
education and income
level. Reported average
income increased with
higher education levels:
$53,000
$107,112
$71,000
$49,000
$55,000
Mean
$65,533
$142,271
$68,595
$61,188
$46,509
Percentile
$31,000
$59,193
$39,195
$30,000
$27,000
Percentile
$53,000
$107,112
$71,000
$49,000
$55,000
75th
Percentile
$83,572
$200,000
$99,750
$80,000
$61,000
and some direct clients,
but far fewer (4%) reported
working for direct clients
only while 14% reported
working for LSCs only.
$52,902
$65,473
$30,000
$52,902
$87,250
Rise of the Machines(?):
Freelance translators
continue to embrace
technology. Just under 22%
of freelance translators
reported providing
post-editing of machine
translation (PEMT) services,
but only 0.6% reported
PEMT as their sole service
offering. The use of MT was
slightly more prevalent at
30% and computer-assisted
translation tools are the
norm, used by 79% of
freelance translators.
$32,000
$71,520
$80,787
$94,091
$48,000
$50,200
$109,091
$72,246
$81,674
$49,474
$20,000
$62,510
$46,350
$38,500
$39,500
$32,000
$71,520
$80,787
$94,091
$48,000
$75,000
$85,750
$87,939
$110,000
$50,520
Interpreter Delivery
Modes: Not surprisingly
during the pandemic, 64%
of freelance interpreters
reported providing remote
interpreting in addition to
on-site delivery. Only 3%
reported providing only
remote interpreting, and
28% reported providing only
on-site interpreting.
Access the Full
$46,467 (associate's),
$57,972 (bachelor's),
and $57,581 (master's).
However, respondents
with some college but no
degree reported a higher
income than those with a
doctoral degree or other
advanced degree ($58,002
vs. $48,932).
Membership Matters: ATA
members reported higher
income than nonmembers,
with median income 22%
higher ($41,200 vs. $32,000)
12 The ATA Chronicle | March/April 2022
and mean income 42%
higher than nonmembers
($50,751 vs. $29,708).
Client Mix: Almost half of
the freelance translators
surveyed reported working
mostly with language
services companies
(LSCs) and some direct
clients, while 13.7% each
reported working for direct
clients only or LSCs only.
Close to half of freelance
interpreters also reported
working mostly with LSCs
Report Online
The 58-page ATA
Compensation Survey (Sixth
Edition) presents the survey
results in much greater
detail than is possible
in this summary. The
complete report includes
translation and interpreting
hourly rates and rates per
word for a wide range of
language combinations.
It's important to remember
that the statistics published
by ATA should be regarded
as guidelines rather than
absolute standards. ATA
intends the survey to
www.atanet.org
http://www.atanet.org
The ATA Chronicle - March/April 2022

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