Vocational Index

Career

Medical transcriptionists

Turn doctors' recordings into written medical records.

$40,410
Median pay
-4.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
6,200
Openings a year
Postsecondary nondegree award
Typical education
Under 2 years
Typical time after high school

Here's what you actually need to know.

The work

What people in this job do

  • 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.

The outlook

How the forecast changed this year

2024–34 edition-4.9%2025–35 edition-4.4%
Projected 10-year growth in last year's and this year's BLS projections. 7,400 → 6,200 openings a year.

AI
BLS now cites artificial intelligence in this occupation's outlook: “share decreases as automation of the medical transcription process by artificial intelligence (AI) tools reduces the need for medical transcriptionists.”

The deeper question

What kind of person does this path ask you to become?

What this work centers on

Information & systems
6.2
People & care
3.7
Ideas & analysis
3.6
Objects & tools
2.5
Creation & expression
1.7
Persuasion & leadership
1.3

O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.

The work

Do you want most of your days spent on information & systems, then people & care?

Responsibility

Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?

“Return dictated reports in printed or electronic form for physician's review, signature, and corrections and for inclusion in patients' medical records.”

Development

What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?

Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Writing, Monitoring.

Trade-offs

What does it ask of you in exchange?

Under 2 years of education after high school (postsecondary nondegree award), for a median of $40,410 a year and 6,200 openings nationally each year.

Paths in

Degrees that lead here

Paths across

Careers that use similar skills

Ask anything about this career.

“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.

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Sources

  1. BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  2. BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  3. O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  4. CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.