As a result, these positions are extremely competitive. Translators for the European Union and United Nations tend to earn the most. In the US, the average salary for a translator is $40,000 per year ( Sources: Glassdoor, Totaljobs, LinkedIn - via Translate Media ). They may earn over £30,000 in more experienced roles. On average, translators in the UK earn a starting salary of £18,000 to £21,000 per year. Quantity without quality is a sure-fire way for a translator to lose clients and earn less in the long term.

Speed The length of a project depends on its specific requirements, but as a general rule, a faster translator can get more work done in less time, and thus has the potential to earn more money.

In reality, not everybody does, nor is it necessarily a good idea. A freelancer may choose, for example, to add a 25% surcharge to their normal rate.

Evening and Weekend Work It is possible for translators to charge more when they work evenings and weekends.

For languages where demand exceeds supply, such as Vietnamese, translators tend to earn more. Languages like French and German are in high demand but there are also lots of professionals that can translate them. Language pair and direction influence the earning potential of a translator because of supply and demand. Translating Chinese to English is more valuable than English to Chinese because there is a lower supply of English speakers proficient in Chinese than there are Chinese speakers proficient in English. The direction of translation between two languages is also an earning variable. For example, a translator may convert Chinese into English, French into German, or Vietnamese into Spanish. Language Pair and Direction Language pair refers to the language being translated to and from.They depend on a number of factors including the country of employment, language pair, language direction, specialisation and whether the translator works as a freelancer or in-house employee.

The job site Indeed reported in April 2018 that UK translators earned an average £24,115 per year over the past 36 months.Īs the graph above suggests: translation salaries vary considerably.

Money translator 200uk