Real-Time Captioners

Earning power for real-time captioners is dependent on many variables and is often region-specific and a product of "what the market will bear." In large captioning organizations, real-time captioners can make anywhere from $30,000 for a recent graduate in training to $90,000 or even higher for those experienced and tireless workers who always volunteer for extra hours, overflow work, etc., and who are capable of captioning all kinds of programming. Trainee salaries increase once the captioner goes on the air.

ZipRecruiter.com reports higher salaries for real-time captioners. In 2025, real-time captioners earned between $33,000 and $183,500, with average salaries of $131,001.

A fringe benefit of working for a captioning agency for most reporters (particularly students just out of school) is that such agencies generally provide all the equipment. Large captioning organizations also offer benefits, such as vacation and health insurance, likely to be provided at a courthouse for court reporters but not at a freelance firm of deposition reporters, for instance.