| Vom Thema belegte Seiten: < [1 2] | How much does an 'average' translator earn? Initiator des Themas: Katrien De Clercq
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Latin_Hellas (X)
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 23:07
Italienisch > Englisch
+ ...
| For What It's Worth | Nov 21, 2009 |
Not too many months ago I did look up on the US Dept of Labor website the average income for a translator, it comes to around $35,000. In the US, income is usually stated before taxes (but at that level, taxes are probably close to zero, except for FICA).
To be sure, that average includes many part-timers and probably anybody who files a schedule C with the translator code.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch 
Finnland
Local time: 00:07
Mitglied (2003)
Finnisch > Deutsch
+ ...
| Finnish statistics from 2005 | Nov 21, 2009 |
According to the Finnish association of Translators and Interpreters in 2005 those who translate mainly literature earned 14554 Euro (mean) plus on average 3530 Euro from other translations.
I believe these figures have dropped since. because the translation business is not doing well on the field of literature.
REgards
Heinrich
| | | | Krzysztof Kajetanowicz (X)
Polen
Local time: 23:07
Englisch > Polnisch
+ ...
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
According to the Finnish association of Translators and Interpreters in 2005 those who translate mainly literature earned 14554 Euro (mean) plus on average 3530 Euro from other translations.
I believe these figures have dropped since. because the translation business is not doing well on the field of literature.
REgards
Heinrich
Isn't the unemployment benefit more than EUR 14.5k a year?
| | | | | Please be specific | Nov 21, 2009 |
John Rawlins wrote:
You are right - most Spaniards would prefer to walk through Carrefour naked and wearing a cowboy hat rather than discuss their exact income.
Hm... If you mean with the hat covering my private parts, I agree. If you mean that I'd have to wear the hat on the head... maybe I'd prefer to reveal my income!
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| How much does an 'average' translator earn? | Nov 21, 2009 |
Katrien De Clercq wrote:
Hi everyone
I'd like to post a topic that might be delicate. Having started as a freelance translator three years ago, I have to say that business is going quite well. I haven't been a day without work and some texts go a lot better than others. I'm learning every day and I still enjoy translating. That's the most important part.
But I haven't got any idea what an 'average' translator earns. There isn't much information on the internet about that. I don't know if my rates are too high or too low, if my income is a bit in conformity with the market, how much words you all translate per day. That's why I wanted to post this topic. I hope I'm not offending anyone and I'm really looking forward to your replies. This would help me to give me an idea whether I can go on the same way or whether I have to implement some changes...
Thank you for your cooperation!
Katrien De Clercq
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2009-11-21 17:47 GMT]
I believe this depends on many factors: The proper translator, his geographical location (it can be located in a minor cost country and be commercialized in richer countries), his commercialization & pricing policiy, the use of the existing computer resources (speech recognition, CAT tools , etc.)
I do not believe that a valid answer could be given, if you do not delimit the question. Also, a big number of translators earns his income form different sources, apart from translation jobs.
[Editado a las 2009-11-21 18:29 GMT]
| | | | Astrid Elke Witte
Deutschland
Local time: 23:07
Mitglied (2002)
Deutsch > Englisch
+ ...
| A translator's earnings differ quite a lot from year to year | Nov 21, 2009 |
Hi Katrien,
Very roughly, you can probably expect to earn a range over a number of years, where your annual income figure for a year where the economy is booming is approximately two-and-a-half times your annual income figure for a year where the economy is in recession. You should take this range into account when making plans and when saving. You need to save as much as you can in the good years.
The exact figures represented by the range depend greatly upon which mar... See more Hi Katrien,
Very roughly, you can probably expect to earn a range over a number of years, where your annual income figure for a year where the economy is booming is approximately two-and-a-half times your annual income figure for a year where the economy is in recession. You should take this range into account when making plans and when saving. You need to save as much as you can in the good years.
The exact figures represented by the range depend greatly upon which market sector you are involved in, therefore no-one but you can determine those figures. It is advisable to try to optimise work procedures in all possible ways that you can think of, however, in order to maximise your hourly earnings. It is rather important for self-employed people to pay very close attention to maximising hourly earnings and minimising expenses. You should therefore also make sure that you obtain your office supplies, etc. at the best possible price.
Good luck!
Astrid ▲ Collapse
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finnland
Local time: 00:07
Mitglied (2003)
Finnisch > Deutsch
+ ...
| More than unemployment benefits | Nov 22, 2009 |
Krzysztof Kajetanowicz wrote:
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
According to the Finnish association of Translators and Interpreters in 2005 those who translate mainly literature earned 14554 Euro (mean) plus on average 3530 Euro from other translations.
I believe these figures have dropped since. because the translation business is not doing well on the field of literature.
REgards
Heinrich
Isn't the unemployment benefit more than EUR 14.5k a year?
How much you get in case of unemployment depends on your previous salary. But freelancers do get nothing, unless they can prove they have completely stopped business. That is not an option for us 'entrepreneurs'.
Regards
Heinrich
| | | | Juliano Martins
Brasilien
Local time: 19:07
Mitglied (2008)
Englisch > Portugiesisch
+ ...
| Beginners' luck? | Jun 14, 2010 |
Paul Cohen wrote:
I've seen beginners on this site brag that they can churn out 19,000 words in just four days ... and 130,000 words in six weeks, allowing them to save $16,000. Amazing!
Beginner's luck??
See: http://www.proz.com/topic/111281
Hello everyone,
I never meant to be rude at that topic, and actually I was not bragging. I was just being honest and curious about something that really happened to me at that time. I opened that topic to know your opinion. And I thank everyone who took some time to say something, even the wet blankets. I think what happened back then was a very particular situation and definitely involved some luck (especially before the world economic crisis, when the rates were higher). It’s been two years now, and I continue translating, now very focused on EN-PTBR.
Regarding the word count, last year, for example, I worked on a project for 4 months, in which I had to deliver 20k words per week. I think 4-5k words per working day is possible.
About my numbers, my average in the last 2 years is 50k words and € 2,700 per month. In the last 2 years I translated 1.3 million words.
Best of luck!
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Paula Borges
Vereinigtes Königreich
Local time: 22:07
Mitglied (2010)
Englisch > Portugiesisch
+ ...
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
How much you can earn depends on many factors. Even if you can churn out let's say ten thousand words daily, it could happen that after 10 years you are burned out.
I once took a rush job, about 25 pages in 24 hours, but the next day I simply could not concentrate on work, exhausted. And the quality was probably not very high, but I got paid. After that I would never except such an offer again.
During the last 6 years my income prior to tax was 25000 - 33000 euro. That's less than I would get on a 8 hour job in industry or commerce, but I work on average maybe 3 hours daily, no weekends. And every year I had at least 6 weeks holidays and also weeks with no work, just checking mail and watching tv etc and waiting for the next job.
Translators of literature, if they are busy all the time, would maybe earn 15-20000 euro. I only do technical translations and stick to my rates, even if others don't.
Above 30000 euro the tax rises to 45 %, so I do not see any reason why I should work more.
And much depends on a good TM. If you are lucky, you find half of the stuff as 100 % matches, but the client doesn't know.
I never understood why people do not like to talk about their income.
Regards
Heinrich
[Bearbeitet am 2009-11-21 06:39 GMT]
The way I see it, 45% tax is for millionaires! Outrageous!
| | | | Paula Borges
Vereinigtes Königreich
Local time: 22:07
Mitglied (2010)
Englisch > Portugiesisch
+ ...
Juliano Martins wrote:
Paul Cohen wrote:
I've seen beginners on this site brag that they can churn out 19,000 words in just four days ... and 130,000 words in six weeks, allowing them to save $16,000. Amazing!
Beginner's luck??
See: http://www.proz.com/topic/111281
Hello everyone,
I never meant to be rude at that topic, and actually I was not bragging. I was just being honest and curious about something that really happened to me at that time. I opened that topic to know your opinion. And I thank everyone who took some time to say something, even the wet blankets. I think what happened back then was a very particular situation and definitely involved some luck (especially before the world economic crisis, when the rates were higher). It’s been two years now, and I continue translating, now very focused on EN-PTBR.
Regarding the word count, last year, for example, I worked on a project for 4 months, in which I had to deliver 20k words per week. I think 4-5k words per working day is possible.
About my numbers, my average in the last 2 years is 50k words and € 2,700 per month. In the last 2 years I translated 1.3 million words.
Best of luck!
Well, Juliano. I've never had that much work but it is true that Brazil now is a booming economy and everything needs translating. Our sector is growing rapidly, so let's enjoy it while it lasts. Also, I was very surprised to find out Brazilian clients generally pay more than European ones, in some cases a lot more! Keep up the good work, good luck!
May I just add that it doesn't mean that we keep more money. Most people wouldn't think so but most things are more expensive in Brazil. While in Europe, you'd need hundreds of to get a new computer, we need thousands here. High speed Internet in Europe is a million times cheaper, while we have to pay hundreds a month. So, in our context, his earnings are not that impressive, most business secretaries make more than that. Difference is, we can't keep much of it (high taxes/high costs).
Just ranting tho.
[Edited at 2010-06-14 15:22 GMT]
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