Best Cities for Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captionerss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where court reporters and simultaneous captionerss get the most value from their salary after accounting for cost of living. A score above 1.00 means better than national average.

How we calculate this: City Score = (Local Salary ÷ National Median) ÷ (Local Cost ÷ National Avg Cost). A score of 1.20 means 20% better purchasing power than average.

#	Location	Score	Raw Salary	Adjusted Salary	Rent/Income
1	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.86	$123,900	$134,674	13%
2	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.79	$125,970	$129,599	15%
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	1.64	$143,170	$119,110	26%
4	TexasState	1.59	$110,080	$115,146	15%
5	CaliforniaState	1.45	$116,020	$104,806	23%
6	IowaState	1.45	$93,810	$105,168	12%
7	WashingtonState	1.39	$107,670	$100,345	21%
8	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.37	$113,200	$99,038	23%
9	Rhode IslandState	1.27	$92,250	$91,791	20%
10	New YorkState	1.25	$101,990	$90,658	22%
11	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.21	$86,900	$87,337	20%
12	MinnesotaState	1.18	$83,680	$85,388	18%
13	NebraskaState	1.15	$76,480	$83,585	16%
14	South DakotaState	1.14	$75,210	$82,830	15%
15	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	1.14	$80,000	$82,645	24%
16	MissouriState	1.13	$72,500	$81,828	17%
17	MississippiState	1.10	$67,300	$79,363	16%
18	ColoradoState	1.09	$83,010	$78,757	27%
19	IllinoisState	1.08	$75,890	$77,916	21%
20	North CarolinaState	1.08	$73,510	$77,871	21%
21	AlabamaState	1.07	$67,340	$77,313	17%
22	ArizonaState	1.06	$77,770	$77,076	23%
23	North DakotaState	1.05	$70,540	$76,177	17%
24	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.05	$69,100	$75,768	21%
25	OhioState	1.03	$67,330	$74,480	19%
26	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.03	$86,510	$74,258	31%
27	MassachusettsState	1.02	$79,940	$73,677	34%
28	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.00	$74,760	$72,232	26%
29	IdahoState	0.99	$69,330	$71,845	21%
30	Columbus, OHMetro	0.99	$67,330	$72,011	23%
31	WisconsinState	0.98	$65,640	$71,116	20%
32	LouisianaState	0.97	$63,380	$70,344	20%
33	ArkansasState	0.95	$59,180	$68,575	18%
34	OklahomaState	0.95	$60,800	$68,701	19%
35	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.95	$63,480	$68,627	22%
36	PennsylvaniaState	0.93	$65,100	$67,113	24%
37	West VirginiaState	0.93	$56,790	$67,447	18%
38	MichiganState	0.92	$61,600	$66,739	22%
39	South CarolinaState	0.92	$61,100	$66,413	25%
40	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	0.92	$63,840	$66,639	28%
41	MontanaState	0.90	$62,730	$65,073	22%
42	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.86	$61,470	$62,406	34%
43	NevadaState	0.85	$62,030	$61,906	28%
44	IndianaState	0.84	$54,740	$60,486	23%
45	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.80	$65,850	$58,018	47%
46	KentuckyState	0.79	$50,350	$56,893	23%
47	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.79	$60,640	$57,316	33%
48	ConnecticutState	0.76	$59,390	$55,195	32%
49	MarylandState	0.75	$59,300	$54,304	34%
50	VirginiaState	0.74	$55,210	$53,343	34%
51	MaineState	0.68	$49,110	$49,208	32%
52	FloridaState	0.67	$49,240	$48,512	42%
53	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.64	$51,880	$45,993	46%
54	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.62	$48,430	$44,636	51%
55	DelawareState	0.61	$44,760	$44,317	36%

Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).