Healthcare
Will AI replace medical transcriptionists?
BLS places medical transcriptionists in its “High” AI-exposure category (of four, relative to other occupations). BLS projects employment to decline 4.4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,200 openings a year. OEWS May 2025 median pay is $40,410 (10th–90th percentile $28,250–$55,950). Typical entry education: postsecondary nondegree award.
Sources: BLS AI exposure categories and Employment Projections 2025–35 (released 27 August 2026); BLS OEWS May 2025; tasks from O*NET 31.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Figures are for the BLS occupation Medical transcriptionists (SOC 31-9094).
Medical transcriptionists turn clinicians’ dictation into written records and review drafts for accuracy.
The figures, with their sources
| AI-exposure category | High (of Low, Moderate, High, Very high)BLS AI exposure categories, 2025–35 |
|---|---|
| Employment, 2025 → 2035 | 42,000 → 40,200BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 |
| Projected change, 2025–35 | −4.4%BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 |
| Openings per year (2025–35 average) | 6,200BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 |
| Median annual pay | $40,410BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| 10th–90th percentile pay | $28,250 – $55,950BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Typical entry education | Postsecondary nondegree awardBLS Employment Projections 2025–35 |
National figures, all industries and all experience levels. Employment and openings are published by BLS in thousands; pay is annual, in US dollars.
What BLS says, in its own words
“An exposure category is not a forecast of employment growth or decline.” “Exposure does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability, or wage effects.”
“Capital/labor substitution - share decreases as automation of the medical transcription process by artificial intelligence (AI) tools reduces the need for medical transcriptionists.”
Our count from the BLS table: 165 of the 206 occupations in the “High” category are projected to grow from 2025 to 2035. That is our arithmetic on BLS data, not a BLS statement.
What the work is: O*NET® tasks
The occupation’s core tasks, most important first, as O*NET 31.0 words them.
- 1.Return dictated reports in printed or electronic form for physician's review, signature, and corrections and for inclusion in patients' medical records.
- 2.Produce medical reports, correspondence, records, patient-care information, statistics, medical research, and administrative material.
- 3.Identify mistakes in reports and check with doctors to obtain the correct information.
- 4.Review and edit transcribed reports or dictated material for spelling, grammar, clarity, consistency, and proper medical terminology.
- 5.Transcribe dictation for a variety of medical reports, such as patient histories, physical examinations, emergency room visits, operations, chart reviews, consultation, or discharge summaries.Relationships
- 6.Distinguish between homonyms and recognize inconsistencies and mistakes in medical terms, referring to dictionaries, drug references, and other sources on anatomy, physiology, and medicine.
- 7.Set up and maintain medical files and databases, including records such as x-ray, lab, and procedure reports, medical histories, diagnostic workups, admission and discharge summaries, and clinical resumes.Judgment
- 8.Translate medical jargon and abbreviations into their expanded forms to ensure the accuracy of patient and health care facility records.Accountability
How we tag: a task is tagged Judgment, Accountability or Relationships when O*NET’s wording uses one of these verbs. Judgment: evaluate, assess, determine, decide, interpret, diagnose, recommend, investigate, approve, prioritize, resolve. Accountability: direct, supervise, manage, oversee, ensure, plan, establish, authorize, comply. Relationships: confer, consult, negotiate, advise, collaborate, liaise, mentor, train, counsel, persuade, interview, present, meet with. This is our reading of the task text, not an O*NET or BLS classification, and it is not a measure of AI exposure.
For new graduates
- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- BLS Employment Projections 2025–35
- Openings per year
- 6,200
- All levels, not entry-level only
The tasks to show proof for: 3 of 8 are about judgment, accountability or relationships
We point you at these because our method treats them as the work that is hardest to hand to AI. That is our judgment, not a BLS or O*NET finding. A capstone, an internship or a part-time job where you made the call, owned the outcome or worked with the people involved is proof. Write what you did, not what you were assigned.
Show the 3 tasks
- Transcribe dictation for a variety of medical reports, such as patient histories, physical examinations, emergency room visits, operations, chart reviews, consultation, or discharge summaries.
- Set up and maintain medical files and databases, including records such as x-ray, lab, and procedure reports, medical histories, diagnostic workups, admission and discharge summaries, and clinical resumes.
- Translate medical jargon and abbreviations into their expanded forms to ensure the accuracy of patient and health care facility records.
What this data does not tell you
- How many openings are entry-level, or how many go to new graduates. BLS counts openings at every level.
- How AI will change hiring for junior roles in this occupation. The exposure category is about the occupation’s tasks, and BLS says it is not a forecast.
- Pay or openings in your city or industry. These are national figures.
- Whether your own tasks match these. O*NET describes the occupation, not your job.
BLS also publishes the work experience and on-the-job training usually needed; see the BLS projections table.
Proof worth finding for a Medical Transcriptionist application
Our editorial starting list, not a survey of postings. The posting you apply to decides what counts.
- AHDI Registered Healthcare Documentation Specialist (RHDS) or CHDS credential if applicable
- Experience with AI-assisted documentation platforms (Nuance DAX, Suki, Abridge) and EMR systems
- Medical terminology depth across relevant specialties
- Quality review, editing, or accuracy auditing experience for AI-generated clinical documentation
- Any transition toward medical coding, CDI, or health information management coursework
Show your proof for one real posting
- Step 1Job Match · 5 tokensPaste a real posting. For each requirement, we quote the line in your resume that proves it, or say nothing was found.
- Step 2Resume · 15 tokensRewrite toward that posting from your own words. Any number we could not find in them is listed for you to check.
- Step 3Know your tasks · FreeYour own tasks against the medical transcriptionists data above, labeled task by task.
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Questions people ask
Will AI replace medical transcriptionists?
The data does not say so. BLS places medical transcriptionists in its “High” relative AI-exposure category and states that “An exposure category is not a forecast of employment growth or decline.” BLS projects employment to decline 4.4% from 2025 to 2035 (BLS Employment Projections 2025–35). By our count from the BLS table, 165 of the 206 occupations in the “High” category are projected to grow.
How many medical transcriptionists jobs open each year?
BLS projects about 6,200 openings a year for medical transcriptionists, averaged over 2025–35. BLS defines openings as net employment change plus workers permanently leaving the occupation, so a declining occupation can still have openings. Employment was 42,000 in 2025.
How much do medical transcriptionists earn?
BLS OEWS (May 2025) puts the national median annual wage for medical transcriptionists at $40,410. The 10th percentile is $28,250, the 25th $34,150, the 75th $48,000 and the 90th $55,950. These are all industries and all experience levels in the United States; pay in your city and at your level will differ.
What education do medical transcriptionists need?
BLS lists “Postsecondary nondegree award” as the typical education needed to enter medical transcriptionists. It is the typical path, not a rule: postings set their own requirements.
How does AISkillScore check a Medical Transcriptionist application?
We count, we do not guess. Job Match reads the posting’s requirements and, for each one, quotes the line in your resume that proves it, or says nothing was found. The resume rewrite keeps your claims and lists any number it could not find in your own words so you can check it before you send.
Sources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Artificial Intelligence (AI) exposure categories; Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics; Employment Projections definitions; Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Medical transcriptionists. BLS data is in the public domain.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0 · Medical transcriptionists on O*NET OnLine. Changes: we show up to eight of the occupation’s core tasks, most important first, merged across the O*NET codes BLS groups into one occupation, and we add our own task tags.
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