Court reporters create word-for-word transcriptions at trials, depositions, and other legal proceedings. Some court reporters provide captioning for television and real-time translation for deaf or hard-of-hearing people at public events, in business meetings, or in classrooms.

Most court reporters work for state or local government in courts or legislatures. However, some work from either their home or a central office providing broadcast captioning for television stations or for hard-of-hearing individuals.

Many community colleges and technical institutes offer postsecondary certificate programs for court reporters. Many states require court reporters who work in legal settings to be licensed by a state or certified by a professional association.

Employment of court reporters is projected to grow 2 percent from 2014 to 2024, slower than the average for all occupations. Those with experience and training in techniques for helping deaf or hard-of-hearing people, such as real-time captioning and Communication Access Real-Time Translation (CART), will have the best job prospects.

This occupation supported 21,200 jobs in 2012 and 20,800 jobs in 2014, reflecting a decline of 1.9%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 9.4% in 2022 to 23,200 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 21,500, compared with an observed value of 20,800, 3.3% lower than expected. This indicates current employment trends are worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 1.4% in 2024 to 21,100 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 23,500 jobs for 2024, 11.4% higher than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are much worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation.