The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) most current occupational employment data put the number of employed medical transcriptionists at over 52,400 as of May 2023.  At that time, nearly 6,800 medical transcriptionists were employed in the four-state Southwestern U.S. region.  An examination of BLS data reveals the Southwestern U.S. to be one of the weaker paying regions in the nation for medical transcriptionists. No state in the region had a medical transcriptionist annual mean wage level that was above the national average for the profession.  Further review of BLS data from May 2023 reveals the following about medical transcriptionist pay in the Southwestern U.S.:

Medical Transcriptionist Pay in the Southwestern U.S.

State	# Employed	Annual Mean Wages	Wage Rank*
AZ	1,870	$36,480	34th
NM	340	$33,500	47th
OK	400	$31,490	50th
TX	4,180	$36,270	36th
U.S.	52,420	$39,090	-------

(*) annual mean wage ranking among the 50 states

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data accessed on November 4, 2024