Salary
Average Salary: $53,000
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $2,212,644
You might be asking yourself at this point, "What? Listen to a bunch of people talk and write it down? The pay must be really terrible." And it is—if you think $100,000 is terrible (hint: it isn't).
Now, obviously, you're not going to start out at that level—that's up at the very top of the pyramid, and there's gonna be some climbing involved to get up there. But starting out, you're still looking at $40,000-$50,000 (source). Have you ever looked at fifty thousand dollar bills? It's a nice image. Real nice. The able-to-afford-car-payments-a-mortgage-and-children kind of nice.
After getting certified, you'll prove yourself through your ability to Type-It-Out. However, your salary level doesn't only depend on how fast and well you type, but also where you decide to do said typing. Believe it or not, the best-paid stenographers work for local courts (source).
These are people who are government employees, and unlike mayors or sheriffs, stenographers can't be voted out of office, so if you're good at your job you can have a long, steady career—with all the raises and perks that come with it.
That's not to say you can't make a buck or two working for private businesses. You might not get up to the six-figure level, but you'll have more control over the specifics of the work you do and still make a decent living. For instance, stenographers in the closed-captioning business can actually make more than court reporters (source).
In addition, there's the reward that comes with knowing you're helping countless deaf and hearing-impaired individuals to fully enjoy all the weird groans and leaky sounds coming out of the zombies on The Walking Dead.