Short answer
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a median annual wage of 51,140 dollars for medical records specialists in May 2025, or 24.59 dollars per hour. That broad government occupation group includes medical coders, and it is the best single starting point for a national picture. A separate professional survey gives a higher figure for a narrower group: the American Academy of Professional Coders, known as AAPC, reported that medical records specialists responding to its 2025 survey earned 65,007 dollars on average. The gap is not a contradiction. The government figure is a median for all workers in the occupation. The AAPC figure is an average for survey respondents who are largely members of a professional coding body, a group that tends to hold credentials and to have more experience. Pay then varies a great deal by experience, work setting, credential, and location. In the AAPC 2025 survey, respondents with 0 to 1 year of experience averaged 45,377 dollars, while respondents with 31 or more years averaged 80,479 dollars. That spread, rather than any single national number, is the most useful fact for a reader planning a career.
If you search for a medical coding and billing salary, you will find a confusing spread of numbers. One page may quote about 50,000 dollars a year. Another may quote about 65,000 dollars a year. They are usually measuring different groups, in different years, using a different kind of average. This article gives the most recent government and professional survey figures with their dates attached, and explains what most often moves pay up or down. No figure here is a promise about what any one person will earn.
What the Job Titles Mean
Medical coding and medical billing are related jobs, but they are not the same job. A medical coder reads clinical documentation and assigns standardized codes for diagnoses, procedures, medical services, and related information, for patient records, population health statistics, and billing. A medical biller prepares and submits claims from coded charges, posts payments, follows up on unpaid or denied claims, and works through billing questions with insurers and patients. In small offices, one person may do both jobs. In hospitals and large practices, the jobs are more often separate.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate occupation called medical biller and coder. It publishes medical records specialists, occupation code 29-2072, and its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics definition states that this occupation includes medical coders. Medical records specialists compile, process, and maintain patient files, review records for timeliness, completeness, and accuracy, assign clinical codes, maintain and retrieve records for insurance reimbursement, record data electronically, and protect patient confidentiality. Some workers in the group spend most of their time on records and data entry rather than coding or billing, so a medical records specialist figure covers a wider group than coders alone.
AAPC, by contrast, surveys its own membership. Its 2026 Medical Coding and Billing Salary Report summarizes more than 20,000 responses from AAPC membership to the 2025 survey, and describes respondents as medical records specialists, a term it says encompasses coders, billers, and others who work in revenue cycle management. Those respondents are more likely than the workforce as a whole to hold a credential and to work in coding or revenue cycle roles, which helps explain why AAPC averages run higher than the government median. Never quote an AAPC average as if it were a government median, or vice versa. Job titles in postings add further confusion, because titles such as coding specialist, billing specialist, and revenue cycle specialist are used inconsistently. Compare the duties first and the title second.
The Headline Numbers, With Dates Attached
Every salary figure here carries its source and survey year, because an undated figure is of little use. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified August 27, 2026, reports a median annual wage of 51,140 dollars for medical records specialists in May 2025, or 24.59 dollars per hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than 37,000 dollars and the highest 10 percent earned more than 81,150 dollars in May 2025. For context, the median for all occupations was 50,980 dollars in May 2025, and the median for health technologists and technicians was 58,180 dollars. The typical medical records specialist therefore sat close to the typical worker in all occupations.
The Bureau’s Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program gives a fuller distribution for an earlier year, quoted here separately. In May 2023, it reported a mean annual wage of 53,690 dollars and a median annual wage of 48,780 dollars for medical records specialists, based on employment of 185,690 workers. The 10th percentile was 35,080 dollars and the 90th percentile was 77,810 dollars. The mean is higher than the median because a smaller number of high earners pulls the average up, which is one reason a page quoting a mean looks more generous than a page quoting a median for the same occupation.
AAPC’s figures are averages from a member survey, not medians from an employer survey. In its 2025 survey, responding medical records specialists earned 65,007 dollars on average, which AAPC notes is 3 percent higher than the 2025 national average in all industries, according to the US Department of Labor. A reader who holds a credential and works in a coding role may find the AAPC figures more relevant. A reader weighing entry into the field should give more weight to the government median, which covers the whole occupation.
| Source and population | Measure | Figure | Survey year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, all workers | Median annual wage | 51,140 dollars, or 24.59 dollars per hour | May 2025 |
| Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, all workers | Mean annual wage | 53,690 dollars | May 2023 |
| Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, all workers | Median annual wage | 48,780 dollars | May 2023 |
| AAPC, 2025 Salary Survey, responding members | Average annual earnings | 65,007 dollars | 2025 |
| AAPC, 2025 Salary Survey, members with 0 to 1 year of experience | Average annual earnings | 45,377 dollars | 2025 |
| AAPC, 2025 Salary Survey, members with 31 or more years of experience | Average annual earnings | 80,479 dollars | 2025 |
How to Read a Salary Figure Without Being Misled
Four checks protect against most misleading salary claims. First, check whether the figure is a median or a mean. A median is the middle value: half earn more and half earn less. A mean is the total divided by the number of workers, and it is pulled upward by high earners. For pay, the median usually gives a better sense of a typical worker. Second, check the population: all medical records specialists, AAPC members, and one job board’s postings are different populations. Third, check the year, and do not average a 2023 figure with a 2025 figure. Fourth, check whether the figure is annual salary, hourly wage, or a full time equivalent. The Bureau’s annual figures are calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by 2,080 hours, the figure for year round full time work, so a part time worker will not necessarily earn the annual figure implied by an hourly rate. A state average needs the same caution: it blends hospital roles in large cities with small office roles in rural areas, and entry level workers with workers who have 30 years of experience.
Pay by Experience
Experience is the strongest pattern in the AAPC survey. Respondents with 0 to 1 year of experience earned an average of 45,377 dollars in 2025. Respondents with 10 to 15 years earned an average of 67,331 dollars in 2025. Respondents with 31 or more years earned an average of 80,479 dollars in 2025. AAPC also reports that incomes in the sector generally grow an average of 77.4 percent from entry level to late career, based on its historical survey data. Those figures describe groups, not a schedule any individual will follow. The pattern reflects things that tend to arrive with time: greater accuracy and speed, familiarity with more specialties, trust to handle complex cases, and movement into auditing, supervisory, or larger employer roles. A coder who repeats the same narrow task for ten years may not follow the curve, while a coder who adds a specialty or moves into auditing may move faster.
A new coder or biller should expect the lower part of the distribution at first, and should be skeptical of any page that presents an overall survey average as a starting salary. The AAPC entry level average of 45,377 dollars for 2025 is a more honest reference point than the overall AAPC average of 65,007 dollars, and even that figure is an average for survey respondents, not a guaranteed starting wage. The Bureau’s May 2025 distribution gives the same warning: the lowest 10 percent of medical records specialists earned less than 37,000 dollars, where many new, part time, or small office roles sit. The Bureau also projects employment of medical records specialists to grow 8 percent from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,000 openings per year on average, largely from replacing workers who leave. That is a projection, not a pay promise, and the Handbook notes that artificial intelligence powered tools that make coding more efficient may affect demand.
Pay by Work Setting
Where you work matters almost as much as how long you have worked. The Bureau’s May 2025 industry medians for medical records specialists were: management of companies and enterprises, 60,980 dollars; hospitals, 59,120 dollars; administrative and support services, 49,490 dollars; offices of physicians, 47,120 dollars; and professional, scientific, and technical services, 46,800 dollars. The gap between the highest and lowest of those medians is more than 14,000 dollars. The Bureau’s May 2023 industry means point the same way: general medical and surgical hospitals, the largest employer with 47,530 workers, paid a mean of 57,600 dollars, while offices of physicians, with 35,910 workers, paid a mean of 46,010 dollars.
AAPC’s 2025 survey points in the same direction. Members who worked for health systems earned an average of 67,657 dollars in 2025, while members at solo or small group practices typically earned significantly less. Large employers tend to handle more complex cases, employ more specialized coders, and offer more senior roles. Small practices tend to need generalists who cover coding, billing, scheduling, and front desk work, and they tend to pay a generalist rate. A small practice is not necessarily a bad first job: it often gives faster exposure to the whole revenue cycle, even when starting pay is lower.
Remote work is now common in this occupation. AAPC reports that 64.8 percent of respondents in 2025 worked remotely exclusively, and 80.2 percent worked entirely or partly remotely. Remote roles widen the employers a coder can apply to, but they also widen the applicant pool. A remote posting may pay by the employer’s location, the worker’s location, or a national band, so do not assume it pays a large city rate or that it pays less than an onsite role. Hours matter too: AAPC reports that 89.5 percent of respondents in 2025 worked 40 or more hours per week. Overtime and hospital shift work can raise annual earnings, but they are not the same as a higher base rate, so compare base pay, hours, differentials, and benefits separately.
Pay by Location
A high average in one state is not automatically a better deal than a lower average in another, because cost of living differs too. AAPC’s 2025 survey reports the Pacific region, comprising Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington, as the highest paying region, at 74,409 dollars on average, and the East South Central region, comprising Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee, as the lowest, at 59,046 dollars. Delaware had the highest state average in that survey, at 77,708 dollars, and Mississippi had the lowest, at 50,393 dollars. Those are member survey averages, not government medians, and they reflect the mix of employers, experience, and credentials among respondents as well as local wage levels.
The Bureau’s May 2023 state means show a similar pattern for all workers in the occupation: the District of Columbia had the highest mean, at 70,900 dollars, followed by Washington at 64,250 dollars and California at 64,070 dollars. Metropolitan means were higher still in some high cost cities, for example 83,150 dollars in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California. A salary that looks high in a high cost city may leave less after housing than a lower salary in a lower cost town, and a state average hides the difference between a large city and a rural area in the same state. Use location data to set a realistic range and to check whether a posting’s range fits its location, not to predict a posting’s pay to the dollar. For a local figure, the Bureau’s state and metropolitan area profiles, and CareerOneStop wage data by state and local area, are better than a national salary page.
What Moves Pay: Credential, Education, Specialty, and Role
Beyond experience, setting, and location, four factors recur: credential, education, specialty, and role level. None guarantees a raise. Each changes the jobs a person can compete for, and that is how pay moves.
The Bureau notes that employers may prefer certification, or may expect applicants to earn it shortly after hire, and that certification usually requires passing an exam and may require previous experience or education. AAPC reports that members with two or more credentials averaged 74,557 dollars in 2025, and members with three or more credentials averaged 81,227 dollars. Those members also tend to have more experience and more specialized roles, so credential count alone does not cause the full difference. A credential still signals demonstrated knowledge of a code set and coding guidelines, and that a coder can be trusted with work affecting reimbursement and compliance.
Education shows a similar pattern in the AAPC survey. Members with no college earned 61,635 dollars in 2025, members with some college or an associate degree earned 62,643 dollars, members with a bachelor’s degree averaged 68,354 dollars, and members with a master’s degree averaged 82,207 dollars. Degree holders are more likely to hold management, compliance, and leadership roles, which pay more for reasons beyond the degree itself. The Bureau’s entry guidance is more modest: medical records specialists typically need a postsecondary certificate, although some qualify with a high school diploma, and others may need an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. A degree is not required for every coder role. This article does not compare or endorse any particular training program or course, which is a separate question from salary.
Specialty and complexity move pay because they move risk and responsibility. Inpatient coding involves more intricate documentation than routine outpatient coding. Auditing, compliance, risk adjustment, and clinical documentation improvement involve reviewing other coders’ work or improving documentation, and typically require deeper experience. AAPC notes that its Approved Instructor credential had the highest reported earning potential in 2025, at 94,357 dollars on average, which reflects seniority as well as specialty. Role level is often the largest lever: a lead coder, auditor, supervisor, billing manager, or compliance officer is paid for judgment, training others, and responsibility for a team’s accuracy, not only for coding output. Collecting credentials that do not match the jobs you want, or working longer hours without a change in responsibility, may fail to raise base pay. Check postings for the credential, specialty, and experience they actually name before assuming a survey average applies to you.
Coder Salary, Biller Salary, and Combined Roles
Neither the Bureau nor AAPC publishes a clean, separate national median for coders alone and billers alone in the sources used here, so any page quoting a precise coder versus biller gap without naming its survey should be treated with skepticism. The Bureau group includes coders but does not separate billers as a distinct occupation, and AAPC’s population includes coders, billers, and other revenue cycle workers together. That is why this article quotes group figures with their populations labeled, rather than inventing a coder only figure. In practice, pay follows complexity, credential, setting, and experience more than title alone. A complex inpatient coding role may pay more than a routine billing role, and a senior billing manager handling high value denials may pay more than a routine coding role. A combined role in a small practice may pay a generalist rate below a specialist hospital rate, even though it covers more tasks. When choosing a path, weigh the work itself: coding rewards close reading of clinical documentation and detail, while billing rewards persistence with claims, payer rules, and communication with insurers and patients.
Hourly Pay, Benefits, and the Full Offer
A coder paid 24.59 dollars per hour, the Bureau’s May 2025 median hourly wage, would earn about 51,140 dollars over 2,080 hours, the Bureau’s full time year round figure. A coder paid the same rate for 30 hours per week would earn materially less over a year, while a lower base rate with regular overtime or shift differentials may produce a higher total. Always ask whether a quoted rate is base pay only, and whether overtime, differentials, bonuses, and paid time off are included. Benefits also vary widely: health insurance, retirement contributions, paid leave, and credential support can make a slightly lower base salary worth more overall than a higher base salary with weak benefits. Contract work is a separate case, where pay may be per chart, per hour, or per project, and taxes, benefits, and downtime fall on the worker. Per chart rates should not be compared with an hourly wage without knowing time per chart, complexity mix, and unpaid rework. The Bureau’s figures exclude self employed workers, and AAPC’s population is dominated by employed members, so neither source describes contract pay well.
How to Use These Figures in a Job Search
Start with the Bureau’s May 2025 median of 51,140 dollars, then adjust for your situation: toward the lower distribution and the AAPC entry level average of 45,377 dollars if you are new, and higher if you work in a hospital or hold a credential and several years of experience. When reading a posting, check four things before the pay range: duties, including inpatient or outpatient and specialty or general; the credential and experience actually required or preferred; setting, employer size, and onsite, hybrid, or remote status with its pay basis; and the location that sets the range, if stated. When negotiating, cite ranges with source, year, and population, explain how your record fits that range, and ask what accounts for any figure below the range, such as part time hours, a training period, or a different duty mix. Keep a dated record of the figures you rely on, because salary pages go out of date quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average medical coding and billing salary?
There is no single average for every coder and biller. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a median of 51,140 dollars for medical records specialists in May 2025. AAPC reported an average of 65,007 dollars for responding members in 2025. The first is a median for all workers in a broad occupation; the second is an average for professional body members.
What is the medical coding and billing salary per hour?
The Bureau reported a median hourly wage of 24.59 dollars for medical records specialists in May 2025, corresponding to 51,140 dollars over a full time year. Convert an hourly rate to an annual figure only if the job is full time for the whole year.
How much do entry level medical coders earn?
Entry level pay sits in the lower distribution. AAPC reported an average of 45,377 dollars for respondents with 0 to 1 year of experience in 2025, and the Bureau reported that the lowest 10 percent of medical records specialists earned less than 37,000 dollars in May 2025. Neither figure is a guaranteed starting wage.
Do certified coders earn more than noncertified coders?
Survey evidence points that way, but the gap depends on the survey and on experience and role. AAPC reports that members with two or more credentials averaged 74,557 dollars in 2025 and members with three or more averaged 81,227 dollars, against an overall member average of 65,007 dollars. Those members also tend to have more experience and specialized roles.
Which work setting pays the most?
In the Bureau’s May 2025 medians, management of companies and enterprises paid 60,980 dollars, followed by hospitals at 59,120 dollars, while offices of physicians paid 47,120 dollars. In AAPC’s 2025 survey, health systems averaged 67,657 dollars, while solo and small practices typically paid significantly less.
Does location really change pay?
Yes, but a state average is not a promise for a particular job. AAPC’s 2025 survey put the Pacific region highest at 74,409 dollars and the East South Central region lowest at 59,046 dollars; Delaware was highest by state at 77,708 dollars and Mississippi lowest at 50,393 dollars. Cost of living, employer mix, and experience mix all affect those averages.
Is medical coding and billing a good paying career?
The Bureau’s May 2025 median of 51,140 dollars is close to the median for all occupations, 50,980 dollars, and below the median for health technologists and technicians, 58,180 dollars. Pay can rise through experience, credential, specialty, and movement into auditing, compliance, or management, but no level guarantees a given income.
How long does it take for pay to rise?
Survey data show a gradual rise, not a single jump. AAPC’s 2025 averages rose from 45,377 dollars at 0 to 1 year of experience to 67,331 dollars at 10 to 15 years and 80,479 dollars at 31 or more years. Added skill, specialty, and responsibility drive the rise, not time alone.
Should I choose coding or billing for higher pay?
No clean separate national median for coders alone and billers alone appears in the Bureau or AAPC sources used here, so a precise premium cannot be stated from them. In practice, pay follows complexity, credential, setting, and experience more than title alone. Choose on the work you do well and the roles available in your area.
Sources & references
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, "Medical Records Specialists": median annual wage 51,140 dollars in May 2025, or 24.59 dollars per hour; lowest 10 percent less than 37,000 dollars and highest 10 percent more than 81,150 dollars in May 2025; industry medians for May 2025 including management of companies and enterprises 60,980 dollars, hospitals 59,120 dollars, administrative and support services 49,490 dollars, offices of physicians 47,120 dollars, and professional, scientific, and technical services 46,800 dollars; median for all occupations 50,980 dollars and for health technologists and technicians 58,180 dollars in May 2025; 200,700 jobs in 2025, projected growth 8 percent from 2025 to 2035, about 14,000 openings per year on average; typical entry level education postsecondary nondegree award, certification may be required or preferred; duties including reviewing records, assigning clinical codes, and maintaining records for insurance reimbursement. Page last modified August 27, 2026, opened and checked October 28, 2026.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, "Medical Records Specialists," May 2023: employment 185,690; mean annual wage 53,690 dollars; median annual wage 48,780 dollars; 10th percentile 35,080 dollars, 90th percentile 77,810 dollars; industry means including general medical and surgical hospitals 57,600 dollars and offices of physicians 46,010 dollars; occupation definition including medical coders; annual wages calculated from hourly mean wage multiplied by 2,080 hours. Page last modified April 3, 2024, opened and checked October 28, 2026.
- American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), "Salary Survey Shows AAPC Members' Income Potential," summarizing the 2026 Medical Coding and Billing Salary Report from the 2025 Salary Survey, based on more than 20,000 responses from AAPC membership: average annual earnings 65,007 dollars in 2025 for medical records specialists including coders, billers, and revenue cycle workers; 0 to 1 year of experience 45,377 dollars, 10 to 15 years 67,331 dollars, 31 or more years 80,479 dollars; two or more credentials 74,557 dollars and three or more credentials 81,227 dollars; health systems 67,657 dollars; Pacific region 74,409 dollars and East South Central region 59,046 dollars; Delaware 77,708 dollars and Mississippi 50,393 dollars; education averages including no college 61,635 dollars, some college or associate degree 62,643 dollars, bachelor's degree 68,354 dollars, and master's degree 82,207 dollars; AAPC Approved Instructor credential 94,357 dollars; 64.8 percent working remotely exclusively and 80.2 percent entirely or partly remotely; 89.5 percent working 40 or more hours per week. Article published February 2, 2026 and updated September 11, 2026, opened and checked October 28, 2026.
