Career profile · SOC 29-9021
How to Become a Health Information Technician in 2026
Median pay
$68,020
Typical entry
Associate degree
Employed nationally
38,100
What does a health information technician do?
A health information technician manages record systems, data quality and registries, the role an AAS opens that a certificate does not.
This role is where health information stops being clerical and starts being data. The technician looks after the systems the records live in and the quality of what is inside them, runs registries, and produces the statistics that clinical and administrative decisions are made from. It is the closest thing the field has to an analyst role that a two-year degree reaches, and the federal data pays it accordingly.
The people who hire for this role are:
- Hospitals and health systems
- Cancer and disease registries
- Public health agencies
- Software vendors serving health information departments
What does a health information technician do day to day?
Day to day, a health information technician spends the time on four things:
- Managing record systems and the data quality inside them
- Running registries, cancer registries most commonly
- Producing statistics and reports from clinical data
- Supporting the electronic health record and the people using it
The part people underestimate
It is a data job as much as a records job, and people who came for coding sometimes find the analysis and reporting side unexpected.
How much does a health information technician make?
A health information technician makes a median of $68,020 a year. The government files the role under Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars, SOC 29-9021, which reports 38,100 employed nationally and 16% projected growth.
| Bottom 10% | 25th | Median | 75th | Top 10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $39,830 | $48,940 | $68,020 | $95,630 | $117,420 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The median includes people with a decade in the role, so read the lower percentiles as the entry band.
Which states employ the most health information technicians?
California employs the most health information technicians, around 2,920 of them, followed by Texas and Ohio. Volume matters as much as the median when you are job hunting: a high-paying state with few posts is harder to enter than a mid-paying state with many.
| State | Median | Bottom 10% | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $90,750 | $57,770 | 2,920 |
| Texas | $76,820 | $39,050 | 2,880 |
| Ohio | $71,330 | $38,270 | 2,500 |
| North Carolina | $63,010 | $25,860 | 2,370 |
| Florida | $76,950 | $43,070 | 2,360 |
| New Mexico | $42,000 | $37,400 | 120 |
| South Carolina | $44,530 | $34,500 | 470 |
| Oklahoma | $45,210 | $36,180 | 610 |
The five largest employers of 49 states, with the three lowest-paying for contrast, May 2025 OEWS. No cost-of-living adjustment is applied, so compare against local rents before moving for a median.
How do you become a health information technician?
To become a health information technician, a CAHIIM-accredited associate degree, then the RHIT. This is the role a coding certificate does not reach, and the concrete reason to take the longer route.
This is the one role in this list that a coding certificate genuinely does not reach. The route is a CAHIIM-accredited associate degree and then the RHIT, and AHIMA accepts only HIM degree programmes for that exam. If this is the destination, the longer programme is not an upgrade to consider later, it is the entry requirement, and choosing a certificate first mostly costs time rather than saving it.
If you are choosing a programme, our ranking covers every one that publishes a tuition figure. See the rankings and the accreditation guide.
Which certifications do health information technicians hold?
Health Information Technicians most often hold RHIT. The choice follows the setting you want to work in, not a ranking of the credentials.
The RHIT is effectively the credential for this role and the reason the degree is unavoidable. It is broader than a coding exam: coding is one of five areas, alongside health law, statistics, registries and information systems, which is a fair preview of how the job is distributed too.
Where does a health information technician go next?
A health information technician usually goes next into health information management, informatics, or a bachelor’s and the RHIA.
The ladder above this role is the clearest in the field, and it runs through a bachelor's degree to the RHIA and into health information management or informatics. That is the point at which the work becomes managing systems and people rather than operating them. It is also the route that leads to the management occupation the federal data pays best in this field.
Common questions about working as a health information technician
How much does a health information technician make?
What qualifications do you need to be a health information technician?
What is the hardest part of being a health information technician?
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: national and state wages, employment and percentiles for SOC 29-9021.
- The per-state table comes from the state rollup of that same OEWS release.
- Exam fees and eligibility rules from the issuing bodies, cited on the certification pages.
What the job involves is written by us; what it pays is not. The numbers are BLS and carry their source.