Houston's community colleges are among the cheapest in any big city, and all six programs ranked here are community colleges. The metro's career schools report a whole-program price rather than annual tuition, so they are listed in full below rather than ranked. The College of Health Care Professions alone, across its three Houston campuses, graduates more coders than the six colleges combined, at a program price of $17,000 to $19,000.
None of the Houston programs holds AHIMA PCAP approval, so the ranking turns on price and track record. And price in Houston depends on your street address.
Top 6 medical coding programs in Houston in 2026
The top 6 medical coding programs in Houston are ranked below on the same model as our national and Texas lists: independent review, cost, track record, delivery and credential fit. Houston here means the whole Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area as the federal government draws it, not the city limits, because that is the area a student actually commutes across. Of the 15 institutions in it, 6 publish an annual tuition figure and graduated coders in the latest year, which is what scoring needs; the rest are listed in full further down.
A program scores exactly what it scores on its state page, since cost is measured against every rankable program in the country. Only its position changes. The methodology has the weights.
- #1
College of the Mainland
Texas City, TX · Public
61.1
of 100
Online available CertificateWhy it ranks in the Houston area
From its campus in Texas City, TX, College of the Mainland places #1 among the 6 medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area. At $1,773 a year in district, it is about 13% below the median of $2,040 across medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area. Distance study is on offer at this the Houston area college, though the federal record does not say whether the coding certificate itself is delivered that way. It has graduated students in all three of the years we checked, most recently 4. This program carries no third-party review of its own. Few do, so the absence separates it from almost nothing.
Tuition
$1,773 a year, in-district
Score breakdown
- Independent review 0.0/35
- Published tuition 23.1/25
- Track record 20.0/20
- Online availability 12.0/12
- Credential fit 6.0/8
-
- #2
San Jacinto Community College
Pasadena, TX · Public
60.8
of 100
Online available CertificateWhy it ranks in the Houston area
From its campus in Pasadena, TX, San Jacinto Community College places #2 among the 6 medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area. No independent program review is on record for this one, which is the normal position in medical coding rather than a mark against it. Federal completions show awards in each of the last three years, 53 in the most recent, so this is a running program rather than a listed one. Tuition of $1,992 a year sits close to the $2,040 median for medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area. The institution runs fully online undergraduate programs, a flag covering the college as a whole, so ask the the Houston area campus whether this award is among them.
Tuition
$1,992 a year, in-district
Score breakdown
- Independent review 0.0/35
- Published tuition 22.8/25
- Track record 20.0/20
- Online availability 12.0/12
- Credential fit 6.0/8
-
- #3
Houston Community College
Houston, TX · Public
60.7
of 100
Online available CertificateWhy it ranks in the Houston area
From its campus in Houston, TX, Houston Community College places #3 among the 6 medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area. This program carries no third-party review of its own. Few do, so the absence separates it from almost nothing. The institution runs fully online undergraduate programs, a flag covering the college as a whole, so ask the the Houston area campus whether this award is among them. Federal completions show awards in each of the last three years, 50 in the most recent, so this is a running program rather than a listed one. Tuition of $2,040 a year sits close to the $2,040 median for medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area.
Tuition
$2,040 a year, in-district
Score breakdown
- Independent review 0.0/35
- Published tuition 22.7/25
- Track record 20.0/20
- Online availability 12.0/12
- Credential fit 6.0/8
-
- #4
Lone Star College System
The Woodlands, TX · Public
59.9
of 100
Online available CertificateWhy it ranks in the Houston area
From its campus in The Woodlands, TX, Lone Star College System places #4 among the 6 medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area. Tuition of $2,472 runs about 21% above the $2,040 median for medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area, which is worth weighing against what else the program includes. It has graduated students in all three of the years we checked, most recently 14. Nothing independent has reviewed this specific program, which describes almost every coding program in the Houston area rather than this one in particular. Distance study is on offer at this the Houston area college, though the federal record does not say whether the coding certificate itself is delivered that way.
Tuition
$2,472 a year, in-district
Score breakdown
- Independent review 0.0/35
- Published tuition 21.9/25
- Track record 20.0/20
- Online availability 12.0/12
- Credential fit 6.0/8
-
- #5
Galveston College
Galveston, TX · Public
59.7
of 100
Online available CertificateWhy it ranks in the Houston area
From its campus in Galveston, TX, Galveston College places #5 among the 6 medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area. Tuition of $2,546 runs about 25% above the $2,040 median for medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area, which is worth weighing against what else the program includes. Distance study is on offer at this the Houston area college, though the federal record does not say whether the coding certificate itself is delivered that way. 54 awards in the latest year, and awards in each of the three years before it, which is the check we run for whether a program is actually operating. No program-level approval is recorded. Read that as the field's norm, not as a finding about this college, whose institutional accreditation is a separate matter.
Tuition
$2,546 a year, in-district
Score breakdown
- Independent review 0.0/35
- Published tuition 21.7/25
- Track record 20.0/20
- Online availability 12.0/12
- Credential fit 6.0/8
-
- #6
Alvin Community College
Alvin, TX · Public
54.0
of 100
Online available CertificateWhy it ranks in the Houston area
From its campus in Alvin, TX, Alvin Community College places #6 among the 6 medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area. At $1,834 a year in district, it is about 10% below the median of $2,040 across medical coding programs we scored in the Houston area. Nothing independent has reviewed this specific program, which describes almost every coding program in the Houston area rather than this one in particular. Online study is available here, though the federal flag covers the college rather than this specific award, which is worth confirming with an the Houston area advisor. Federal data shows awards in 2 of the last three years, which is worth asking about.
Tuition
$1,834 a year, in-district
Score breakdown
- Independent review 0.0/35
- Published tuition 23.0/25
- Track record 13.0/20
- Online availability 12.0/12
- Credential fit 6.0/8
-
Which Houston community college charges you in-district tuition?
The Houston community college that charges you in-district tuition is the one whose taxing district you live in, and the metro is split between several. Houston Community College counts a student as in-district only with a street address in Alief ISD, Houston ISD, Stafford MSD or part of Missouri City. Everyone else in Texas pays its out-of-district rate.
The gap is roughly double at each college. HCC charges $84.50 a credit hour in district and $180.50 out of district. Lone Star College, which covers the north and northwest suburbs, charges $111 and $249. San Jacinto College in Pasadena charges $83 and $144. A student in The Woodlands pays less at Lone Star than at HCC, and a student in Pasadena less at San Jacinto, whatever order the list puts them in.
How long does a medical coding certificate take in Houston?
A medical coding certificate takes about a year in Houston at the two largest colleges, three semesters full time. HCC's Health Information Technology Coding certificate is at least 37 credits and prepares students for both the AHIMA CCA and the AAPC CPC. San Jacinto's Medical Coding Specialist Level 2 certificate is 36 credits over two regular terms and a summer, aimed at the AHIMA CCS.
The exam is the real difference. The CPC is the outpatient and physician-office credential, and the CCS is the harder inpatient one that hospital coding departments look for, so a student aiming at hospital work should weigh San Jacinto's focus accordingly.
How much do medical coders make in Houston?
Medical coders in Houston make a median of $51,250 a year, across 3,680 jobs in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area. That is $110 above the national median of $51,140 and $2,390 above the Texas figure of $48,860.
The spread matters more than the middle. The bottom tenth earns $38,150 and the bottom quarter $45,350, which is nearer to what a newly certified coder is offered, while the top quarter clears $65,650 and the top tenth $80,510. That upper end is coders with an inpatient credential, a few years of audit or CDI work, or a remote role paid on a national scale. Billing is a separate federal occupation and pays less: billing and posting clerks in the metro earn a median of $47,360, across 6,820 jobs.
Which schools in Houston award a medical coding credential?
The schools in Houston awarding a medical coding credential are the 15 below, every institution in the metropolitan area that the federal data records as awarding a medical coding or billing credential, largest first by credentials conferred. 5 of them graduated coders but report a whole-program price rather than annual tuition, which is how career schools report, so they cannot be scored on the same footing as a college and are not ranked. 4 conferred no coding credential in the latest year. A blank price means the school reports none.
| School | City | Sector | Online | Price | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The College of Health Care Professions-Northwest | Houston | For-profit | ✓ | $19,450 program, 11mo | 262 |
| The College of Health Care Professions-Southwest Houston | Houston | For-profit | — | $17,350 program, 9mo | 57 |
| Galveston College | Galveston | Public | ✓ | $2,546 /yr | 54 |
| San Jacinto Community College | Pasadena | Public | ✓ | $1,992 /yr | 53 |
| Houston Community College | Houston | Public | ✓ | $2,040 /yr | 50 |
| College of Health Care Professions | Houston | For-profit | — | $17,400 program, 9mo | 41 |
| Pima Medical Institute-Houston | Houston | For-profit | — | school publishes none | 19 |
| Lone Star College System | The Woodlands | Public | ✓ | $2,472 /yr | 14 |
| College of the Mainland | Texas City | Public | ✓ | $1,773 /yr | 4 |
| Alvin Community College | Alvin | Public | ✓ | $1,834 /yr | 3 |
| Fortis Institute | Houston | For-profit | — | $19,125 program, 12mo | 1 |
| Lee College | Baytown | Public | — | $2,166 /yr | |
| Altierus Career College-Bissonnet | Houston | Nonprofit | — | $15,230 /yr | |
| Fortis College | Houston | For-profit | — | $18,090 program, 12mo | |
| Florida Career College-Houston | Houston | For-profit | — | $21,500 program, 9mo |
IPEDS completions, directory and tuition files, 2023. Metro membership is each institution's metropolitan area (CBSA) in the IPEDS directory. Prices come in two units and the column says which: annual tuition, shown /yr, and the whole-program price career schools report, shown program. The two are never averaged together. A college's /yr figure is its in-district rate, which only residents of its district pay. The Online flag is institution-level: it marks a college offering some fully online undergraduate program, not proof that its coding certificate is one.
Common questions about medical coding programs in Houston
What is the best medical coding program in Houston?
How much does a medical coding program cost in Houston?
How much do medical coders make in Houston?
Do you need a license to be a medical coder in Houston?
How much is Houston Community College tuition for medical coding?
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area median, percentiles and employment for medical records specialists (SOC 29-2072) and billing and posting clerks (SOC 43-3021).
- IPEDS completions, directory and tuition , 2023, via the Urban Institute Education Data API: which institutions in the metro award coding credentials, how many they conferred, their metropolitan area, published tuition and distance education.
- AHIMA Professional Certificate Approval Program directory : no program in the Houston area appears in it.
- Houston Community College, tuition and cost
- Houston Community College, residency information: which addresses count as in-district
- Houston Community College, Health Information Technology
- Lone Star College, tuition
- San Jacinto College, tuition and fees
- San Jacinto College, Medical Coding Specialist Level 2 certificate
Where else can you study medical coding near Houston?
You can study medical coding near Houston anywhere else in Texas, and since no state licenses coders, a program further out is a real option rather than a compromise:
- Medical coding programs in Texas, 72 institutions statewide
- The best online medical coding programs, open to Houston residents
The other large cities we rank:
- Medical coding programs in New York City, 9 ranked
- Medical coding programs in Los Angeles, 10 ranked
- Medical coding programs in Chicago, 11 ranked
- Medical coding programs in Philadelphia, 11 ranked