Salary data
Medical Coding Salary by State in 2026
National median
$51,140
Highest state
$63,960
Rhode Island
Lowest state
$41,500
Mississippi
What is the average medical coding salary?
The average medical coding salary is $51,140 a year at the median, with the bottom tenth of coders on $37,000 and the top tenth on $81,150. Medical coders are counted federally under Medical Records Specialists (SOC 29-2072), an occupation employing 194,720 people.
The median is the number everyone quotes and the least useful one if you are deciding whether to train. Half of all coders earn below it, and new entrants are almost all in that half, so the tenth and twenty-fifth percentiles, $37,000 and $43,490, are the honest planning figures for a first job.
Medical coding salary by state
Medical coding salary by state runs from $41,500 in Mississippi to $63,960 in Rhode Island, a spread of $22,460 or about 54%. 27 of the 50 states and territories with data pay above the national median. The billing column is the separate Billing and Posting Clerks occupation in the same state, for comparison.
| State | Coding median | Bottom 10% | Top 10% | Employed | Billing median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $43,810 | $30,250 | $64,730 | 2,330 | $39,520 |
| Alaska | $61,090 | $46,390 | $90,530 | 1,070 | $52,170 |
| Arizona | $47,630 | $36,530 | $75,430 | 3,750 | $47,730 |
| Arkansas | $41,740 | $33,920 | $65,090 | 1,920 | $38,780 |
| California | $61,810 | $43,800 | $102,470 | 18,700 | $56,260 |
| Colorado | $59,020 | $45,280 | $82,980 | 1,780 | $52,670 |
| Connecticut | $60,940 | $40,490 | $88,900 | 1,120 | $52,000 |
| Delaware | $56,060 | $36,870 | $77,500 | 610 | $52,110 |
| Florida | $45,760 | $36,330 | $76,850 | 21,490 | $46,540 |
| Georgia | $51,550 | $36,260 | $81,580 | 5,930 | $47,390 |
| Hawaii | $63,180 | $45,700 | $91,650 | 400 | $51,240 |
| Idaho | $53,460 | $39,930 | $77,840 | 1,490 | $46,440 |
| Illinois | $56,440 | $38,890 | $77,520 | 5,740 | $49,730 |
| Indiana | $47,670 | $38,270 | $79,270 | 5,860 | $46,400 |
| Iowa | $50,640 | $38,910 | $66,390 | 2,250 | $47,110 |
| Kansas | $48,160 | $36,680 | $77,910 | 2,030 | $46,420 |
| Kentucky | $48,410 | $36,290 | $74,520 | 4,210 | $45,590 |
| Louisiana | $44,610 | $32,900 | $77,080 | 2,600 | $43,170 |
| Maine | $52,090 | $42,210 | $76,660 | 1,000 | $47,840 |
| Maryland | $54,220 | $35,400 | $82,090 | 2,440 | $52,210 |
| Massachusetts | $60,350 | $43,960 | $81,620 | 3,500 | $56,110 |
| Michigan | $48,120 | $37,180 | $77,080 | 4,890 | $46,890 |
| Minnesota | $61,530 | $48,120 | $83,020 | 3,150 | $55,810 |
| Mississippi | $41,500 | $31,010 | $61,580 | 2,310 | $41,190 |
| Missouri | $50,750 | $38,880 | $77,010 | 3,890 | $46,760 |
| Montana | $50,190 | $40,460 | $64,540 | 820 | $46,730 |
| Nebraska | $51,670 | $38,620 | $74,990 | 1,640 | $47,410 |
| Nevada | $50,300 | $36,990 | $81,140 | 2,350 | $47,430 |
| New Hampshire | $49,210 | $39,120 | $68,980 | 930 | $50,710 |
| New Jersey | $50,240 | $33,280 | $83,650 | 4,450 | $51,750 |
| New Mexico | $57,470 | $36,600 | $76,460 | 1,400 | $46,120 |
| New York | $61,720 | $40,730 | $101,940 | 9,080 | $53,320 |
| North Carolina | $49,620 | $36,840 | $79,670 | 6,760 | $47,160 |
| North Dakota | $46,280 | $39,580 | $79,800 | 520 | $48,550 |
| Ohio | $50,990 | $38,060 | $79,290 | 7,440 | $46,390 |
| Oklahoma | $53,460 | $36,610 | $74,710 | 2,480 | $45,120 |
| Oregon | $59,000 | $44,260 | $81,120 | 2,560 | $51,860 |
| Pennsylvania | $46,840 | $37,490 | $77,880 | 6,970 | $46,890 |
| Rhode Island | $63,960 | $44,650 | $84,540 | 650 | $52,910 |
| South Carolina | $54,280 | $37,240 | $71,280 | 2,750 | $45,250 |
| South Dakota | $51,610 | $36,920 | $76,950 | 900 | $46,180 |
| Tennessee | $48,780 | $37,320 | $79,960 | 4,440 | $46,330 |
| Texas | $48,860 | $34,440 | $78,390 | 17,210 | $45,910 |
| Utah | $52,870 | $35,720 | $82,640 | 1,910 | $46,470 |
| Vermont | $57,560 | $42,130 | $77,580 | n/a | $50,730 |
| Virginia | $53,290 | $37,630 | $78,680 | 4,630 | $47,580 |
| Washington | $62,270 | $45,500 | $98,130 | 5,010 | $56,090 |
| West Virginia | $47,360 | $31,610 | $75,000 | 1,260 | $39,300 |
| Wisconsin | $60,280 | $46,750 | $79,720 | 2,870 | $48,230 |
| Wyoming | $54,210 | $37,930 | $79,530 | 280 | $44,880 |
Bold marks a state paying above the $51,140 national median. May 2025 OEWS, state rollup. No cost-of-living adjustment is applied.
Which states pay medical coders the most?
Rhode Island pays medical coders the most at $63,960, then Hawaii at $63,180, Washington at $62,270, California at $61,810. The five lowest are Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida.
Do medical coders earn more than medical billers?
Medical coders earn more than medical billers by about $2,640 at the median. Coding sits in Medical Records Specialists at $51,140; billing-only work sits in Billing and Posting Clerks at $48,500. They are two different federal occupations, which is why a single "medical billing and coding salary" is nearly always one of the two figures wearing the other's name.
| Occupation | Bottom 10% | Median | Top 10% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Records Specialists SOC 29-2072 | $37,000 | $51,140 | $81,150 |
| Billing and Posting Clerks SOC 43-3021 | $37,290 | $48,500 | $67,710 |
| Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars SOC 29-9021 | $39,830 | $68,020 | $117,420 |
| Medical and Health Services Managers SOC 11-9111 | $73,390 | $123,860 | $224,340 |
How do medical coders earn more?
Medical coders earn more in three ways, and only one of them is moving state.
- Specialise. Inpatient coding, risk adjustment and auditing all pay above general outpatient coding, and each has its own credential. See inpatient coder and risk adjustment coder.
- Move out of production. Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars pays $68,020 against $51,140 for coding, and that route usually runs through a CAHIIM-accredited associate degree and the RHIT.
- Manage. Medical and Health Services Managers has a median of $123,860, though that occupation spans all of healthcare management and coding managers sit at the lower end of it.
Common questions about medical coding salaries
What is the average medical coding salary in 2026?
Which state pays medical coders the most?
Do medical coders earn more than medical billers?
How much do medical coders make starting out?
What is the highest-paying job in medical coding?
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. National figures and the full state table, read from the national release file rather than a secondary source.
- Occupations used: Medical Records Specialists (SOC 29-2072), Billing and Posting Clerks (SOC 43-3021), Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars (SOC 29-9021) and Medical and Health Services Managers (SOC 11-9111).
- What each role actually does: our career profiles. Which programmes lead to them: the rankings.
Wages are nominal and unadjusted for cost of living. BLS suppresses figures where the sample is too small, and those appear as n/a rather than as zero.