How much do healthcare administrators make in 2026?
Healthcare administrators are the core of the BLS medical and health services manager series: OEWS May 2025 puts the SOC 11-9111 national median at $123,860 a year ($59.55 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $73,390 and the top 10% at $224,340. That $150,000 spread is the defining fact of the occupation, because the same title covers a practice manager running a small clinic and an executive running a hospital. Scale is the variable that explains almost all of it: revenue, headcount, number of sites and whether the setting is a physician practice, an outpatient centre, a hospital or a health system. Credentials matter at the margin — a master's in health administration is the standard qualification and FACHE fellowship signals executive readiness — but a graduate degree does not move a small-practice salary into the top decile. What does is taking responsibility for a larger operation. Employment is projected to grow 23.2% through 2034 with roughly 62,100 openings a year. → Full healthcare administrator career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $123,860 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Healthcare Administrators earn a national median $123,860/yr ($59.55/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 11-9111); the P10 to P90 range is $73,390 to $224,340.
- SOC 11-9111 is a wide occupation: the $73,390 to $224,340 range covers small-practice managers and hospital executives under one title, so scale explains most of the spread.
- Setting sets the band — physician practices and outpatient clinics sit low, hospitals and health systems high — while credentials mainly determine which band you can be hired into.
- The 23.2% projected growth through 2034 with roughly 62,100 openings a year is among the fastest in management, driven by consolidation, regulation and outpatient expansion.
US Healthcare Administrator Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do healthcare administrators earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 11-9111; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 11-9111, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a healthcare administrator earn at each career stage?
Administrator pay follows the scale of the operation managed, then credentials. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 11-9111.
By State
Which states pay healthcare administrators the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Local market structure matters more than the wage index for this occupation: metros dominated by large integrated systems have deep administrative hierarchies and executive bands, while markets of independent practices offer mostly practice-manager roles at the bottom of the range. Certificate-of-need rules and state licensing of facilities also shape how much regulatory work an administrator carries.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($142,440), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay healthcare administrators the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a healthcare administrator’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does healthcare administrator pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Healthcare Administrators sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify healthcare administrator wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a healthcare administrator actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Healthcare Administrator Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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