How much do medical coders make in 2026?
Medical coders earn a national median of $51,140 a year ($24.59 an hour) per BLS OEWS May 2025. BLS has no coder-only series: these figures come from SOC 29-2072, Medical Records Specialists, which covers coding along with health-information roles. The bottom 10% earn about $37,000 and the top 10% reach $81,150. Certification sets the floor — the AAPC CPC for outpatient work, the AHIMA CCS for inpatient — and specialisation sets the ceiling: inpatient DRG coding, risk adjustment for Medicare Advantage and coding audit or education roles sit near the $64,820 P75 and above. The work is also among the most remote-friendly in healthcare. Employment is projected to grow 7.1% through 2034 with roughly 14,200 openings a year. → Full medical coder career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $51,140 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Medical Coders earn a national median $51,140/yr ($24.59/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-2072); the P10 to P90 range is $37,000 to $81,150.
- The published series is Medical Records Specialists (SOC 29-2072), which covers coding along with wider health-information work rather than coding alone.
- Certification is the entry filter and specialisation is the ceiling: inpatient DRG coding, risk adjustment and audit roles sit near or above the $64,820 P75.
- BLS projects 7.1% growth through 2034 with roughly 14,200 openings a year, and coding remains one of the few clinical-adjacent roles that is routinely fully remote.
US Medical Coder Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do medical coders 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 29-2072; 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 29-2072, 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 medical coder earn at each career stage?
Coding is a certification market with no state licence, so the stages below follow credential and coding complexity. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 29-2072.
By State
Which states pay medical coders the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Coding is unusual in that geography is weakly binding: much of the work is remote, so employers frequently pay to a national band rather than to the local wage level.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($58,810), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
medical coder pay by state — all 8 state guides
By Metro
Which cities pay medical coders the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by the published metro index. For a largely remote occupation these should be read as illustrative wage levels, 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 medical coder’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 medical coder pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Medical Coders 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 medical coder wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a medical coder 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
Medical Coder Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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