Medical Coder Salary in Texas 2026,
$48,860 Median | BLS Data by City

The published Texas median for medical records specialists is $48,860 a year, or $23.49 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025 — 4.5% below the national median of $51,140, with no state income tax deducted. The middle half falls between $39,470 and $63,970 and the full band runs $34,440 to $78,390. The row covers records staff as well as certified coders, so a certified coder should be reading the upper half.

Midland at $52,740, then Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington $52,140, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Victoria both at $51,250, and Odessa $50,410. About twenty-three hundred dollars separates the table, so location contributes very little — certification and specialisation are what move pay in this occupation here.

No. Texas has no board, examination or credential for medical coding, so nothing about the role is gated by the state. Employers screen on national certification instead: the AAPC's Certified Professional Coder and specialty credentials, and AHIMA's Certified Coding Specialist and registered health information credentials. Texas's large hospital systems and its revenue cycle outsourcing sector generally treat those as hiring conditions.

The band argues strongly that it is. The 25th percentile of $39,470 and the 75th of $63,970 are about twenty-four thousand dollars apart, and certification is a large part of what sits between them — it is the difference between records handling and professional coding. In a state that licenses nothing here, it is also the only portable evidence of competence, and it is what employers use to manage their own compliance exposure.

Reshaped rather than removed. Computer-assisted coding and natural language processing handle routine outpatient encounters increasingly well, which reduces demand for straightforward coding — the part of the occupation at the $34,440 to $39,470 end of this band. What has grown is complex inpatient coding, auditing, denials management, risk adjustment and compliance, all of which require judgement about clinical documentation. The national projection of 7.1% growth reflects that shift rather than a uniform expansion.

Two occupations at quite different prices. Release-of-information clerks, chart analysts and health information administrative staff sit in SOC 29-2072 alongside certified inpatient coders and coding auditors, and the pay difference between them is roughly the width of this band. Anyone benchmarking a coding salary against the $48,860 median is therefore comparing themselves partly against a different job. The certified coder reference points are the 75th percentile of $63,970 and the 90th at $78,390; the records clerk reference is the $34,440 tenth percentile. Reading the median as 'what coders earn' would understate certified work and overstate clerical work simultaneously.

Beyond the code breadth, this is an occupation with substantial remote work, and a Texas-based coder may be employed by an out-of-state system at that system's rates — which the state wage figure captures imperfectly. It blends hospital, physician practice, outsourcing vendor and payer employment at different rates. And a flat metro table means the geography carries almost no information, so all the unexplained variation is in credential and specialisation.

Certification first, since Texas licenses nothing and the AAPC and AHIMA credentials are the only recognised standard. Coding type second: inpatient diagnosis-related group, surgical, specialty and risk adjustment coding above routine outpatient work — roughly the distance from the $39,470 twenty-fifth percentile to the $63,970 seventy-fifth. Auditing, denials management and compliance third, which is what the $78,390 ninetieth percentile describes and is also the part least exposed to automation. Employer type fourth, with large hospital systems and payers above small practices.