How Much Does a Medical Coder Earn?

How Much Does a Medical Coder Earn?

Medical coding often requires a basic understanding of general medical transcription. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average medical transcriptionist salary was estimated at $33,000 per year in 2009; average medical coding salaries, therefore, can be expected to be very similar. The lowest ten percent of these professionals made around $22,000 per annum, while the highest made about $22 per hour (a medical coding salary of approximately $45,000 per year). These salaries reflect the nature of the training and education involved in becoming a medical coder, which is often quite less than needed for most other medical professions.

How Do Medical Coder Salaries Vary by Location?

Because different areas of the United States have different standards of living, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has also compiled detailed information on medical coder salary variance by location. Studies done by the BLS show that the highest density of medical transcriptionists (and assumedly, medical coders) was in South Dakota, where the employment per thousand workers was 1.991. The annual average salary of medical transcriptionist professionals in this state was $28,410 per year, compared to $33,390 per year in Wisconsin, where the employment per thousand workers was 1.416.

According to the BLS, the best-paid medical transcriptionists worked in the following states:

• Massachusetts: $42,880 per year
• Alaska: $42,640 per year
• California: $41,100 per year
• Hawaii: $38,950 per year
• New Jersey: $38,750 per year

Although these medical transcriptionist salaries are substantially higher, the employment opportunities are also much lower than in these areas.

Which Industries Pay the Best?

Expectantly, medical transcriptionists (including those with specialization in medical coding) have varying levels of responsibility and need within different niches of medicine. The Bureau of Labor Statistics claims that in 2009 medical transcriptionist employment was highest in general medicine and surgical hospitals, with physician’s offices and business support services following close behind. The annual salary in these fields averages around $32,000.

Medical and diagnostic laboratories, which show a much lower rate of employment for medical transcriptionist professionals, showed the highest annual mean salary of $38,680. While these numbers are reported for medical transcriptionists, they can be reasonably considered to be similar to that of medical coder salaries as well. Finding the right paying medical coder salary takes time and consideration, for the particular field and location of choice will likely affect that number.

What Are the Best Cities for Medical Coders?

In an attempt at further refining their results, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also provides information on which metropolitan areas have the highest density of employment in medical transcription. Bangor, Maine comes out at top, where medical coder salaries likely fall around $32,150 per year. The highest annual salaries were found in the Brockton-Bridgewater-Eaton, Massachusetts area, which is a statistical division of the state. Salaries here were reported at around $67,000 per year, which is a significant increase compared to the national average. Other high-paying cities include the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara division and Salinas areas of California.

The medical transcription industry is expected to grow by 11 percent between 2008 and 2018.