Medical Coder Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 1,697 US job postings by 629 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for medical coders: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 1,697 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for medical coders in US job postings is $68,000 a year (315 postings from 129 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $52,000 to $81,000.
- The skills that most set medical coder postings apart are cpt, medical terminology, hcpcs.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Medical Coder job postings in the US, October 2026
- $68,000
- Median advertised pay (315 postings)
- $52,000–$81,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 1,697
- US job postings from 629 employers
- 2 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a medical coder make?
The median advertised pay is $68,000 a year, from 315 US job postings by 129 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $112,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 315 US medical coder job postings: median $68,000 a year, middle half $52,000 to $81,000.
- Median: $68,000
- 25th percentile: $52,000
- 75th percentile: $81,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 4.9% |
| $40K–$50K | 16.3% |
| $50K–$60K | 18.3% |
| $60K–$70K | 14.7% |
| $70K–$80K | 19.9% |
| $80K–$90K | 6.5% |
| $90K–$100K | 6.2% |
| $100K–$110K | 2.3% |
| $110K–$120K | 2.6% |
| $120K–$130K | 2.9% |
| $130K–$140K | 0.7% |
| $140K–$150K | 1.6% |
| $150K–$160K | 1.3% |
| $160K–$170K | 1.0% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pay postings, annualised | $68,000 | $52K–$81K | 315 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Medical Records Specialists (29-2072) at $51,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a medical coder?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Skills employers ask for in medical coder job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 31% |
| Medical terminology | 24% |
| Excel | 19% |
| Cpt | 17% |
| Work independently | 16% |
| Attention to detail | 16% |
| Organizational skills | 13% |
| Analytical skills | 13% |
| Interpersonal skills | 12% |
| Hcpcs | 11% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set medical coders apart
- Cpt247.1× as often as in all postings · 17%
- Medical terminology42.4× as often as in all postings · 24%
- Hcpcs392.7× as often as in all postings · 11%
- Icd-10-cm712.6× as often as in all postings · 9%
- Anatomy65.5× as often as in all postings · 9%
- Physiology54.2× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Icd-10113.8× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Coding62.8× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Epic33.1× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Hipaa8.6× as often as in all postings · 9%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a medical coder job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a medical coder do?
Employers post these jobs as Clinical Documentation Specialist, Medical Records Technician, Coding Auditor, Coder II, Certified Coder and other titles. The largest specializations are Health Information Specialist (14%), Clinical Documentation Specialist (8%), Medical Records Clerk (9%), CDI Specialist (under 1%), Trauma Registrar (under 1%).
The closest official occupation is Medical Records Specialists (29-2072.00). Its most important tasks:
- Protect the security of medical records to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
- Review records for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with regulations.
- Scan patients' health records into electronic formats.
- Release information to persons or agencies according to regulations.
- Enter data, such as demographic characteristics, history and extent of disease, diagnostic procedures, or treatment into computer.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a medical coder?
Among 866 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 29% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 866 US medical coder job postings: median 2 years, and 29% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 1% |
| 1 yr | 27% |
| 2 yrs | 32% |
| 3-4 yrs | 26% |
| 5-7 yrs | 13% |
| 8-9 yrs | 0% |
| 10+ yrs | under 1% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for a medical coder: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Medical Coder | 75 (11.9%) |
| Clinical Documentation Specialist | 37 (5.9%) |
| Medical Records Technician | 34 (5.4%) |
| Coding Auditor | 32 (5.1%) |
| Coder II | 30 (4.8%) |
| Certified Coder | 28 (4.5%) |
| Medical Coding Specialist | 26 (4.1%) |
| CODER | 25 (4.0%) |
| HIM Specialist | 21 (3.3%) |
| Coding Manager | 20 (3.2%) |
| Coding Educator | 20 (3.2%) |
| Certified Medical Coder | 20 (3.2%) |
| Inpatient Coder | 19 (3.0%) |
| Coding Specialist | 17 (2.7%) |
| Coding Supervisor | 17 (2.7%) |
| Coder III | 17 (2.7%) |
| Certified Professional Coder | 15 (2.4%) |
| Coder I | 14 (2.2%) |
| Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist | 14 (2.2%) |
| Health Information Management Specialist | 13 (2.1%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Medical Coder compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Coder | $68K | 2 years | 1,697 | – |
| Medical Billing Specialist | $22.50/hr | 2 years | 2,516 | 18 |
| Patient Services Representative | $21.50/hr | 1 year | 14,137 | 15 |
| Claims Adjuster | $78K | 3 years | 2,669 | 17 |
| Clinical Research Coordinator | $79K | 2 years | 2,593 | 17 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Medical Billing Specialist | 18 | $22.50/hr |
| Patient Services Representative | 15 | $21.50/hr |
| Claims Adjuster | 17 | $78K |
| Clinical Research Coordinator | 17 | $79K |
| Diagnostic Medical Sonographer | 14 | $47.00/hr |
| Neurodiagnostic Technologist | 14 | – |
Applying for medical coder jobs?
- Medical coder resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find medical coder jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a medical coder make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.