Job Outlook

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment of medical coding workers will increase by 20 percent between 2008 and 2018, a rate which is much faster than the national average for all occupations. While an associate's degree is generally expected, workers with a bachelor's degree and/or credentials from organizations such as the American Health Information Management Association or the American Academy of Professional Coders will typically help workers earn higher wages.
  
  

Average Salary

• According to the BLS, the hourly rate for medical coding workers in the United States was $16.29 on average as of May 2009, or an annual salary of $33,880. The median salary was $31,290, with $20,850 on the low end of the salary scale and $51,510 as the average salary for those on the higher end of the scale.
  
  

Organization

• Medical coding workers can be employed at any type of medical facility, but are most commonly found in hospitals and doctor's offices. At general medical and surgical hospitals, the average salary was $35,870, while the offices of physicians offered less, at $28,460. Medical coders at outpatient care centers also earned less than the overall average at $30,650, while those at nursing care facilities were close to the average at $33,100.
  
  

Location

• Medical coding workers in the state of New Jersey earned the highest wages. Overall, the state's average salary for these workers was $45,750 in 2009. Newark-Union, Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton and Edison-New Brunswick were three of the best-paying areas in the country for medical coding workers as well, with average salaries of $51,390, $44,350 and $43,890 respectively. The areas of San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California were also among the highest paying cities at average salaries of $47,450 and $46,300 for medical coding workers.