Medical Coding Salary Rates - Are You Due An Increase?

Most people looking to choose a career in medical coding mostly want to know what level of a Medical Coding Salary they might receive before they comit to a long training course.

Here's an answer to that particular question: Salary.com reports that the middle 50% of medical coding professionals earn between $38,058 and $49,906 per annum, with the top 10% earn $55,490 or more. Without a doubt the medical coding salary that can be earned is a big attraction to those wishing to enter the health care support industry.

You might be even more amazed to learn that these salary levels are being paid, almost exclusively, to women, who account for 93% of all medical coding employees. Their male counterparts only fill 7% of the available positions in this profession. Despite equal pay legislation, it's a sad fact that women often experience lower pay levels than their male counterparts but the medical coding profession doesn't appear to reflect this trait.

Influencing Factors:

Naturally, not all those earning a medical coding salary will find that they take home a similar level of salary each month & this can be explained by a number of factors. In general, there are 3 major reasons for differences in salary levels:

1. Location

2. Environment

3. Education


Location: If living and working in an urban environment is your preference, you will almost certainly benefit from higher earning potential. Not surprisingly, your healthcare earnings will reflect the cost of living in whichever town or city your work is. As an example, in January 2011 a medical coder working in Chicago could earn an hourly rate of between $16 and $24, whilst an employee doing an equivalent job in Indianapolis would be hard pushed to break the $17.50 mark as their top hourly rate.

Education: You can easily gain a career in the healthcare sector with almost any level of general education. However, if you and your fellow workers generally hold a master's degree, for example, your salary will reflect that when compared to a profession where a 1-year certificate is the norm. Even comparing salary levels within the same specialty, you'll generally discover that those with a higher level of education receive higher pay.

Should you hold a Medical Billing and Coding Certificate, your hourly rate range would be in the region of $10 - $15 but should you be a Certified Coding Specialist (CCS), you would expect to receive £$15 - $23 per hour. Definitely a significant difference, isn't it?

Your level of experience will be a factor in determining your earning power - the longer you've been working in the profession, the higher your salary will be when compared with someone in their first year of the job.Environment: This element is frequently tied to location as the size of health care organization worked for will determine the medical coding salary readily available to you. Generally, the larger the institution, the better the rate of pay. A smaller sized medical office of, typically, 1-9 employees will probably offer an hourly rate of between $12 - $17 where as a good sized organization of 5000 - 20000 employees will often offer an hourly rate range of $15 - $21.

No matter what your level of education, where ever you choose to work, Medical billing and coding salary levels are definitely worth investigating before you choose to follow a certain career path..