Salary

• The average hourly pay for workers in medical billing and coding is $16.29, or an annual salary of $33,880. On the salary scale, medical billers and coders in the bottom 10 percent earn $10.03 an hour or $20,850 a year, and those in the top 10 percent earn $24.76 an hour or $51,510 a year. The median pay is $15.04 an hour, or an annual median salary of $31,290. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2009)
  
  

Salary by Medical Facility

• The majority of medical billing and coding workers work in medical facilities such as hospitals and clinics. In hospitals, the average pay is $17.24 an hour or $35,870 a year. In the offices of physicians, medical billers and coders earn $13.69 an hour, bringing in $28,460 a year. Nursing care facilities offer an average hourly rate of $15.92 an hour or $33,100 annually, and those workers in outpatient care centers earn $14.74 an hour or $30,650 a year. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2009)
  
  

Higher Pay

• Medical billers and coders can seek employment in other industries for higher pay. Wages are highest in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing at $29.43 an hour or $61,210 per year. Professionals who work for business, professional, labor, political and similar organizations earn $22.05 or $45,850 a year, and those employed by the federal executive branch earn $21.69 hourly or $45,120 yearly. In scientific research and development services and other support services, the annual average salaries are $42,050 and $44,270 respectively. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2009)
  
  

Location

• Because the cost of living from one area to the next can vary so greatly, salaries for medical billers and coders may as well. The metropolitan area of Huntington-Ashland, which covers West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, has the highest concentration of medical billers and coders and offers an annual salary of $30,000. Fairbanks, Alaska also has a high concentration of these workers, but offers a higher average salary of $40,600. The highest-paying area for medical billers and coders is that of Newark-Union, New Jersey-Pennsylvania, at $51,390 annually, followed by San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California at $47,450. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2009)