--- title: "Medical Records Specialist" description: "Compile, process, and maintain medical records of hospital and clinic patients in a manner consistent with medical, administrative, ethical, legal, and…" canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-records-specialist" last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z" --- # Medical Records Specialist **Category:** Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · **SOC code:** 29-2072 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 29-2072.00 Compile, process, and maintain medical records of hospital and clinic patients in a manner consistent with medical, administrative, ethical, legal, and regulatory requirements of the healthcare system. Classify medical and healthcare concepts, including diagnosis, procedures, medical services, and equipment, into the healthcare industry's numerical coding system. Includes medical coders. Also advertised as: Coder; Health Information Clerk; Health Information Specialist; Health Information Technician (Health Information Tech); Medical Records Clerk; Medical Records Coordinator; Medical Records Technician (Medical Records Tech); Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT). ## At a glance - **Median annual wage:** $51,140 (BLS OEWS, May 2025) - **Median hourly wage:** $24.59/hr - **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $37,000 to $81,150, with the middle half between $43,490 and $64,820 - **Total US employment:** 194,720 - **Typical entry education:** Certificate - **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed" - **Projected growth:** +7.1% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034) - **Annual job openings:** 14,200 openings a year - **AI-resilience score:** not scored for this occupation ## Pay National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 194,720 US jobs. | Percentile | Annual wage | | --- | --- | | 10th | $37,000 | | 25th | $43,490 | | 50th (median) | $51,140 | | 75th | $64,820 | | 90th | $81,150 | | Mean (average) | $56,790 | ### Pay by state The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there. | State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | DC | $72,040 | $65,550 | 270 | | RI | $63,960 | $62,534 | 650 | | HI | $63,180 | $57,462 | 400 | | WA | $62,270 | $58,189 | 5,010 | | CA | $61,810 | $55,826 | 18,700 | | NY | $61,720 | $57,190 | 9,080 | | MN | $61,530 | $62,390 | 3,150 | | AK | $61,090 | $59,682 | 1,070 | | CT | $60,940 | $58,817 | 1,120 | | MA | $60,350 | $57,065 | 3,500 | | WI | $60,280 | $64,063 | 2,870 | | CO | $59,020 | $57,272 | 1,780 | | OR | $59,000 | $57,081 | 2,560 | | VT | $57,560 | $58,760 | Not published by BLS | | NM | $57,470 | $62,324 | 1,400 | 38 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 53 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-records-specialist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/medical-records-specialist. ## Outlook BLS projects employment to move from 194,800 in the 2024–2034 base year to 208,600 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 13,800 jobs, or +7.1%. Much faster than average: 7.1% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 14,200 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034. ## How to get in - **Typical entry education:** Postsecondary nondegree award (BLS Employment Projections). - **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed". - **Related work experience typically required:** None. - **Typical on-the-job training:** None. ## What the work involves - Assign the patient to diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), using appropriate computer software. - Compile and maintain patients' medical records to document condition and treatment and to provide data for research or cost control and care improvement efforts. - Consult classification manuals to locate information about disease processes. - Enter data, such as demographic characteristics, history and extent of disease, diagnostic procedures, or treatment into computer. - Identify, compile, abstract, and code patient data, using standard classification systems. - Maintain or operate a variety of health record indexes or storage and retrieval systems to collect, classify, store, or analyze information. - Post medical insurance billings. - Process and prepare business or government forms. ## Who it suits O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Conventional (C), Investigative (I), Social (S). | Interest area | Score (1–7) | | --- | --- | | C — Conventional | 6.95 | | I — Investigative | 4.33 | | S — Social | 3.41 | | R — Realistic | 2.86 | | E — Enterprising | 1.88 | | A — Artistic | 1.00 | ### Personality fit These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job. | Type | Fit score (0–100) | | --- | --- | | ISTJ | 83.7 | | ISFJ | 81.6 | | ESTJ | 74.9 | | ESFJ | 65.1 | | INTJ | 61.9 | Best-fitting types: ISTJ, ISFJ. ## Related occupations O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order. - [Medical Transcriptionist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-transcriptionist) — median $40,410 - [Health Information Technologist and Medical Registrar](https://nuecareer.com/careers/health-information-technologist-and-medical-registrar) — median $68,020 - [Medical Secretary and Administrative Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-secretary-and-administrative-assistant) — median $45,930 - [Medical Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-assistant) — median $45,690 - [File Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/file-clerk) — median $43,600 - [Patient Representative](https://nuecareer.com/careers/patient-representative) — median $50,290 - [Document Management Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/document-management-specialist) — median $116,580 - [Health Informatics Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/health-informatics-specialist) — median $105,850 - [Statistical Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/statistical-assistant) — median $50,330 - [Pharmacy Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/pharmacy-technician) — median $45,750 ## Sources - **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html - **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/ - **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/ - **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ - **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area --- This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105). O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/medical-records-specialist