Best programs to become a medical records specialist
You do not need a college degree to become a medical records specialist. BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award (a certificate) as the typical entry-level education. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician, Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder and Health Information/Medical Records Administration/Administrator (IPEDS completions).
4 college programs at 650 schools train medical records specialists, graduating 25,417 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $51,140 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About medical records specialists
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.
Best programs to study to become a medical records specialist
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.0707 | 12,261 | 48.2% | 314 | $30,774 | $17,375 |
| 2 | CIP 51.0713 | 10,263 | 40.4% | 355 | $30,774 | $17,375 |
| 3 | CIP 51.0706 | 2,865 | 11.3% | 126 | $30,774 | $17,375 |
| 4 | CIP 51.0721 | 28 | 0.1% | 5 | $30,774 | $17,375 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
What medical records specialists earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | $56,440 | 5,740 | 0.75× | 34 | 5,374 |
| Arizona | $47,630 | 3,750 | 0.93× | 16 | 2,084 |
| Texas | $48,860 | 17,210 | 0.98× | 54 | 1,852 |
| California | $61,810 | 18,700 | 0.82× | 40 | 1,667 |
| New York | $61,720 | 9,080 | 0.75× | 22 | 1,163 |
| Minnesota | $61,530 | 3,150 | 0.85× | 16 | 1,012 |
| Florida | $45,760 | 21,490 | 1.73× | 28 | 971 |
| Georgia | $51,550 | 5,930 | 0.97× | 36 | 954 |
| Ohio | $50,990 | 7,440 | 1.07× | 35 | 869 |
| Tennessee | $48,780 | 4,440 | 1.08× | 16 | 838 |
| Indiana | $47,670 | 5,860 | 1.46× | 8 | 818 |
| Utah | $52,870 | 1,910 | 0.88× | 7 | 801 |
| Louisiana | $44,610 | 2,600 | 1.07× | 17 | 749 |
| Wisconsin | $60,280 | 2,870 | 0.78× | 21 | 555 |
| Pennsylvania | $46,840 | 6,970 | 0.92× | 24 | 526 |
| Washington | $62,270 | 5,010 | 1.13× | 18 | 514 |
| Missouri | $50,750 | 3,890 | 1.06× | 14 | 304 |
| Arkansas | $41,740 | 1,920 | 1.18× | 16 | 294 |
| Virginia | $53,290 | 4,630 | 0.90× | 18 | 273 |
| Kansas | $48,160 | 2,030 | 1.13× | 10 | 260 |
| Colorado | $59,020 | 1,780 | 0.49× | 8 | 237 |
| Maryland | $54,220 | 2,440 | 0.71× | 10 | 231 |
| Oklahoma | $53,460 | 2,480 | 1.16× | 11 | 231 |
| Michigan | $48,120 | 4,890 | 0.89× | 15 | 215 |
| Mississippi | $41,500 | 2,310 | 1.58× | 13 | 212 |
| Alabama | $43,810 | 2,330 | 0.88× | 8 | 205 |
| New Jersey | $50,240 | 4,450 | 0.83× | 15 | 202 |
| North Carolina | $49,620 | 6,760 | 1.09× | 15 | 201 |
| West Virginia | $47,360 | 1,260 | 1.43× | 10 | 159 |
| Kentucky | $48,410 | 4,210 | 1.68× | 7 | 154 |
| Nebraska | $51,670 | 1,640 | 1.28× | 5 | 143 |
| Connecticut | $60,940 | 1,120 | 0.53× | 5 | 137 |
| Wyominglimited | $54,210 | 280 | 0.79× | 2 | 137 |
| South Carolina | $54,280 | 2,750 | 0.95× | 8 | 136 |
| Alaska | $61,090 | 1,070 | 2.64× | 5 | 126 |
| Oregon | $59,000 | 2,560 | 1.04× | 10 | 114 |
| Massachusetts | $60,350 | 3,500 | 0.77× | 9 | 106 |
| Iowa | $50,640 | 2,250 | 1.15× | 8 | 102 |
| Hawaiilimited | $63,180 | 400 | 0.51× | 2 | 98 |
| Maine | $52,090 | 1,000 | 1.25× | 5 | 84 |
| Nevadamoderate | $50,300 | 2,350 | 1.21× | 3 | 66 |
| South Dakotamoderate | $51,610 | 900 | 1.57× | 4 | 58 |
| New Mexicomoderate | $57,470 | 1,400 | 1.28× | 4 | 49 |
| Montana | $50,190 | 820 | 1.27× | 5 | 38 |
| Vermontlimited | $57,560 | — | — | 1 | 18 |
| Idaholimited | $53,460 | 1,490 | 1.39× | 2 | 17 |
| New Hampshirelimited | $49,210 | 930 | 1.09× | 2 | 13 |
| Delawarelimited | $56,060 | 610 | 1.01× | 2 | 11 |
| North Dakotalimited | $46,280 | 520 | 0.98× | 2 | 9 |
Skills and knowledge
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- 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.
How to get in
How to become a medical records specialist
- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Medical Records Specialists4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0706Health Information/Medical Records Administration/Administrator
- 51.0707Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician
- 51.0713Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder
- 51.0721Disease Registry Data Management
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a medical records specialist?+
You do not need a college degree to become a medical records specialist. BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award (a certificate) as the typical entry-level education. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician, Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder and Health Information/Medical Records Administration/Administrator (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a medical records specialist?+
The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician, Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder and Health Information/Medical Records Administration/Administrator (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this job, which together graduate about 25,417 people a year.
How much do medical records specialists earn?+
The median is $51,140 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $37,000 at the 10th percentile to $81,150 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for medical records specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +7.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 14,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
650 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do medical records specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Medical Records Clerk, Medical Records Coordinator, Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT), Health Information Technician (Health Information Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-2072.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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