Careers / Medical Records Specialists
Medical Records Specialists — Career Decision Dashboard
United States
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Report generated from official BLS OEWS and O*NET data — United States.
Median annual wage
$51,140
United States, 2025
Employment
194,720
United States, 2025
Typical education
Not recorded
Job Zone 3
Skills identified
35
10 related careers
Career overview
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.
- O*NET code
- 29-2072.00
- Job zone
- 3
- Experience required
- None
Typical tasks
- Protect the security of medical records to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
- Review records for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with regulations.
- Scan patients' health records into electronic formats.
- Release information to persons or agencies according to regulations.
- Enter data, such as demographic characteristics, history and extent of disease, diagnostic procedures, or treatment into computer.
- Maintain or operate a variety of health record indexes or storage and retrieval systems to collect, classify, store, or analyze information.
- Process patient admission or discharge documents.
- Retrieve patient medical records for physicians, technicians, or other medical personnel.
Choose a location
Salary analysis — United States
10th percentile
$37,000
25th percentile
$43,490
75th percentile
$64,820
90th percentile
$81,150
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension3.6
- Critical Thinking3.4
- Active Listening3.3
- Writing3.1
- Time Management3.1
- Speaking3.1
- Complex Problem Solving3.0
- Judgment and Decision Making3.0
- Active Learning3.0
- Monitoring3.0
- Social Perceptiveness3.0
- Service Orientation3.0
What skills do you need?
Select the skills you already have
Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.
Skill coverage
0%
0 of 12 identified skills
Matched
0
Missing
12
Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.
Skills to develop
| Skill | Importance | Required level | Your level | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | 3.6 | 3.3 | Not selected | 3.3 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.4 | 3.3 | Not selected | 3.3 |
| Active Listening | 3.3 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Speaking | 3.1 | 3.3 | Not selected | 3.3 |
| Writing | 3.1 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Service Orientation | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Time Management | 3.1 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Active Learning | 3.0 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Monitoring | 3.0 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.0 | 2.6 | Not selected | 2.6 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.0 | 2.6 | Not selected | 2.6 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.0 | 2.5 | Not selected | 2.5 |
Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.
Related careers
Supplemental
National median $97,550
Compare with Medical Records SpecialistsSupplemental
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Compare with Medical Records SpecialistsSupplemental
National median $244,180
Compare with Medical Records SpecialistsSupplemental
National median $335,550
Compare with Medical Records SpecialistsHow salary varies by location
| Location | Median | Employment | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | $86,890 | 920 | 2025 |
| Vallejo, CA | $82,230 | 130 | 2025 |
| Sacramento, CA | $75,150 | 1,340 | 2025 |
| San Francisco, CA | $74,400 | 1,880 | 2025 |
| DC | $72,040 | 270 | 2025 |
| New Haven, CT | $67,290 | 220 | 2025 |
| Iowa City, IA | $66,340 | 330 | 2025 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $65,730 | 750 | 2025 |
| Cheyenne, WY | $65,680 | 60 | 2025 |
| Seattle, WA | $65,530 | 2,830 | 2025 |
| Urban Honolulu, HI | $65,220 | 310 | 2025 |
| La Crosse, WI | $64,590 | 70 | 2025 |
| Corvallis, OR | $64,450 | 100 | 2025 |
| RI | $63,960 | 650 | 2025 |
| Appleton, WI | $63,510 | 100 | 2025 |
| Mount Vernon, WA | $63,360 | 100 | 2025 |
| HI | $63,180 | 400 | 2025 |
| Bend, OR | $62,980 | 220 | 2025 |
| Stockton, CA | $62,950 | 280 | 2025 |
| Columbia, SC | $62,650 | 640 | 2025 |
Career transition paths
Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Medical Records Specialists to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.
Build a transition comparisonCareer and skills data: O*NET 31.0.
Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).
Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.