The Average Hourly Wage for Medical Billing

Medical billing specialists have little to no contact with patients.

Medical billing specialists add up charges, create medical bills and send them out to patients, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most medical billing specialists have a high school diploma and basic computer skills. The majority of medical billing specialists are women, according to PayScale, as of 2010, and earn an hourly wage.

Average Wage

As of 2010, medical billings specialist earn between $11 and $15 an hour, according to PayScale. These wages amount to average annual earnings of between $30,000 and $34,000.

Wage by State of Residence

Pay rates for medical billing specialists vary to a degree, depending on the state a specialist works in, according to the findings of PayScale. As of 2010, billing specialists in Texas make $30,000 annually, on average. Specialists in North Carolina make $33,000 a year, while billing specialists in both California and Florida average $39,000 a year.

Wages by Experience

According to the figures supplied by PayScale, and updated on December 2010, experience has a bearing on how much money a medical billing specialist can make, up to a point. Specialists with less than a year of experience can expect to make $29,000 a year. Those with 10 to 19 years' experience can expect to make as much as $38,000 a year. However, specialists with more than 20 years in the industry report making no more than $35,000 on average.

Job Outlook

Just over 500,000 medical billing specialists were employed in the year 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and 610,000 are expected to be hired by 2018. This is an estimated increase of 15 percent. Opportunities are going to be good because of the number of people who leave the profession or who transfer to other occupations.

References

• United States Bureau of Labor Statistics: Billing and Posting Clerks and Machine Operators
• PayScale: Medical Billing and Coding Certificate Degree Salary

Resources

• YTI Career Institute: Medical Billing and Coding Programs