Medical Records Specialists
Also called: Health Information Clerk, Medical Coder, Medical Records Clerk, Medical Records Technician (Medical Records Tech)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.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 14 of its 16 tasks, yet jobs are projected to grow 7.8% by 2035. In the most exposed occupations, the squeeze shows up first among early-career workers. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 2.0% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 5.0 hires for every 10 job openings in health care and social assistance, which employs about 64% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.5.0 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $43,810 | $36,160 to $52,040 | 2,330 |
| Alaska | $61,090 | $51,050 to $72,800 | 1,070 |
| Arizona | $47,630 | $40,150 to $61,350 | 3,750 |
| Arkansas | $41,740 | $36,550 to $51,440 | 1,920 |
| California | $61,810 | $49,000 to $80,630 | 18,700 |
| Colorado | $59,020 | $49,280 to $68,140 | 1,780 |
| Connecticut | $60,940 | $48,750 to $76,160 | 1,120 |
| Delaware | $56,060 | $42,690 to $67,160 | 610 |
| District of Columbia | $72,040 | $55,750 to $99,060 | 270 |
| Florida | $45,760 | $37,390 to $59,230 | 21,490 |
| Georgia | $51,550 | $43,810 to $64,840 | 5,930 |
| Guam | $38,470 | $35,330 to $44,810 | 70 |
| Hawaii | $63,180 | $50,670 to $77,970 | 400 |
| Idaho | $53,460 | $46,450 to $64,470 | 1,490 |
| Illinois | $56,440 | $46,290 to $64,360 | 5,740 |
| Indiana | $47,670 | $40,060 to $60,820 | 5,860 |
| Iowa | $50,640 | $44,500 to $61,920 | 2,250 |
| Kansas | $48,160 | $40,860 to $59,130 | 2,030 |
| Kentucky | $48,410 | $40,570 to $61,720 | 4,210 |
| Louisiana | $44,610 | $36,830 to $61,150 | 2,600 |
| Maine | $52,090 | $46,330 to $61,790 | 1,000 |
| Maryland | $54,220 | $44,210 to $65,770 | 2,440 |
| Massachusetts | $60,350 | $48,170 to $74,700 | 3,500 |
| Michigan | $48,120 | $41,370 to $61,470 | 4,890 |
| Minnesota | $61,530 | $49,690 to $70,070 | 3,150 |
| Mississippi | $41,500 | $34,730 to $50,500 | 2,310 |
| Missouri | $50,750 | $46,000 to $63,150 | 3,890 |
| Montana | $50,190 | $43,970 to $59,770 | 820 |
| Nebraska | $51,670 | $44,610 to $62,960 | 1,640 |
| Nevada | $50,300 | $40,370 to $65,160 | 2,350 |
| New Hampshire | $49,210 | $44,090 to $61,050 | 930 |
| New Jersey | $50,240 | $35,640 to $64,700 | 4,450 |
| New Mexico | $57,470 | $43,470 to $66,240 | 1,400 |
| New York | $61,720 | $49,010 to $79,120 | 9,080 |
| North Carolina | $49,620 | $41,490 to $64,800 | 6,760 |
| North Dakota | $46,280 | $40,330 to $60,860 | 520 |
| Ohio | $50,990 | $45,500 to $63,510 | 7,440 |
| Oklahoma | $53,460 | $41,200 to $61,110 | 2,480 |
| Oregon | $59,000 | $49,180 to $70,610 | 2,560 |
| Pennsylvania | $46,840 | $42,690 to $60,510 | 6,970 |
| Puerto Rico | $27,990 | $23,020 to $39,680 | 1,850 |
| Rhode Island | $63,960 | $51,040 to $70,910 | 650 |
| South Carolina | $54,280 | $45,180 to $62,650 | 2,750 |
| South Dakota | $51,610 | $44,860 to $63,130 | 900 |
| Tennessee | $48,780 | $40,840 to $62,930 | 4,440 |
| Texas | $48,860 | $39,470 to $63,970 | 17,210 |
| Utah | $52,870 | $42,040 to $65,360 | 1,910 |
| Vermont | $57,560 | $47,340 to $62,590 | not published |
| Virginia | $53,290 | $45,200 to $64,950 | 4,630 |
| Washington | $62,270 | $50,250 to $79,680 | 5,010 |
| West Virginia | $47,360 | $38,090 to $59,950 | 1,260 |
| Wisconsin | $60,280 | $49,510 to $66,140 | 2,870 |
| Wyoming | $54,210 | $42,770 to $65,800 | 280 |
Nationally: $51,140. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 14 of its 16 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| AI + software | Protect the security of medical records to ensure that confidentiality is maintained. | Not published |
| AI + software | Review records for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with regulations. | Not published |
| AI alone | Release information to persons or agencies according to regulations. | Not published |
| AI alone | Retrieve patient medical records for physicians, technicians, or other medical personnel. | Not published |
| AI + software | Scan patients' health records into electronic formats. | Not published |
| AI + software | Maintain or operate a variety of health record indexes or storage and retrieval systems to collect, classify, store, or analyze information. | Not published |
See all 16 tasks
| AI + software | Enter data, such as demographic characteristics, history and extent of disease, diagnostic procedures, or treatment into computer. | Not published |
| AI + software | Process patient admission or discharge documents. | Not published |
| AI + 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. | Not published |
| Not much | Identify, compile, abstract, and code patient data, using standard classification systems. | Not published |
| AI + software | Process and prepare business or government forms. | Not published |
| Not much | Resolve or clarify codes or diagnoses with conflicting, missing, or unclear information by consulting with doctors or others or by participating in the coding team's regular meetings. | Not published |
| AI + software | Consult classification manuals to locate information about disease processes. | under 0.01% |
| AI alone | Assign the patient to diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), using appropriate computer software. | Not published |
| AI alone | Transcribe medical reports. | Not published |
| AI + software | Schedule medical appointments for patients. | under 0.01% |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 2 of the 16 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 16 tasks fall under 10 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #4 Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
- #30 Perform administrative or clerical activities
- #35 Process digital or online data
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perform administrative or clerical activities | |||
| Process digital or online data | |||
| Maintain health or medical records | |||
| Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise | |||
| Coordinate with others to resolve problems | |||
| Maintain safety or security | |||
| Schedule appointments | |||
| Collect information about patients or clients |
Show all 10 activities
| Monitor operations to ensure compliance with regulations or standards | |||
| Prepare health or medical documents |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- A document or report27%
- An explanation or answer18%
- Data or a spreadsheet7%
- A script or snippet6%
- An analysis or summary5%
How they worked with Claude
60% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for medical records specialists specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 216,387 moves out
- 1 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 5%
- 2 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 5%
- 3 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 4%
- 4 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 4%
- 5 Customer Service Representatives Very high -5.3% 4%
Where people moved in from
of 196,467 moves in
- 1 Customer Service Representatives Very high -5.3% 6%
- 2 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive Very high -6.0% 4%
- 3 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 3%
- 4 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 3%
- 5 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 3%
The resume data uses 2010 occupation codes. This occupation comes from “Medical Records and Health Information Technicians”, which today also includes “Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars”, so these figures cover it too. Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 2% less than high school
- 22% high school
- 28% some college
- 25% associate's
- 18% bachelor's
- 4% master's
- 1% professional degree
- 1% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 1,965 people surveyed.
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation
4 programs, such as Health Information/Medical Records Administration/Administrator, Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician and Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder.
See all
- Health Information/Medical Records Administration/Administrator
- Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician
- Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder
- Disease Registry Data Management
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
26.6% this occupation
45.3% all occupations
| By kind | This occupation | All occupations |
|---|---|---|
| a license | 4.2% | 19.1% |
| a certification | 16.2% | 5.8% |
| an educational certificate | 5.6% | 2.8% |
Share of jobs whose employer requires it. BLS doesn't say which credential. How to read this
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeship Finder ↗ DOL lists 4 registered apprenticeships in this occupation. Apprenticeship.gov can't be linked to one occupation, so search for “Medical Records Specialists” there.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS · Brynjolfsson, Chandar and Chen, Stanford (Aug 2026)
See it online, and explore any career: https://www.pathmosaic.com/card/29-2072.00