Medical Billing and Coding Salary in California (BLS 2025)
Key takeaway: In May 2025 BLS reported a median annual wage of $61,810 for medical records specialists in California (SOC 29-2072), the occupation that includes billers and coders.
These figures describe the whole occupation in California, not a promise about any one job. Starting pay sits near the lower percentiles. Remote work is usually certification plus experience first. Download the national, state, and metro file: CSV of BLS OEWS May 2025 wages. School lists for California are on the California schools page.
Medical records specialist pay in California
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the following for medical records specialists (SOC 29-2072) in California in May 2025. That occupation includes billers and coders. Figures describe workers already in the field, not program graduates.
California's median of $61,810 sits at or above the U.S. median of $51,140. Newer workers should read the 10th percentile ($43,800) and 25th ($49,000) as the published starting window, not the median. The 75th percentile ($80,630) is closer to what ads mean by "up to."
View the data behind this chart
| Percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $43,800 |
| 25th percentile | $49,000 |
| Median | $61,810 |
| 75th percentile | $80,630 |
| 90th percentile | $102,470 |
View the data behind this chart
| Area | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| California | $61,810 |
| United States | $51,140 |
| Measure | California | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Median annual wage | $61,810 | $51,140 |
| Mean annual wage | $68,230 | $56,790 |
| 10th percentile | $43,800 | $37,000 |
| 25th percentile | $49,000 | $43,490 |
| 75th percentile | $80,630 | $64,820 |
| 90th percentile | $102,470 | $81,150 |
| Employment | 18,700 | 194,720 |
| Jobs per 1,000 workers | 1.026 | 1.2523 |
| Location quotient | 0.82 | 1.0 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025, SOC 29-2072 state estimates. Download the CSV of national, state, and metro wages.
Metro wages in California
BLS publishes this occupation for metropolitan areas. Each row is an OEWS estimate, not a city we invented. A metro with no campus still appears if BLS published a figure.
| Metro | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $86,890 |
| Vallejo, CA | $82,230 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $75,150 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $74,400 |
| Stockton-Lodi, CA | $62,950 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $61,950 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $61,670 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $61,480 |
| El Centro, CA | $60,850 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $60,580 |
| Redding, CA | $59,630 |
| Visalia, CA | $59,420 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $59,110 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $58,830 |
| Hanford-Corcoran, CA | $58,680 |
| Napa, CA | $58,670 |
| Fresno, CA | $58,400 |
| Merced, CA | $58,060 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $57,970 |
| Salinas, CA | $57,880 |
| Chico, CA | $57,490 |
| Bakersfield-Delano, CA | $55,270 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $53,870 |
| Yuba City, CA | $50,560 |
| Modesto, CA | $48,240 |
School lists for California are on the California schools page, ordered by BOC Score from federal data, not by advertising.