Medical Billing and Coding Salary in Santa Cruz, CA (BLS 2025)
Key takeaway: In May 2025 BLS reported a median annual wage of $60,580 for medical records specialists in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA metro (SOC 29-2072).
The occupation includes billers and coders at every experience level. Starting pay sits near the lower percentiles. Remote work is usually certification plus experience first. Source file: CSV of BLS OEWS May 2025 wages. Compare programs on the California schools page.
Medical records specialist pay in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 29-2072. The occupation includes billers and coders. These figures describe workers already in the metro, not program graduates.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA had a median of $60,580, next to the California median of $61,810 and the U.S. median of $51,140. If you are leaving an hourly job, the closer published proxies for newer workers here are the 10th percentile ($46,100 a year, $22.16 an hour) and the 25th ($48,470). Ads that say "up to" a round number are often quoting the 75th percentile ($82,260 here), not a first offer.
View the data behind this chart
| Percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $46,100 |
| 25th percentile | $48,470 |
| Median | $60,580 |
| 75th percentile | $82,260 |
| 90th percentile | $92,360 |
View the data behind this chart
| Area | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| Santa Cruz | $60,580 |
| California | $61,810 |
| United States | $51,140 |
| Measure | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Median annual wage | $60,580 | $51,140 |
| Mean annual wage | $66,640 | $56,790 |
| 10th percentile | $46,100 | $37,000 |
| 25th percentile | $48,470 | $43,490 |
| 75th percentile | $82,260 | $64,820 |
| 90th percentile | $92,360 | $81,150 |
| Median hourly wage | $29.12 | $24.59 |
| Employment | 100 | 194,720 |
| Jobs per 1,000 workers | 0.993 | 1.2523 |
| Location quotient | 0.79 | 1.0 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 29-2072 (Medical Records Specialists), metropolitan estimates. Location quotient 1.0 is the national share of employment. A missing cell is suppressed in the source; we do not estimate it.
California statewide median for the same occupation: $61,810 (May 2025). See the California salary page.
Download the CSV of national, state, and metro wages (BLS OEWS May 2025, public domain).
No campus in this metro reported CIP 51.07 completions in the latest IPEDS file. Wage data still applies. Use the program finder for schools that enroll here online, and see California schools.