Medical billing and coding technicians are one of the least happy careers in the United States.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, medical billing and coding technicians rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 14% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy medical billing and coding technicians are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Medical laboratory technologist
2.8
$46k
Pharmacy technician
2.8
$37k
Medical administrative assistant
2.8
$37k
Neurodiagnostic technologist
2.8
$46k
Clinical nurse specialist
2.8
$78k
Medical billing and coding technician
2.7
$40k
Registered nurse
2.7
$78k
Nurse
2.7
$44k
Nuclear medicine technologist
2.7
$79k
Pharmacist
2.7
$129k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are medical billing and coding technicians happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do medical billing and coding technicians find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as medical billing and coding technicians?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are medical billing and coding technician’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are medical billing and coding technicians making the best use of their abilities?

Are medical billing and coding technicians happy with their salary?

Medical billing and coding technicians rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Medical billing and coding technicians tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked medical billing and coding technicians how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.8 out of 5 stars

381 medical billing and coding technicians

5 Star
9%

9% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
24%

24% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
22%

22% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
19%

19% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their compensation 1 stars

Do medical billing and coding technicians find their jobs meaningful?

On average, medical billing and coding technicians rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.4/5. The majority of medical billing and coding technicians struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked medical billing and coding technicians how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.4 out of 5 stars

384 medical billing and coding technicians

5 Star
8%

8% of medical billing and coding technicians rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
12%

12% of medical billing and coding technicians rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of medical billing and coding technicians rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
27%

27% of medical billing and coding technicians rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
33%

33% of medical billing and coding technicians rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as medical billing and coding technicians?

Medical billing and coding technicians rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of medical billing and coding technicians find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked medical billing and coding technicians how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

416 medical billing and coding technicians

5 Star
26%

26% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
35%

35% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
10%

10% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a medical billing and coding technician’s work environment?

As a whole, medical billing and coding technicians rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of medical billing and coding technicians enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a medical billing and coding technician.

We asked medical billing and coding technicians how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

414 medical billing and coding technicians

5 Star
20%

20% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
14%

14% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their work environment 1 stars

Are medical billing and coding technicians making the best use of their abilities?

Former medical billing and coding technicians on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.5/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a medical billing and coding technician.

We asked medical billing and coding technicians how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.5 out of 5 stars

415 medical billing and coding technicians

5 Star
10%

10% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
12%

12% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
29%

29% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
29%

29% of medical billing and coding technicians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars