Healthcare administrators typically enjoy an impressive earning potential that surpasses that of other managers nationwide. Their salaries can reach over $208,000 depending on specialty and facility type.
Healthcare administration careers progress based on education and experience levels. An entry-level role with a community college degree could lead to a higher-paying management role upon receiving either a bachelor’s or master’s degree from an accredited university.
Health care administrators work in various facilities, from hospitals and nursing homes to clinics and nurse’s homes. A nursing home administrator oversees daily operations at his or her nursing home as well as its staffing needs and resources to run effectively.
Hospital administrators possess more complex responsibilities. This person often acts as the public face of the institution to donors and community members while also working behind the scenes to determine its mission, vision, inefficiencies and identify areas for improvement. A clinical administrator might specialize in specific departments like obstetrics or oncology at their hospital and help set policy accordingly.
Future healthcare administrators need to have an understanding of how much the field pays in order to make informed decisions regarding graduate studies or entry with an associate’s degree. According to 2020 median salary figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, those choosing masters degrees typically earn significantly more than those starting with a bachelor’s degree.
Salary figures vary considerably across the United States, and much of this variation can be attributed to location. Larger cities tend to pay the highest salaries as these centers employ more medical and health services managers who support various facilities from hospitals with enough patients and staff to fill entire towns, to research institutions that handle billions of dollars each year.
New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, Boston and Houston rank among the top five cities for healthcare administration salaries with New York being home to an annual mean salary well in excess of the national average of $107,553. New York also leads in terms of its 90th percentile salary, or that threshold at which professionals earn over $208,000 annually. The rest of this list is dominated by states with vibrant technology industries and major universities with robust research programs. Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is one of the nation’s premier employers of healthcare and bioscience professionals, employing over 1,800 healthcare and bioscience professionals annually. Here, demand exceeds supply for qualified candidates – giving those with relevant credentials plenty of chances to find work in this highly rewarding sector.