If you’re working on a graduate degree in healthcare administration, you’re probably interested in healthcare management salary numbers by state.
Read on to learn about which states offer the highest pay rates for healthcare administrators and managers, as recorded by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
District of Columbia
According to the most recent statistics, the highest salaries for healthcare administrators are in the District of Columbia, or Washington, DC. As of May 2013, individuals with this job in D.C. can expect to make an average of $123,120 per year, or $59.19 per hour. With such a small area though–only 68.3 square miles–the district only employs about 1,580 healthcare administrators.
California
The Sunshine State is a great place for healthcare administrators, who can expect to make an average of $118,040 per year, or $56.75 an hour. Job opportunities also abound, with about 26,900 healthcare administrators in the state. The highest concentration of healthcare administration jobs is in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area.
New York
Coming in just behind California is New York, where healthcare managers make an average annual salary of $118,020, or $56.74 per hour. There are currently about 27,500 healthcare administrators working in the state, with opportunities especially plentiful in:
- New York City
- White Plains
- Suffolk
- Nassau
Delaware
While healthcare administrators are paid quite well in Delaware, there are only about 710 healthcare management jobs in this very small state. But if you are interested in living in the area, you can expect to make about $114,640–or $55.12 per hour–in the First State.
New Jersey
Closing out the top five of the highest paying healthcare management states is New Jersey, where jobs in this field pay an average of $114,420 per year, or $55.01 per hour. For such a small state, New Jersey has tons of opportunities for those pursuing this lucrative path, with about 8,550 available jobs.
If these high salaries peak your interest, consider earning a graduate degree in healthcare management. To get into these highly competitive programs, the best first step is to excel in a bachelor’s degree program in a related field, such as:
- business
- psychology
- biology
- other science or business majors
These will all provide the prerequisites you need to enter a graduate program. In addition, choosing a graduate program that is accredited by CAHME will make it easier to get a job in the field once you finish. To learn more about how to become a healthcare administrator, visit the BLS’s Occupational Outlook Handbook.
These states all pay well above the national average $88,580 per year, or $42.59 per hour, which is still quite high among all job fields that require a master’s degree. In fact, Forbes magazine recently named healthcare administration among its top 10 most lucrative master’s degree programs. And healthcare management salaries are just the tip of the iceberg. This field is also expected to grow very quickly over the next 10 years, making job security another perk.
