HIMDegree.com tracks 328 CAHIIM-accredited health information management and health informatics programs across 48 states. 48 states and territories have at least one accredited program based there; 4 do not, and we say so on those pages rather than padding them with unaccredited providers. State medians for medical records specialists range from $27,990 in Puerto Rico to $63,180 in Hawaii, against a national median of $51,140 per BLS OEWS May 2025. Because 303 accredited programs document online delivery and much of this field's work is performed remotely, geography is a weaker input to the education decision than most students assume. Each state page carries the accredited programs located there, local wage data, and the practicum questions worth asking. Last updated August 2026.
Geography is the input students weight most heavily and it deserves the least weight of anything in this decision. Online delivery is the norm here, certification eligibility ignores location entirely, and much of the work is now performed remotely. The one thing your state genuinely affects is where you can do a practicum, and that is the question to ask rather than how far the campus is.
Every state and territory
Program counts in brackets. Each page carries the accredited programs based in that state, ranked on our Quality Index, alongside local wage data and employment figures.
States with the most accredited programs
Count follows population and hospital density rather than quality. A state with twenty programs is not a better place to study than a state with four, and a nearby accredited program is not better than a distant accredited one.
| State | Accredited programs | Online capable | Median wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 26 | 25 | $48,860 |
| Illinois | 22 | 19 | $56,440 |
| Ohio | 19 | 16 | $50,990 |
| Florida | 18 | 16 | $45,760 |
| Wisconsin | 16 | 16 | $60,280 |
| New York | 14 | 13 | $61,720 |
| California | 13 | 13 | $61,810 |
| Indiana | 13 | 11 | $47,670 |
Highest paying states
Median annual wage for medical records specialists, SOC 29-2072, per BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. These are nominal figures and are not adjusted for cost of living, which materially changes the ordering.
| State | Median wage | 90th percentile | Accredited programs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $63,180 | $91,650 | 1 |
| Washington | $62,270 | $98,130 | 6 |
| California | $61,810 | Not published | 13 |
| New York | $61,720 | Not published | 14 |
| Minnesota | $61,530 | $83,020 | 11 |
| Alaska | $61,090 | $90,530 | 1 |
| Connecticut | $60,940 | $88,900 | 5 |
| Massachusetts | $60,350 | $81,620 | 4 |
The states with no accredited program
Delaware, District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Vermont have no CAHIIM-accredited health information management program based in state. We publish that plainly on each of those pages rather than filling them with unaccredited certificate providers, which would not lead to RHIA or RHIT eligibility and would therefore be worse than listing nothing.
Delaware
Accredited online routes and practicum guidance for residents.
No in-state programDistrict of Columbia
Accredited online routes and practicum guidance for residents.
No in-state programRhode Island
Accredited online routes and practicum guidance for residents.
No in-state programVermont
Accredited online routes and practicum guidance for residents.
Why remote work changed the geography question
Coding, clinical documentation integrity, auditing, and much analytics work is now performed remotely at scale. That means a professional in a lower-wage state working for a health system headquartered elsewhere is frequently paid closer to the employer's rate than the local one, which has compressed the geographic variation that state wage tables still show.
The practical consequence is that state median wage is a weaker planning input than it appears, and the stronger move is targeting the remote-capable specializations. Our salary guide covers this in detail, including pay by credential and employer type, which move compensation far more than location does.
Frequently asked questions
Which state has the most accredited HIM programs?
Texas has the most CAHIIM-accredited health information programs in our database with 26, followed by Illinois with 22 and Ohio with 19. Program count follows population and hospital density more than it follows program quality.
Which state pays the most for health information management?
Hawaii has the highest state median for medical records specialists in our data at $63,180, against a national median of $51,140 per BLS OEWS May 2025. Adjust for cost of living before drawing conclusions, and note that remote work has compressed geographic variation considerably in this field.
What if my state has no accredited program?
Delaware, District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Vermont have no CAHIIM-accredited program based in state. Residents enrol in accredited online programs based elsewhere, which confer identical RHIA and RHIT eligibility. The component that needs local arrangement is the practicum, so ask any distant program whether it arranges placement in your region.
Does it matter which state your HIM degree is from?
Very little. Certification eligibility depends on CAHIIM accreditation status rather than location, employers screen on the credential, and licensure does not apply to this field the way it does to clinical professions. The one genuine geographic consideration is practicum placement, which is easier when a program has relationships with employers near you.