Median pay for healthcare administrators runs from $62,610 in Aguadilla to $171,210 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara — a 2.73× range across 525 metropolitan areas. The national median of $123,860 sits inside that range but describes no particular market.
The top tenth of healthcare administrators earn $224,340 or more; the bottom tenth earn under $73,390. That is a 3.06× gap within the same occupation, in the same year. A spread this wide means the job title is not what determines pay — specialisation, employer type, seniority or book of business is. Expect the early years to sit near the bottom of the band rather than the middle, and treat the $123,860 median as a waypoint, not a destination.
5 of the ten best-paying metros for healthcare administrators are in CA. When one state dominates the top of the table like this, cost of living is doing part of the work but rarely all of it — state licensing rules, public-sector pay scales and the presence of a few large employers usually explain the rest. If you are comparing an offer in CA against one elsewhere, adjust for housing before concluding anything.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | $171,210 | $82.31 | 1.05 | 4,560 |
| Vallejo CA | $170,730 | $82.08 | 1.45 | 800 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $167,580 | $80.57 | 0.97 | 35,260 |
| Napa CA | $167,530 | $80.54 | 0.91 | 270 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | $166,310 | $79.96 | 1.31 | 11,980 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA | $160,100 | $76.97 | 0.57 | 4,600 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom CA | $159,350 | $76.61 | 1.09 | 4,500 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro OR-WA | $151,260 | $72.72 | 0.69 | 3,210 |
| Medford OR | $151,250 | $72.72 | 0.86 | 290 |
| Urban Honolulu HI | $151,180 | $72.69 | 1.25 | 2,140 |
| Kahului-Wailuku HI | $148,080 | $71.19 | 0.65 | 180 |
| Corvallis OR | $147,620 | $70.97 | 0.8 | 120 |
| Northwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area | $144,630 | $69.54 | 0.68 | 340 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma CA | $143,150 | $68.82 | 1.15 | 910 |
| Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh NY | $142,970 | $68.73 | 0.72 | 740 |
| Eugene-Springfield OR | $141,880 | $68.21 | 0.74 | 450 |
| Trenton-Princeton NJ | $141,550 | $68.05 | 1.01 | 940 |
| Gainesville GA | $141,380 | $67.97 | 0.55 | 220 |
| Mount Vernon-Anacortes WA | $141,030 | $67.80 | 0.5 | 100 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | $140,670 | $67.63 | 0.97 | 11,730 |
| Salinas CA | $140,610 | $67.60 | 0.72 | 510 |
| Albany OR | $140,410 | $67.51 | 0.36 | 70 |
| Sussex Delaware nonmetropolitan area | $139,950 | $67.28 | 0.54 | 200 |
| Modesto CA | $138,950 | $66.80 | 1.31 | 980 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury CT | $138,870 | $66.77 | 1.22 | 1,890 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aguadilla PR | $62,610 | $30.10 | 0.18 | 30 |
| Ponce PR | $64,910 | $31.21 | 0.38 | 90 |
| Mayaguez PR | $73,850 | $35.51 | 0.31 | 60 |
| Morristown TN | $82,360 | $39.59 | 0.77 | 140 |
| East Kentucky nonmetropolitan area | $82,500 | $39.66 | 1.92 | 680 |
| Arecibo PR | $83,050 | $39.93 | 0.34 | 50 |
| Anniston-Oxford AL | $83,860 | $40.32 | 0.93 | 160 |
| East Arkansas nonmetropolitan area | $84,470 | $40.61 | 0.99 | 260 |
| Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area | $84,610 | $40.68 | 0.99 | 260 |
| Florence-Muscle Shoals AL | $84,610 | $40.68 | 1.11 | 240 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gadsden AL | $85,100 | $40.91 | 2.04 | 260 |
| East Kentucky nonmetropolitan area | $82,500 | $39.66 | 1.92 | 680 |
| Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway AR | $101,280 | $48.69 | 1.91 | 2,630 |
| Iowa City IA | $107,570 | $51.72 | 1.88 | 680 |
| Killeen-Temple TX | $119,710 | $57.55 | 1.78 | 1,030 |
| Birmingham AL | $100,500 | $48.32 | 1.72 | 3,430 |
| Sherman-Denison TX | $105,830 | $50.88 | 1.71 | 350 |
| Florence SC | $118,750 | $57.09 | 1.7 | 580 |
| Cheyenne WY | $117,160 | $56.33 | 1.7 | 320 |
| Northeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area | $99,330 | $47.76 | 1.67 | 640 |
| Carson City NV | $124,500 | $59.86 | 1.66 | 200 |
| Massachusetts nonmetropolitan area | $88,060 | $42.34 | 1.65 | 260 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $167,580 | $80.57 | 0.97 | 35,260 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $134,230 | $64.54 | 0.99 | 23,740 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $121,640 | $58.48 | 1.1 | 17,140 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $123,090 | $59.18 | 0.96 | 16,680 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $122,920 | $59.09 | 1.26 | 14,060 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | $136,760 | $65.75 | 1.25 | 12,990 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $124,400 | $59.81 | 0.98 | 12,410 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach FL | $128,770 | $61.91 | 1.14 | 12,290 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | $166,310 | $79.96 | 1.31 | 11,980 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | $140,670 | $67.63 | 0.97 | 11,730 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler AZ | $130,070 | $62.53 | 0.92 | 8,370 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson MD | $124,990 | $60.09 | 1.55 | 8,060 |
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 11-9111. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates cover 525 of 528 metropolitan areas — near-complete coverage, which means the ranges above are reliable rather than drawn from a handful of markets. Read the methodology.