The Alabama Department of Labor (DOL) placed healthcare administrators on its list of “Hot 40 high-demand occupations.” The Department chose this promising profession on the basis of projected growth, annual job openings, and average salary.
Experienced healthcare administrators in Alabama earned 1.89 times more than those starting out according to a 2015 report issued by the state’s Department of Labor. While the average salary for a healthcare administrator in Alabama was $94,931, experienced administrators earned an average of $112,474. Their colleagues new to the profession earned an average of $59,384 that year.
Job Growth Projections for Healthcare Administrators in Alabama
The Alabama Department of Labor expects strong growth in the field of healthcare administration, with an increase of 20.27% in the number of jobs expected between 2012 and 2022. This rate of growth is 1.88 times higher than the overall job growth rate in Alabama.
Hospitals are the major employers of healthcare administrators throughout the country and tend to pay the highest salaries according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. A 2013 report from the American Hospital Association demonstrates the importance of Alabama’s hospitals to its economy. The report noted that 93 hospitals were located in Alabama, employing more than 84,000 people.
The presence of hospitals also encourages other types of medical offices to locate nearby, provide additional jobs for healthcare administrators working at medical office managers. Alabama’s hospitals created more than 86,000 additional jobs through ancillary and allied health services in 2013. Hospitals and the other healthcare facilities located nearby employed almost 9% of Alabama’s total workforce as of 2013.
How Location and Experience Impact Salary Potential for Alabama’s Healthcare Administrators
The Alabama Department of Labor also provides the salaries for healthcare administrators in a number of Alabama’s metropolitan areas. Experienced healthcare administrators in Tuscaloosa earned the highest average salary:
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides an expanded profile of the earnings for healthcare administrators in Alabama’s major urban and rural areas as of 2014. This analysis indicated that the median salary among healthcare administrators in Tuscaloosa was the highest of those shown:
