The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that the median annual wage for healthcare administrators in Massachusetts was $118,750 as of 2020, well above the national median of $104,280. In fact, it’s among the top-five highest paying states in the country for medical and health service managers.
BLS also shows Massachusetts as the state with the fourth-highest employment level in the country for healthcare administrators, and it enjoys the number-one spot for having the highest concentration of healthcare administration jobs nationwide.
The state’s budget proposal for 2022 earmarks $18.94 billion to fund MassHealth, a notable increase from previous budgets. But it’s not just that more money is coming into Massachusetts healthcare; the nature of service and the workforce are also changing in a way that requires more administrative expertise. The Center for Labor Markets and Policy at Drexel University found a shift from inpatient to outpatient settings in the state, and an increase in positions in home health and personal care relative to the overall trend. As staffing of positions with lower pay and less education required increase, management overhead will also go up.
Where the Jobs are for Healthcare Administrators in Massachusetts
In 2020 the BLS reported a total of 231,400 healthcare practitioners and technical professionals working throughout Massachusetts, indicating widespread availability of jobs for healthcare administrators in both urban and rural parts of the state.
Those numbers will only climb in the coming years. The state Department of Unemployment Assistance estimates that healthcare administration jobs will grow by 9.5 percent over the decade leading up to 2028. That will result in 1,690 job openings annually across the state, driven by both new positions being created and turnover in existing positions.
How Healthcare Administrator Salaries Differ Throughout Massachusetts
Salaries for medical and health service managers are generally high throughout Massachusetts, but they are at their peak in the Boston-Cambridge area. Although the top salary level at the 90th percentile is not recorded in BLS numbers, the agency indicates that it exceeds $208,000 a year, a rate reserved for the most experienced and highly qualified administrators.
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua
- 25th percentile: $92,920
- Median: $124,430
- 90th percentile: NA
Springfield
- 25th percentile: $73,030
- Median: $97,110
- 90th percentile: $172,850
Worcester
- 25th percentile: $84,320
- Median: $104,080
- 90th percentile: $195,580
Barnstable Town
- 25th percentile: $70,450
- Median: $99,580
- 90th percentile: $165,910
Although the big cities get most of the salary love, rural Massachusetts manages to offer some of the highest wages in the median and 90th percentile categories at $104,270 and $189,170, respectively. Pittsfield ranks nationally for having the seventh-highest concentration of medical and health services mangers among all metro areas.
2020 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Medical and Health Services Managers.
Job growth projections sourced from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and published in the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Long Term Occupational Projections (2018-2028) database – https://projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm.
Salary figures and job market projections represent state data, not school-specific information.
Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed August 2021.