Medical Receptionist Salary by State (2026): BLS Data & Pay Calculator

51 of 51 areas (50 states and DC) have a published medical receptionist estimate in the BLS May 2025 data. Ranked by median annual wage, the top five are District of Columbia ($49,060), Alaska ($44,720), Washington ($44,710), California ($44,100), Massachusetts ($43,870). The bottom five are Mississippi ($31,160), West Virginia ($31,920), Alabama ($32,590), Louisiana ($32,750), Kentucky ($32,940).

Highest paying states

Lowest paying states

The gap between the top and bottom state medians is $17,900 a year. These figures are not adjusted for cost of living, which is why a high-paying state is not automatically a better offer. The full sortable table is in the tool above.

BLS publishes wages at five points. The 10th percentile is the wage that 10% of receptionists earn less than. The median is the middle wage: half earn less and half earn more. The 90th percentile is the wage that 90% earn less than. The mean is the average and is pulled up by high earners. Nationally for this occupation, those wages are $28,760 (10th), $33,960 (25th), $38,010 (median), $45,130 (75th) and $49,950 (90th).

Worked example. Say a practice offers $36,000 a year. At BLS's 2,080-hour work year, that is $17.31 an hour ($17.31 × 2,080 = $36,000). The offer is at least the 25th percentile wage of $33,960 and below the median (50th) wage of $38,010.

Enter your own number in the tool, as an annual salary or an hourly rate. It places the offer in a band and does not guess a single percentile, because BLS does not publish the wage at every point.

BLS has no separate medical receptionist or front desk category. It reports receptionists as Receptionists and Information Clerks (SOC 43-4171), across every industry. Its Occupational Outlook Handbook says receptionists answer phones, greet visitors and give organizational information to the public, and that the typical entry-level education is a high school diploma or equivalent with short-term on-the-job training.

Medical front desk staff who handle scheduling, records and insurance may be coded as Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants (SOC 43-6013) instead. The tool above lets you switch between the two codes. Neither isolates front desk staff at an aesthetic or surgical practice.

Which code applies to a given job depends on the duties and on how an employer reported it to BLS, so read both and treat the pair as a range.

People also search for this as “receptionist salary”, “front desk salary”, “medical receptionist salary by state”. All of them point to the same BLS occupation data shown here.

The figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 estimates, across all industries and employers. BLS publishes new estimates each spring, so check the BLS OEWS site for newer figures.

• Included: base rate, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazardous-duty pay, incentive pay (including commissions and production bonuses) and tips.
• Left out: overtime, severance, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, employer-paid benefits and tuition reimbursement.
• Not covered: the self-employed, owners and partners in unincorporated firms.
• Hourly to annual: BLS converts an hourly wage to an annual one with a 2,080-hour year.
• Top-coded: where BLS marks a wage of $115.00 an hour or $239,200 a year or more with a “#”, it publishes no exact figure. That mostly affects state-level physician estimates. This site shows those as $239,200+.

BLS does not report med spa or aesthetic practice wages as a separate group, and the data does not adjust for cost of living. When you compare an offer, weigh local living costs, benefits and the pay plan, not only the base wage.

Salary is not the full cost of an employee. Payroll taxes, benefits and workers' compensation add to it; the employee cost calculator turns a wage into a total cost to the practice.

Once a hire is on the team, Prospyr analytics shows revenue per provider so you can see whether the pay plan fits what the schedule produces. For practices still building the team, see Prospyr for med spas.