What a billing specialist costs in 65 US cities
US median pay is $48,500 a year, about $69,300 all in with benefits and payroll taxes. Here’s the cost in every large metro area.
A billing specialist costs a median of $48,500 a year in the US, or about $69,300 a year ($5,770 a month) once benefits and employer payroll taxes are added. Pay ranges from $70,280 in San Jose, CA to $37,240 in El Paso, TX. Filling the seat takes a median of 39 days.
Billing Specialist cost by metro area
| Metro area | Median pay (a year) | All-in estimate (a year) | All-in (a month) |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $48,500 | $69,300 | $5,770 |
| San Jose, CA | $70,280 | $100,400 | $8,370 |
| San Francisco, CA | $66,390 | $94,800 | $7,900 |
| Seattle, WA | $58,920 | $84,200 | $7,010 |
| Denver, CO | $58,240 | $83,200 | $6,930 |
| Sacramento, CA | $58,190 | $83,100 | $6,930 |
| Boston, MA | $58,100 | $83,000 | $6,920 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $57,330 | $81,900 | $6,830 |
| New York, NY | $56,160 | $80,200 | $6,690 |
| Washington, DC | $55,920 | $79,900 | $6,660 |
| San Diego, CA | $55,260 | $78,900 | $6,580 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $53,070 | $75,800 | $6,320 |
| Baltimore, MD | $52,940 | $75,600 | $6,300 |
| Portland, OR | $52,820 | $75,500 | $6,290 |
| Bakersfield, CA | $52,000 | $74,300 | $6,190 |
| Riverside, CA | $51,910 | $74,200 | $6,180 |
| Raleigh, NC | $51,070 | $73,000 | $6,080 |
| Providence, RI | $51,010 | $72,900 | $6,070 |
| Honolulu, HI | $50,800 | $72,600 | $6,050 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $50,190 | $71,700 | $5,980 |
| Kansas City, MO | $49,980 | $71,400 | $5,950 |
| Chicago, IL | $49,960 | $71,400 | $5,950 |
| Fresno, CA | $49,680 | $71,000 | $5,910 |
| Atlanta, GA | $49,320 | $70,500 | $5,870 |
| Austin, TX | $49,070 | $70,100 | $5,840 |
| Albany, NY | $49,030 | $70,000 | $5,840 |
| Omaha, NE | $48,860 | $69,800 | $5,820 |
| Charlotte, NC | $48,780 | $69,700 | $5,810 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $48,680 | $69,500 | $5,800 |
| Nashville, TN | $48,640 | $69,500 | $5,790 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $48,440 | $69,200 | $5,770 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $48,380 | $69,100 | $5,760 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth, TX | $48,290 | $69,000 | $5,750 |
| Jacksonville, FL | $48,040 | $68,600 | $5,720 |
| Buffalo, NY | $47,950 | $68,500 | $5,710 |
| Detroit, MI | $47,840 | $68,300 | $5,700 |
| Cincinnati, OH | $47,630 | $68,000 | $5,670 |
| St. Louis, MO | $47,490 | $67,800 | $5,650 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $47,430 | $67,800 | $5,650 |
| Boise, ID | $47,420 | $67,700 | $5,650 |
| Houston, TX | $47,360 | $67,700 | $5,640 |
| Rochester, NY | $47,340 | $67,600 | $5,640 |
| Columbus, OH | $47,320 | $67,600 | $5,630 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $47,300 | $67,600 | $5,630 |
| Louisville, KY | $47,280 | $67,500 | $5,630 |
| Grand Rapids, MI | $47,220 | $67,500 | $5,620 |
| Richmond, VA | $47,170 | $67,400 | $5,620 |
| New Orleans, LA | $46,830 | $66,900 | $5,580 |
| Albuquerque, NM | $46,740 | $66,800 | $5,560 |
| Allentown, PA | $46,660 | $66,700 | $5,550 |
| Miami, FL | $46,610 | $66,600 | $5,550 |
| Charleston, SC | $46,460 | $66,400 | $5,530 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | $46,410 | $66,300 | $5,530 |
| Columbia, SC | $46,370 | $66,200 | $5,520 |
| Memphis, TN | $46,340 | $66,200 | $5,520 |
| Cleveland, OH | $46,160 | $65,900 | $5,500 |
| Tulsa, OK | $46,010 | $65,700 | $5,480 |
| Orlando, FL | $45,870 | $65,500 | $5,460 |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $45,740 | $65,300 | $5,450 |
| Tucson, AZ | $45,260 | $64,700 | $5,390 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $45,110 | $64,400 | $5,370 |
| Knoxville, TN | $44,830 | $64,000 | $5,340 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | $44,200 | $63,100 | $5,260 |
| Greenville, SC | $43,910 | $62,700 | $5,230 |
| San Antonio, TX | $43,340 | $61,900 | $5,160 |
| El Paso, TX | $37,240 | $53,200 | $4,430 |
An experienced hire usually costs more than the median. The all-in estimate leaves out recruiting, training, software seats and cover for sick days and leave.
What a billing specialist does
- Turn finished jobs, shipments or orders into invoices
- Check rates and quantities against the price list or contract
- Send invoices to each customer’s billing contact or portal
- Post payments and credits to customer accounts
- Answer billing questions and flag disputes
The alternative to hiring
Dull takes on billing work in the tools you already use. A person reviews every exception, and anything involving money or judgment waits for your approval. It’s a flat monthly fee, quoted on a 15-minute call, month to month with no contract, and usually live in about a week instead of 39 days to hire.
An alternative to hiring a billing specialist
How we worked these out
- Median pay is the May 2025 median annual wage for “Billing and Posting Clerks” from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (BLS OEWS), for each metropolitan area and the US as a whole, pulled from the BLS public data API. Half of workers earn more and half earn less.
- All-in estimate adds benefits and employer payroll taxes: wages are 70.0% of total compensation for private-industry workers (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026), so all-in = median ÷ 0.70. It doesn’t include recruiting, training, equipment or office space.
- Time to fill is the median of 39 days from SHRM’s recruiting benchmarks.
- Figures are rounded. Metro areas are the 65 largest US metropolitan statistical areas with published data for every role on our cost pages.
Frequently asked questions
The US median pay for billing and posting clerks was $48,500 a year in May 2025 (BLS). With benefits and employer payroll taxes the all-in cost is about $69,300 a year, or $5,770 a month, before recruiting and training.
Of the 65 largest US metro areas, San Jose, CA has the highest median pay at $70,280 a year (45% above the US median). El Paso, TX has the lowest at $37,240.
A median of 39 days to fill an opening (SHRM), before training. While the seat is empty the work usually falls to the owner or the strongest person on the team.
Yes. Dull is a done-for-you back-office service that takes on billing work in the tools you already use, with a person reviewing every exception. It’s a flat monthly fee, quoted on a 15-minute call, month to month with no contract, and usually live in about a week.
Median pay is from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025). The all-in estimate divides it by 0.70, because wages are 70.0% of total compensation for private-industry workers (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026).