10 of the most lucrative jobs in healthcare administration for 2026
A Nexford University blogger set out to find the best bets for college students making career plans in healthcare. His research led him to place medical director in the No. 1 slot.
Average salary for the position, the investigator reports, is around $226,000.
That figure will likely strike some as markedly modest, given that medical directors are typically not just physicians but physicians with many years of experience in clinical as well as administrative work.
The blogger is one Stephen Ramotowski, a search engine optimization specialist. His pay estimates may reflect combined U.K. and U.S. figures since he lives and works in England—and doesn’t disclose his information sources or his research methodology.
Meanwhile Nexford University is an online-only institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. Surely uncoincidentally, it offers undergraduate and master’s degree programs in management.
Qualifiers aside, the list may be useful for benchmarking by healthcare career planners. Here are the rest of the list-makers.
2. Hospital Chief Executive Officer
The average annual pay for a hospital CEO is around USD $205,800, Ramotowski finds. The estimated additional pay, including bonuses, commissions and profit shares, is about USD $78,200 per year, he adds.
3. Healthcare Chief Information Officer
Healthcare CIOs get an annual median salary of around USD $203,200, with about USD $148,000 additional pay in bonuses, commissions and profit shares, Ramotowski writes.
4. Hospital Chief Financial Officer
A hospital CFO’s average yearly healthcare administration salary is about USD $191,300, according to Ramotowski.
5. Chief Nursing Officer
Ramotowski says the expected average salary for a CNO is around USD $140,400 per year, with an estimated additional pay of USD $14,900 annually.
6. Clinical Informatics Manager
The average annual salary for clinical informatics managers is around USD $120,500, according to Ramotowski.
7. Ambulatory Care Director
An ambulatory care director position pays an average salary of USD $108,800 annually, Ramotowski estimates.
8. Nursing Home Administrator
The average nursing home administration salary is about USD $108,200 yearly, the blogger says.
9. Healthcare Database Administrator
Ramotowski estimates these professionals earn an average salary of USD $106,000 annually, with about USD $7,700 in extra pay.
10. Healthcare Quality Improvement Manager/Consultant
“You can earn an average of USD $101,800 yearly as a healthcare quality improvement consultant or manager,” Ramotowski writes.
Ramotowski cites U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics projecting the job outlook for healthcare managers will expand by 28% until 2032, “which is much higher than the average for all jobs.”
The healthcare administration field, Ramotowski points out, “offers a wide range of positions for many educational and professional backgrounds, with numerous opportunities for career advancement.”
Full article here.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.