Health informatics—also referred to as health care informatics—is a multidisciplinary area of expertise that applies health information technology, computer science, management skills and other disciplines to the health care industry. Health informatics refers to the management and use of a patient’s health care information, especially the use of information technology to analyze health data and other records to improve health care outcomes.

Preparing people for health informatics careers may involve earning a master’s degree in health care informatics, but not all educational institutions offer such a program. Our health care informatics job and salary guide can help you determine if a career in health informatics is right for you.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) defines health informatics as “the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption and application of IT-based innovations in health care services delivery, management and planning.”

Informatics employees who work in health care settings might be considered more “behind the scenes” in the daily operations of places such as hospitals or physicians’ offices. It’s actually rather rare that someone who works in health care informatics would find themselves in a caregiving environment or having much interaction with patients.

While this may be the case, these workers remain essential to a functioning organization that stays on top of and continually improves upon best practices. Health care involves working with large amounts of patient data that must be readily available to caregivers. Health informatics workers play a large role in the development, implementation and maintenance of the infrastructure on which this data is handled. Efficiency, intuitiveness and security are always in the back of an informatics worker’s mind.

Health informatics can be a promising career path, because it allows candidates to work in the health care industry and help patients by proxy. Many individuals wish to pursue a career that helps people, but don’t necessarily wish to become a nurse, doctor or other medical worker.

There are many subsets of the health care industry where someone with a master’s in health informatics could apply their knowledge. Let’s take a look at some of the jobs in this area of expertise that stand out as paying particularly well, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Please note, however, that some job titles in health care informatics may have additional or different qualifications on a case-by-case basis.

Nursing informatics is a subfield of nursing that incorporates information technology to create and maintain systems that support medical informatics data and ultimately improve quality of care for patients. It’s not uncommon for registered nurses with an interest in informatics to work with IT specialists to create and improve upon these systems collaboratively.

A registered nurse’s median annual salary in 2024 was $93,600, according to BLS data An RN who holds a master’s degree in health care informatics is likely to make more, however; nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners all hold master’s degrees and, according to the BLS, their average salary in 2024 was $132,050.

A health informatics consultant (also called a health informatics management analyst) designs, maintains, and ensures the usability of various medical records systems and other large datasets that health care institutions must be able to access easily and efficiently. As implied by the name, these consultants often work on a temporary, contractor basis for large IT-related projects. According to the BLS, the median salary of management analysts in 2024 was $101,190.

A health services manager also works with large amounts of data related to patients and the business. But they differ from IT-focused workers in that they draw insights from the data they work with to maximize patient care and improve the logistical processes in health care. They’re always finding ways to improve efficiency in any way they can. The median salary of medical and health service managers in 2024 was $117,960.

A health care IT project manager oversees all IT-related activities within clinical informatics settings. They implement new technology and upgrade software for health care institutions, while also tracking costs, schedules, and related metrics. Their technical and traditional project management skills put health care IT project managers in a unique position to add value to their organizations. BLS data show that the median salary of computer and information systems managers (including non-healthcare IT managers) in 2024 was $171,200.

The BLS categorizes careers in health informatics under “Medical and Health Services Managers.” The most recent employment data for these workers projects the number of jobs in this field to rise from 616,200 in 2024 to 759,100 in 2034—an 23% increase over 10 years, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.

As the population ages, demand for health informatics employees is expected to increase, as the health care system requires more resources. Additionally, technological advancements that improve operations show no sign of slowing. As newer, safer and more efficient processes emerge, health informatics workers will be needed to implement them across institutions.

The BLS doesn’t have salary data specifically for health informatics careers. The best way to get an idea of the average health informatics salary is to look at similar job titles for which the agency does provide data. Those are listed above, and we recap them here:

It’s important to keep in mind that the job titles above encompass more than just health informatics workers specifically. These figures are meant to give you a general idea of the average health informatics salary.

For the best paying cities for careers in health informatics, we used BLS data pertaining to the job title medical and health services manager. See their salary data below, along with the current number of health informatics jobs held in the metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas.

Here are the five states with the most medical and health services manager jobs, according to the BLS, with annual mean wages.

A large part of the appeal of a career in health care informatics is the ability to use a unique, technical set of skills to improve patient care and wellness. If you want to work in health care and make a positive difference, but don’t necessarily wish to become a medical worker or caregiver, you can do so in the field of health informatics. Qualified health informatics employees combine technical skills with people skills to provide a well-rounded asset to the institution for which they work.

Information last updated: January 2026