File Clerks Salary
The median file clerks salary in the United States is $43,600 per year ($20.96/hour). Salaries range from $31,200 at the entry level to $63,490+ for the top 10% of earners. There are 73,440 file clerks jobs nationwide. Employment is projected to decline 15.9% through 2034.
Last updated: June 2026 Β· Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Salary Distribution
Job Growth (2024-2034)
Annual Openings
Education Required
Training Needed
File Clerks Career Guide
Interview questions, resume templates, and a career ladder written specifically for file clerkss.
File clerks (BLS SOC 43-4071) maintain the physical and digital records infrastructure at any organization with high document volume β healthcare systems (Epic / Cerner / Meditech EHR migrations, HIM departments, chart deficiency workflow, release-of-information), Am Law 100 records rooms (client-matter files, ethical-wall isolation, records-retention holds), insurance carriers (State Farm, Allstate, Progressive, Nationwide, Liberty Mutual, Travelers, GEICO claim files), state and municipal government (state DMV records, county recorder deeds, court clerk civil/criminal filings, vital-records offices), banks (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citi loan files, adverse-action files, BSA/AML files), and Fortune-500 enterprise records-management shared-service centers. BLS reports 73,440 employed with a median of $43,600, p10 $30,660, p90 $63,180+. Entry File Clerk $30-42k; established Sr File Clerk / Records Specialist $42-58k; Records Coordinator $55-72k; Records Manager $72-105k; Director of Records / Information Governance $105-165k+. The single biggest earnings lever is layering an ARMA IGP (Information Governance Professional) or CRM (Certified Records Manager) certification onto substantive electronic-records-management experience and moving from a pure file-clerk role into a Records Coordinator seat at healthcare, legal, or insurance β where records-retention schedules, HIPAA, and litigation-hold discipline command a premium.
Core Skills Hiring Managers Screen For
How to Become a File Clerks
- 1Start with a High School diploma + Associate's or ~30 college credits (some employers)Entry File Clerk positions at healthcare, legal, insurance, and government employers typically require a HS diploma. Community-college Records Management Certificate or Health Information Management (HIM) coursework is a strong differentiator. Community-college programs of note β HIT (Health Information Technology) AAS programs at community colleges nationwide, ARMA International-recognized records-management coursework, San Antonio College HIM, DeVry, Herzing, University of Cincinnati Blue Ash HIM associate.
- 2Start as a File Clerk / Records Clerk / HIM Clerk at $30-42k + benefitsFirst seat β file clerk in the HIM department at a hospital (chart-deficiency queue, ROI queue, chart-scan queue), file clerk in the records room at an Am Law 100 firm or regional law firm (physical file pulls, imaged-file processing, matter-close file archival), claim-file clerk at a State Farm / Allstate / Progressive claim office (FNOL intake support, claim-file assembly), records clerk at a state DMV / county recorder / court clerk office, or documentation clerk at a Bank of America / Wells Fargo / JPMorgan operations center.
- 3Complete AAPC-recognized or AHIMA HIM certifications (healthcare track) or ARMA credentials (cross-industry track)Healthcare track β RHIT (Registered Health Information Technician, AHIMA) after AAS HIM program passes AHIMA-accredited coursework; RHIA (Registered Health Information Administrator, AHIMA) after Bachelor's HIM; CDIP (Clinical Documentation Improvement Practitioner). Cross-industry / general records track β ICRM CRM (Certified Records Manager) after 3-5 years of qualifying records experience + 6-part exam; ARMA IGP (Information Governance Professional) β the strategic-track certification requiring 4 years of experience and a comprehensive exam covering privacy, retention, governance, e-discovery, and legal-hold. AIIM CIP (Certified Information Professional) for enterprise content management. IAPP CIPP/US or CIPP/E for privacy overlay.
- 4Promote to Sr File Clerk / Records Specialist at $42-58k + bonus3-6 years in seat. Own a records-workflow specialty (e.g., ROI queue at a hospital, litigation-hold administration at a law firm, subrogation files at an insurance office). This is the training-ground rung for Records Coordinator. Layer on one certification (RHIT, ARMA introductory, HIPAA specialist).
- 5Move into a Records Coordinator / HIM Coordinator seat at $55-72k + bonus6-10 years in. Own a records-program area β retention-schedule administration across a business unit, EHR chart-correction workflow at a hospital HIM department, matter-opening / matter-closing workflow at an Am Law 100 firm, records-digitization project management at a Fortune-500 records-services team. This is the pivot from execution to governance.
- 6Advance to Records Manager at $72-105k + bonus + LTIP eligibility10-15 years in. Own the records-management program at a facility, business unit, or mid-size enterprise. Direct-manage 3-12 records staff. Own the retention-schedule refresh cycle (typically every 2-3 years), the litigation-hold administration program, the vendor relationships (destruction vendors like Iron Mountain, Shred-it, ProShred; DMS vendors like iManage, NetDocuments, OnBase, Laserfiche, M-Files), and the records-compliance audit response. Complete ARMA IGP or ICRM CRM.
- 7Advance to Director of Records / Information Governance / Chief Information Governance Officer at $105-245k+15-25 years in. Enterprise-wide information-governance strategy at a Fortune-500, Am Law 100 firm, or Fortune-100 healthcare system. Reports to General Counsel, Chief Privacy Officer, CIO, or Chief Compliance Officer. Owns the records-retention schedule, litigation-hold program, records-digitization strategy, DMS-platform strategy, and the intersection with privacy (CCPA / CPRA, GDPR, HIPAA), e-discovery, and cyber. VP / Chief IG seats at Fortune-100 enterprises pay $165-285k+ base + LTIP + equity.
Career Progression
- β’Execute daily file pulls, file returns, file creation, file destruction under supervision
- β’Support scan / OCR / metadata-index queue at high daily volume (200-800 documents / day)
- β’Cooperate with HIM ROI queue, legal records-room requests, or claim-file assembly depending on employer
- β’Maintain chain-of-custody logs, destruction certificates, and daily volume-completion reporting
- β’Own a records-workflow specialty (ROI, litigation-hold, subrogation, chart-correction)
- β’Serve as subject-matter expert for one records system (Epic HIM, iManage, Guidewire ClaimCenter, OnBase)
- β’Train new file clerks; QC daily production output for the team
- β’Support retention-schedule application and destruction-event execution
- β’Own a records-program area β retention-schedule administration, EHR chart-correction, matter lifecycle, digitization project
- β’Interface with legal, compliance, privacy, and IT on cross-functional records issues
- β’Own vendor relationships (destruction, scanning, DMS) at the program-area level
- β’Support internal audit and external audit / regulator inquiries on records
- β’Own the records-management program at a facility, business unit, or mid-size enterprise
- β’Direct-manage 3-12 records staff; own hiring, training, and performance
- β’Own the retention-schedule refresh cycle and cross-functional records-governance committee
- β’Own vendor selection and contract management for destruction, scanning, and DMS
- β’Own enterprise information-governance strategy at Fortune-500, Am Law 100 firm, or Fortune-100 healthcare system
- β’Report to General Counsel, Chief Privacy Officer, CIO, or Chief Compliance Officer
- β’Own records-retention schedule, litigation-hold program, DMS-platform strategy, records-digitization strategy
- β’Own intersection with privacy (CCPA / CPRA, GDPR, HIPAA), e-discovery, and cyber
Interview Questions & Answers
5 free questions below. Career Kit unlocks 13 total plus resume bullets for every level.
Q1. Walk me through how you'd handle a subpoena for records at a hospital HIM department.technical
Q2. Describe how you'd stand up a litigation-hold notification process at a mid-size enterprise.case
Q3. Describe your role in a Cerner-to-Epic migration.behavioral
Q4. Why records management rather than a purely administrative or IT track?culture
Q5. Where do you see your career in 5 years?closer
Resume Template β Sr File Clerk / Records Specialist (3-8 yrs)
Copy these bullets into your resume as a starting point. Career Kit includes bullets for every level of the ladder.
- βΈSr HIM Specialist at [health system] running the ROI queue at 2 hospital HIM departments β processed 1,240 ROI requests / month with 96% within-turnaround-time compliance vs 85% department benchmark.
- βΈOwned the Cerner-to-Epic MPI duplicate-resolution workstream β reduced suspected duplicates from 3,200 β 550 pre-cutover through structured clinical-review process with Just Associates IdentityQA output.
- βΈSupported 34 subpoena responses in FY24 with zero HIPAA disclosure findings on internal audit; drafted the department's HIPAA subpoena / court-order review checklist.
- βΈAAS Health Information Technology + RHIT eligible + AHIMA-approved HIM coursework. $54k salaried + 5% target bonus + full benefits + tuition support for Bachelor of Science in HIM.
What Gets You Rejected
- βCannot explain the HIPAA subpoena-response requirements under 45 CFR Β§164.512(e) β the single most common records-request question at healthcare interviews.
- βHistory of records-destruction events without proper certification / witness β a spoliation sanction risk at any regulated employer.
- βNo documented experience with a major DMS or EHR platform (Epic, Cerner, Meditech, iManage, NetDocuments, OnBase, Guidewire ClaimCenter) β screens out at healthcare, legal, and insurance Records Coordinator interviews.
- βReflexive over-disclosure on subpoenas / records requests β signals lack of judgment on the authorization / authority distinction.
- βNo certification progression after 5+ years in seat β signals lack of investment in the profession (RHIT, ARMA introductory, HIPAA specialist, or CDIA+ are all achievable at Sr File Clerk stage).
- βWeak documentation discipline on chain-of-custody, destruction logs, or ROI logs β the auditable-artifact discipline is the core of records-management competence.
- βCannot describe the FRCP 26 preservation trigger or FRCP 37(e) routine-destruction defense β screens out at legal / insurance / financial-services Records Coordinator and Manager rounds.
Salary Negotiation Levers
- βARMA IGP (Information Governance Professional) β $6-15k premium at Records Coordinator promotion and $12-25k at Records Manager promotion; the single most valuable enterprise-track credential.
- βICRM CRM (Certified Records Manager) β parallel credential; $5-12k premium at Records Coordinator promotion.
- βAHIMA RHIT / RHIA (healthcare HIM track) β $4-10k premium at Sr HIM Specialist promotion; RHIA (Bachelor's-level) adds $6-14k at HIM Coordinator promotion.
- βEHR / DMS platform depth (Epic HIM certification, Cerner power user, iManage administrator, OnBase system administrator) β $3-9k premium at Records Coordinator hiring; often employer-paid certification.
- βLitigation-hold administration experience at a law firm or financial-services employer β $4-10k premium at Records Coordinator hiring at any enterprise with e-discovery exposure.
- βIAPP CIPP/US or CIPP/E privacy overlay β $5-12k premium at Records Coordinator + Records Manager promotion, especially at enterprises subject to CCPA / CPRA, GDPR, or HIPAA.
- βMetro premium β NYC, DC, SF Bay Area, Boston, Chicago pay 15-30% above US median for the same seat at Am Law 100 firms and Fortune-500 headquarters.
- βAm Law 100 firm scale premium β a Records Coordinator at Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, DLA Piper, Skadden, or Sidley Austin often clears $75-95k, 15-25% above regional firms for the same seat.
- βSign-on bonuses of $3-12k are standard at Records Coordinator and Records Manager moves between healthcare, legal, or Fortune-500 enterprise employers.
- βTuition support for Bachelor's in HIM (AHIMA-accredited program) or Master's in Library and Information Science (MLIS with records-management concentration) β Section 127 caps at $5,250/yr federal tax-free; most Fortune-500 and Am Law 100 employers top this up to $8-15k/yr.
Already a File Clerks? Grow From Here
Free playbooks on what actually gets you promoted and raised β not motivational advice, the real mechanics.
File Clerks Resume Review β $29
Personalized resume review from someone who has hired file clerkss. Purchase, email your resume to support@weblabra.com, and receive detailed written feedback within 7 days.
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File Clerks Career Kit β $19
- β All 13 interview questions with expert answers
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- β Resume bullets for every level of the career ladder
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- β Cover letter templates specific to this occupation
- β Detailed salary negotiation script
- β Ranked list of certifications with cost + ROI
- β Downloadable PDF for offline access
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File Clerks Career Growth Kit β $29
Already working as a file clerks? This kit is for building your case for the next promotion or raise β not for getting hired.
- β Self-review draft mapped to file clerks competencies
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- β Promotion committee anticipation guide
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- β Downloadable PDF for offline access
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File Clerks Salary by State
Best Cities (cost-adjusted) βSalary Map β Click a state for details
Top Paying States
| State | Median | vs. National |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | $50,660 | +16.2% |
| Hawaii | $50,630 | +16.1% |
| Illinois | $49,920 | +14.5% |
| Alaska | $49,910 | +14.5% |
| California | $49,040 | +12.5% |
| Massachusetts | $48,310 | +10.8% |
| Vermont | $47,540 | +9.0% |
| Minnesota | $46,640 | +7.0% |
| Iowa | $46,560 | +6.8% |
| Colorado | $46,490 | +6.6% |
File Clerks Salary by Metro Area
| Metro Area | Median | vs. National |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $60,840 | +39.5% |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $60,530 | +38.8% |
| Salinas, CA | $59,040 | +35.4% |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $58,320 | +33.8% |
| Vallejo, CA | $56,750 | +30.2% |
| Napa, CA | $55,980 | +28.4% |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $54,910 | +25.9% |
| Carson City, NV | $54,820 | +25.7% |
| Greeley, CO | $54,360 | +24.7% |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | $54,240 | +24.4% |