What Does a Records Coordinator Do?
For auditors, lawyers, and the public, an office's ability to find the right document rests on its records coordinator. The coordinator makes sure that retention rules are followed, and old files are indexed, boxed and destroyed on schedule. This might involve student files, patient charts, contracts or personnel records.
Records Coordinator Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a records coordinator include:
- Apply the retention schedule to each record series and mark files for storage or destruction.
- Index and scan paper files into the document management system with searchable fields.
- Retrieve files for staff, auditors or legal requests and log where each one goes.
- Box, label and inventory records for transfer to off-site storage.
- Arrange secure shredding of expired records and keep certificates of destruction.
- Place legal holds on records tied to lawsuits or audits so nothing is destroyed early.
- Train department staff on file naming, folder structure and what to keep.
- Gather documents for public records requests and pass them to the records manager for review.
- Check that confidential files are locked, access-controlled and signed out properly.
- Maintain the office's records inventory and update it when new record types appear.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as a records coordinator, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Document management systems such as Laserfiche or OnBase
- Retention schedules and legal holds
- Scanning and indexing standards
- Excel for file inventories
- Careful handling of confidential records
- Patience with detailed, repetitive work
- Clear instructions for busy colleagues
- High school diploma; records coursework a plus
Education and Training
Experience in filing, scanning or office support could lead to a records post. In addition to a high school diploma, some employers look for coursework in records management or training through ARMA International. For this broad group of record clerks, BLS reports short-term on-the-job training as the norm. Some coordinators go on to records analyst or records manager posts.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: varies widely for this role, and BLS does not publish pay for it separately. In the wider BLS group it belongs to (Information and Record Clerks, All Other), the middle half of earners made $40,910 to $59,970 a year, and the median was $49,500.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Information and Record Clerks, All Other.
The median annual wage for information and record clerks in this group was about $49,500 in May 2025, according to BLS. BLS projects the group's employment to grow less than 1 percent from 2025 to 2035, with roughly 15,000 openings a year, most of them created as clerks retire or move into other roles. Digital records keep growing. The coordinators in steadiest demand are those who can run a document system and apply legal holds.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Information and record clerks, all other.
Records Coordinator Pay Range
| Earners | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $33,870 |
| Bottom 25% earn less than | $40,910 |
| Median (half earn more, half less) | $49,500 |
| Top 25% earn more than | $59,970 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $71,420 |
Highest-Paying States for Records Coordinators
The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are District of Columbia ($70,490), California ($58,680), Rhode Island ($58,470), Maryland ($58,060), Indiana ($56,310). Pay is lowest in Nevada ($38,560), North Carolina ($33,880), Wisconsin ($32,470).
Median pay in all 50 states with BLS data
| State | Median annual pay |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $53,930 |
| Alaska | $48,630 |
| Arizona | $46,290 |
| Arkansas | $44,160 |
| California | $58,680 |
| Colorado | $52,600 |
| Connecticut | $46,680 |
| Delaware | $54,240 |
| District of Columbia | $70,490 |
| Florida | $48,510 |
| Georgia | $47,530 |
| Hawaii | $54,720 |
| Idaho | $49,940 |
| Illinois | $55,270 |
| Indiana | $56,310 |
| Iowa | $49,440 |
| Kansas | $47,050 |
| Kentucky | $48,380 |
| Louisiana | $45,970 |
| Maryland | $58,060 |
| Massachusetts | $47,200 |
| Michigan | $45,760 |
| Minnesota | $52,260 |
| Mississippi | $49,440 |
| Missouri | $45,660 |
| Montana | $47,840 |
| Nebraska | $49,940 |
| Nevada | $38,560 |
| New Hampshire | $43,260 |
| New Jersey | $55,830 |
| New Mexico | $51,630 |
| New York | $52,270 |
| North Carolina | $33,880 |
| North Dakota | $52,440 |
| Ohio | $52,120 |
| Oklahoma | $49,940 |
| Oregon | $49,310 |
| Pennsylvania | $51,130 |
| Rhode Island | $58,470 |
| South Carolina | $49,440 |
| South Dakota | $53,290 |
| Tennessee | $46,450 |
| Texas | $43,240 |
| Utah | $43,010 |
| Vermont | $50,710 |
| Virginia | $50,670 |
| Washington | $53,890 |
| West Virginia | $54,950 |
| Wisconsin | $32,470 |
| Wyoming | $49,940 |
Related Careers
These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:
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Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035.
- O*NET 30.1 Database, occupation 43-4199.00 (Information and Record Clerks, All Other). View on O*NET OnLine.
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