Accountant Salary: What Accountants Really Make in 2026

An accountant's pay depends heavily on where in the range the job sits. The lowest-paid 10 percent earn less than $56,020 and the highest-paid 10 percent more than $144,090, a gap of $88,070.^[1] The median works out to about $40.23 an hour on a full-time schedule. BLS describes the work as preparing and examining financial records, identifying areas of opportunity and risk, and making sure taxes are paid properly.^[5] The occupation covers everyone from a general accountant to an audit partner, two of the titles O*NET lists as reported for it, which is why a single national number says less than the ladder around it.^[6]

The range is lopsided. The 25th percentile, $67,020, sits only $11,000 above the 10th, while the 90th sits $34,280 above the 75th. Most of the occupation is bunched in a band between $67,020 and $109,810, and the high earners stretch away from it. That is why the mean, $94,750, runs $11,070 above the median. The median for all U.S. occupations is $50,980, so the typical accountant earns $32,700 more than the typical American worker.^[2]

The federal wage survey counts straight-time gross pay: base salary, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, and incentive pay such as commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out overtime, severance, nonproduction bonuses, and the employer's cost of benefits.^[7] That omission matters more for accountants than for most office jobs, because BLS says overtime is typical at certain periods of the year, such as quarterly audits or tax season.^[5] Treat these figures as base pay and ask separately how an employer handles busy-season hours and any bonus.

The survey also excludes the self-employed.^[7] BLS estimates 5.5 percent of accountants and auditors are self-employed, close to the 5.8 percent across all occupations, so the figures here describe nearly every accountant.^[2] Tax preparers are the contrast: 17.6 percent of them are self-employed, so their wage figures leave out a much larger share of the work.

Five states hold most of the volume. California (175,360), Texas (116,470), New York (109,830), Florida (91,000), and Illinois (54,930) together account for 37.8 percent of the 1,449,500 accountant and auditor jobs in the wage survey.^[1] California alone has 12.1 percent of them. But the largest job markets are not the best-paying ones. New York is the only one of the five that pays more than California, at $102,640 against $97,050. Texas has the second-most jobs and a median of $80,920, and Florida, fourth by jobs, pays $79,250, both below the national median of $83,680.

The District of Columbia has the highest median, $111,530, on 9,810 jobs, followed by New York. Among the 50 states, New York leads, then New Jersey at $100,830 and Massachusetts at $99,460. California ranks 6th by median. At the bottom of the table, Arkansas pays $66,330 and Mississippi pays $68,100. Only 13 of the 50 states and DC with a published median sit above the national figure, so a typical state pays less than the headline number, and the national median is held up by a handful of expensive, accountant-heavy markets. Illinois, the fifth-largest market with 54,930 jobs, pays $80,230, $3,450 under the national median. BLS does not publish this occupation's pay by state and industry together, so the table cannot say how much of a state's premium comes from its employers and how much from its prices. The next section removes the price effect.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes Regional Price Parities, which measure what the same basket of goods and services costs in each state against a national average of 100.^[8] Dividing a state's median by its parity restates the pay in national-average dollars. Among places with at least 1,000 accountants, these come out on top:

• District of Columbia: $111,530 nominal, about $101,500 after adjusting for prices that run 9.9 percent above the national average.
• Delaware: $95,020 nominal, about $95,200 after adjusting for prices that run 0.2 percent below the national average.
• New York: $102,640 nominal, about $95,100 after adjusting for prices that run 7.9 percent above the national average.
• Colorado: $97,030 nominal, about $94,200 after adjusting for prices that run 3.1 percent above the national average.
• Connecticut: $97,550 nominal, about $94,200 after adjusting for prices that run 3.6 percent above the national average.

The District of Columbia stays first, going from $111,530 to about $101,500. New York holds up better than most expensive places: its $102,640 median becomes about $95,100 and it stays in the top five. California does not. Its $97,050 median drops to about $87,700 because prices there run 10.7 percent above average, which moves it from 6th place by pay to 15th. Texas moves the other way, from an $80,920 median to about $83,400, so part of its gap with the coasts is a price difference rather than a pay difference.

The parities are statewide averages, and most accounting jobs sit in metro areas that cost more than the state as a whole. Use the adjusted figures for a first comparison between locations, then check BEA's metro-level parities before weighing a specific move.

The largest employer is the accounting firm. Accounting, tax preparation, and payroll firms employ 330,500 accountants and auditors, 22.8 percent of the occupation in the wage survey, at a median of $81,490, below the national median.^[1] BLS describes public accountants as working for public accounting firms or running their own.^[5] Corporate headquarters come next with 105,120 jobs at $91,940. These are in-house roles at companies that employ their own accountants, and they pay $10,450 more than the firms at the median.

Technology pays the most. Computer systems design firms have the highest median among the large employers, $98,750, $15,070 above the national figure, though they employ only 34,880 accountants.^[1] Consulting firms pay $91,720, real estate $87,580, and banks and other credit intermediaries $84,770. BLS's broader grouping puts the median for finance and insurance at $93,290.^[5] Government pays least: local government employs 52,100 accountants at $80,310 and state government 44,370 at $77,450, the lowest median on the list.^[1]

The gap between the highest- and lowest-paying of these industries is $21,300. That is smaller than the $42,790 gap between the 25th and 75th percentiles inside the occupation, which means that for accountants, the employer's industry moves the median, but seniority, scope, and title move it further. Government pays less in salary than corporate and consulting roles, so weigh any government offer against benefits the survey does not count.

BLS expects employment of accountants and auditors to grow 5 percent from 2025 to 2035, from 1,595,200 to 1,674,600 jobs, faster than the 3.5 percent projected for all occupations, with about 115,300 openings a year once replacements are counted.^[2] The agency ties growth closely to the health of the overall economy: as businesses are created and the economy expands, accountants are needed to prepare and examine financial records.^[5]

BLS also addresses technology directly. It expects cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain to automate some routine accounting tasks, but says the change is not expected to reduce overall demand; automating work such as data entry instead makes the advisory and analytical parts of the job more prominent.^[5] The sharper evidence is in the neighboring occupation. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, which BLS lists as similar, are projected to decline 5.6 percent over the same decade, with 144,100 openings a year still arising from workers who leave.^[2] The routine recording work is shrinking while the degree-level work grows.

Two job counts appear on this page and measure different things. The wage survey counts 1,449,500 wage-and-salary jobs in May 2025; the projections count 1,595,200 jobs in 2025, from a broader set of surveys that includes the self-employed.^[2] Use the first with the pay figures and the second with the growth figures.

The nearest step up is financial management. Financial managers earn a median of $166,570 across 841,710 jobs, $82,890 more than accountants, and BLS lists 5 years or more of related experience as typical for entry, against none for accountants.^[1][2] BLS says some top executives and financial managers have a background in accounting, internal auditing, or finance, which is the clearest federal statement of where the accounting path leads.^[5] Our financial manager salary guide covers that destination.

Financial and investment analysts earn $102,740, $19,060 above accountants, with a bachelor's degree and no prior experience typical for entry, so it is a lateral move into a higher-paying occupation.^[1][2] Financial examiners earn $94,160 and need long-term on-the-job training after the degree.^[1][2] See the financial analyst salary guide for the detail.

Two nearby roles pay much less. Tax preparers earn a median of $54,920, $28,760 below accountants, and BLS lists a high school diploma as the typical entry education.^[1][2] Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks earn $50,670, $33,010 below, with some college and no degree typical, and that is the occupation shrinking.^[1][2] The gap between those two jobs and an accountant's median is what the bachelor's degree buys. Our accountant career guide walks through the path.

Check an offer against three figures at once. Start with the state median, not the national one: $83,680 nationally, but $102,640 in New York and $80,920 in Texas. Then find the employer's industry in the list above; a public accounting firm and a corporate headquarters differ by $10,450 at the median. Finally, place the offer on the percentile ladder: $67,020 is the 25th percentile and $109,810 the 75th.^[1]

Two adjustments make the comparison fair. Compare base pay with base pay, because the survey leaves out nonproduction bonuses and the benefits an employer pays for.^[7] And ask whether the job is a salaried role that absorbs busy-season hours. BLS says longer periods of work are typical around quarterly audits and tax season, and O*NET's survey found half of respondents working more than 40 hours in a typical week.^[5][6] A title is a weak guide on its own: O*NET's reported titles for this occupation include general accountant, cost accountant, financial auditor, internal auditor, and audit partner, so compare the work behind the title.^[6]

A common claim is that the CPA license is the biggest lever on pay. The federal data cannot confirm that. BLS publishes one wage for accountants and auditors and does not publish pay by license, certification, or years of experience, so no federal figure shows what passing the exam adds. What BLS does say is that any accountant who files a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission must be a licensed CPA, that public accountants, many of whom are CPAs, generally run their own firms or work in public accounting firms, and that certification may improve job prospects.^[5]

The license has a cost to weigh against that. Every state requires 150 semester hours of college coursework for licensure according to BLS, 30 hours more than the usual four-year bachelor's degree, and a master's degree is not required to reach it.^[5] The exam itself is a four-section, 16-hour test with a minimum score of 75 on each section.^[3] Our guide to how to become a CPA covers the steps, and CPA vs. CFA helps if you are choosing between accounting and investment credentials.

The Certified Management Accountant (CMA) is the main alternative for accountants who work inside companies rather than in audit. It requires active membership in the Institute of Management Accountants, a bachelor's degree, two years of management accounting or financial management experience, and passing two exam parts.^[4] BLS lists management accountants as one of the main types of accountant and notes they guide business decisions with information for internal use.^[5] No federal source publishes pay by certification, so weigh it as a signal and not a price. Our accounting certifications guide compares the CPA, CMA, CIA, and Enrolled Agent credentials.

The federal data points to three levers. The first is the employer, covered in the industry section. The second is location, but only after prices are counted: District of Columbia, Delaware, and New York lead on adjusted pay, while California falls to 15th. The third is scope. BLS says entry-level public accountants advance to senior positions as they take on more responsibility and may become supervisors, managers, or partners, open their own firm, or move into management accounting or internal auditing in private firms.^[5] The percentile ladder is the federal picture of that climb: $109,810 at the 75th percentile and $144,090 at the 90th.^[1]

On degrees, BLS says some employers prefer a master's in accounting or in business administration with an accounting concentration.^[5] It does not publish pay by degree, so no federal figure shows what a master's in accounting or an MBA adds. Because 150 hours is also the CPA requirement, a master's can serve both goals at once; judge it on its cost and the roles it opens. For entry into the field, see the bachelor's in accounting rankings.