Hourly pay
CPA & Accountant Hourly Pay
What accountants and auditors earn per hour — the verified BLS median and mean wage nationally, ranked hourly pay for all 50 states plus DC, and what an hourly rate means for a mostly-salaried profession.
National median
$40.23/hr
per hour · verified
National mean
$45.56/hr
per hour · verified
Top-paying state
$53.62/hr
District of Columbia
Lowest state
$31.89/hr
Arkansas
How much do accountants make an hour?
Direct BLS OEWS May 2025 measurement for accountants and auditors (SOC 13-2011). BLS does not publish a CPA-specific hourly wage.
Context
What hourly pay means for CPAs
BLS reports every occupation as both an annual and an hourly wage. For accountants, the hourly figure is a lens on a salaried job — most useful the moment your work isn't a standard salaried year.
Most CPAs are salaried
The great majority of accounting and CPA roles are salaried, full-time positions — so the “hourly rate” is really the annual salary expressed per hour. BLS reports it this way for every occupation, and it becomes directly useful when you are pricing contract or part-time work, comparing a 1099 rate against a salaried offer, or checking whether overtime is worth it in a non-exempt seasonal role. To turn an hourly figure back into a salary, multiply by 2,080 full-time hours.
Contract & 1099 work
The clearest use of an hourly rate — pricing consulting, fractional, or interim engagements against the market.
Part-time & seasonal
Busy-season and part-time roles are often quoted per hour; the BLS median is the honest anchor.
Overtime & non-exempt
For non-exempt staff, the hourly rate is what overtime is calculated on — worth knowing before a heavy season.
National hourly range
Hourly pay across the range
Per hour| 10th percentile | $26.93/hr | Computed |
|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $32.22/hr | Computed |
| Median (50th) | $40.23/hr | BLS measured |
| 75th percentile | $52.79/hr | Computed |
| 90th percentile | $69.27/hr | Computed |
Median and mean hourly are direct BLS OEWS measurements. The other percentiles are computed from the verified annual distribution ÷ 2,080 full-time hours — a consistent conversion, not a separate BLS hourly reading.
At 2,080 full-time hours a year, the U.S.’s median hourly rate of $40.23/hr works out to about $83,678/year — which lines up with the BLS annual median of $83,680 for accountants and auditors nationally.
The median and mean hourly wage are direct BLS measurements. The 10th–90th percentile hourly figures are computed from the verified annual distribution ÷ 2,080 hours — a consistent conversion, clearly labeled, never a separate BLS reading.
Accountant hourly pay by state
Median hourly wage for accountants and auditors in every state and DC — a direct BLS OEWS measurement for each. Filter or sort, then open a state for its full hourly breakdown.
| # | vs national | Data | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $53.62/hr | +33.3% | Verified |
| 2 | New York | $49.35/hr | +22.7% | Verified |
| 3 | New Jersey | $48.48/hr | +20.5% | Verified |
| 4 | Massachusetts | $47.82/hr | +18.9% | Verified |
| 5 | Connecticut | $46.90/hr | +16.6% | Verified |
| 6 | California | $46.66/hr | +16.0% | Verified |
| 7 | Colorado | $46.65/hr | +16.0% | Verified |
| 8 | Washington | $46.42/hr | +15.4% | Verified |
| 9 | Rhode Island | $46.07/hr | +14.5% | Verified |
| 10 | Delaware | $45.69/hr | +13.6% | Verified |
| 11 | Virginia | $44.85/hr | +11.5% | Verified |
| 12 | Maryland | $42.97/hr | +6.8% | Verified |
| 13 | Oregon | $41.25/hr | +2.5% | Verified |
| 14 | Alaska | $40.13/hr | -0.2% | Verified |
| 15 | New Hampshire | $40.13/hr | -0.2% | Verified |
| 16 | North Carolina | $39.45/hr | -1.9% | Verified |
| 17 | Georgia | $39.37/hr | -2.1% | Verified |
| 18 | Minnesota | $39.23/hr | -2.5% | Verified |
| 19 | Nevada | $39.23/hr | -2.5% | Verified |
| 20 | Texas | $38.91/hr | -3.3% | Verified |
| 21 | Illinois | $38.57/hr | -4.1% | Verified |
| 22 | Utah | $38.46/hr | -4.4% | Verified |
| 23 | Arizona | $38.45/hr | -4.4% | Verified |
| 24 | Wisconsin | $38.17/hr | -5.1% | Verified |
| 25 | Oklahoma | $38.16/hr | -5.1% | Verified |
| 26 | Ohio | $38.14/hr | -5.2% | Verified |
| 27 | Florida | $38.10/hr | -5.3% | Verified |
| 28 | Kansas | $37.98/hr | -5.6% | Verified |
| 29 | Pennsylvania | $37.98/hr | -5.6% | Verified |
| 30 | Vermont | $37.93/hr | -5.7% | Verified |
| 31 | South Dakota | $37.92/hr | -5.7% | Verified |
| 32 | Michigan | $37.89/hr | -5.8% | Verified |
| 33 | New Mexico | $37.78/hr | -6.1% | Verified |
| 34 | Indiana | $37.36/hr | -7.1% | Verified |
| 35 | Wyoming | $37.32/hr | -7.2% | Verified |
| 36 | Maine | $37.25/hr | -7.4% | Verified |
| 37 | Iowa | $37.23/hr | -7.5% | Verified |
| 38 | Tennessee | $36.94/hr | -8.2% | Verified |
| 39 | Missouri | $36.82/hr | -8.5% | Verified |
| 40 | South Carolina | $36.81/hr | -8.5% | Verified |
| 41 | Montana | $36.45/hr | -9.4% | Verified |
| 42 | North Dakota | $36.41/hr | -9.5% | Verified |
| 43 | Kentucky | $36.19/hr | -10.0% | Verified |
| 44 | Alabama | $36.00/hr | -10.5% | Verified |
| 45 | Idaho | $35.93/hr | -10.7% | Verified |
| 46 | Hawaii | $35.82/hr | -11.0% | Verified |
| 47 | Louisiana | $35.49/hr | -11.8% | Verified |
| 48 | West Virginia | $35.25/hr | -12.4% | Verified |
| 49 | Nebraska | $34.65/hr | -13.9% | Verified |
| 50 | Mississippi | $32.74/hr | -18.6% | Verified |
| 51 | Arkansas | $31.89/hr | -20.7% | Verified |
Median and mean hourly wage for accountants and auditors by state (BLS OEWS). Percent shown is vs the national median hourly wage.
The “90th pct” column shows each state’s BLS mean hourly wage. Every figure here is a verified BLS measurement.
Related searches
Frequently asked questions
- How much do accountants make an hour?
- The median wage for accountants and auditors in the U.S. is $40.23/hr and the mean is $45.56/hr, per the BLS OEWS May 2025 release. Both are direct BLS measurements. At 2,080 full-time hours a year, the median works out to about $83,678 — matching the BLS annual median.
- What is a CPA hourly rate?
- BLS measures "Accountants and Auditors" as one occupation, not CPAs specifically, so there is no BLS CPA-specific hourly wage. Licensed CPAs typically earn above the broad-occupation median, but any CPA-only hourly figure is an estimate layered on top of the verified measurement — not a BLS reading.
- Which state pays accountants the most per hour?
- District of Columbia leads at $53.62/hr median, while Arkansas is lowest at $31.89/hr. Every state figure is a direct BLS OEWS hourly measurement, not scaled from the national number.
- Are most CPAs paid hourly or salaried?
- Most accounting and CPA roles are salaried, full-time positions, so the hourly rate is the annual salary expressed per hour. Hourly framing matters most for contract or part-time work, comparing a 1099 rate to a salaried offer, or valuing overtime in seasonal non-exempt roles.
How to read these numbers
National, state, and metro pay comes straight from the federal wage measurement for accountants & auditors — direct and source-backed, not scaled from anything.
Role, experience, CPA-license, and employer figures are modeled on top of that measurement and labeled Estimate — the federal data does not break those out, so we never present them as measurements.
Turn an hourly rate into your salary
Set your state, role, and experience in the calculator to see a tailored CPA pay range — annual and hourly — against the verified national benchmark.
Hourly wages: BLS OEWS May 2025 · updated June 2026