Texas · Salary guide
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX CPA Salary
CPA and accountant pay across the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro — percentiles and role-by-role estimates vs the national benchmark.
Median CPA pay · Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro
$83,120
Midpoint for accountants & auditors
Typical range
$68.3K–$103.8K
Middle 50% (25th–75th percentile)
Top earners
$130.1K+
90th percentile and above
vs. national
-0.7%
Texas · vs U.S. median
Verified BLS wage benchmark for the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro · updated June 2026
How much does a CPA make in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos?
The verified BLS wage measurement for accountants and auditors in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro. The CPA-license premium layered on top is a labeled estimate.
vs. the U.S. benchmark
-0.7%
The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro vs the national median and +2.7% vs Texas statewide.
Texas guideLicensed CPA · modeled
$93,100
A modeled ~12% credential premium on the local median — the license consistently pays more.
What the license is worthTop earners · 90th pct
$130.1K+
The BLS-measured 90th percentile for accountants in this metro — model your own with your role and experience.
Model your payAustin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro
verified local median
$83,120
-0.7%Texas statewide
verified state median
$80,920
-3.3%National benchmark
verified
$83,680
base
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos runs -0.7% vs the national median and +2.7% vs Texas statewide. All three are direct BLS wage measurements for accountants and auditors at their own area level.
Cost of living
Real pay in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
What the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos median actually buys once local prices are accounted for. Nominal pay is the verified BLS figure; the buying-power view divides it by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity (2024) for the metro.
Nominal
$83.1K
Price level
98.1/100
Real pay
$84.7K
Local prices run 2% below the national average, so some of that pay is absorbed by higher local costs — Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos slips 41 places once adjusted for buying power.
Real pay · BEA-adjustedA high nominal salary in an expensive metro can buy less than a smaller salary in a low-cost one. Real pay reorders the map by buying power — but it is not take-home pay: it excludes taxes, benefits, and housing choices.
See real pay across all metros →Best ways to use this page
- 1View percentiles
Find your percentile
See where your pay sits across the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos range, from entry level to top earners.
- 2See pay by role
Check your role
Pay climbs steeply from staff to controller. See the estimate for your title in this metro.
- 3Open the calculator
Model your own number
Set role, experience, license, and employer for a tailored estimate — equity and bonus broken out.
- 4Submit your pay
Add your salary
Anonymous, two minutes. Submissions are how role- and employer-level pay becomes real data.
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro · Accountants & auditors
Verified$39.96/hr median hourly · $91,300 average
Percentiles · Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
Verified| Percentile | Annual | Hourly | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $57,660 | $27.72/hr | Entry-level / lower pay |
| 25th percentile | $68,250 | $32.81/hr | Below median |
| Median (50th) | $83,120 | $39.96/hr | Typical pay |
| 75th percentile | $103,820 | $49.91/hr | Experienced / senior |
| 90th percentile | $130,130 | $62.56/hr | Top earners |
By role
CPA roles in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
Median estimates by role, scaled to the metro wage level.
Median pay by role
In the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro, estimated pay runs from $118,000 (Accounting Manager) to $324,200 (Chief Financial Officer) — about 2.7× across the ladder.
| Role / level | Low | Est. median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Financial Officer | $324,200 | ||
| Partner | $299,200 | ||
| Director of Finance | $203,600 | ||
| Senior Manager | $170,400 | ||
| Controller | $162,100 | ||
| Tax Manager | $128,800 | ||
| Audit Manager | $128,800 | ||
| Accounting Manager | $118,000 | ||
| Audit Senior | $91,400 | ||
| Tax Senior | $89,800 | ||
| Senior Accountant | $84,800 | ||
| Audit Associate | $69,000 | ||
| Tax Associate | $68,200 | ||
| Staff Accountant | $64,800 |
Role multipliers applied to the BLS national median for Accountants & Auditors. The low–high band is a modeled typical range, not a guaranteed offer.
By experience
CPA pay by experience in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
The metro median scaled across experience bands, with the modeled CPA-license premium. Estimate.
| Experience | Est. median | CPA-licensed (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| 0–1 years | $71,500 | $80,100 |
| 2–4 years | $79,800 | $89,400 |
| 5–7 years | $89,800 | $100,600 |
| 8–12 years | $99,700 | $111,700 |
| 13–20 years | $109,700 | $122,900 |
| 20+ years | $118,000 | $132,200 |
Experience multipliers on the area median; CPA column adds a modeled +12% credential premium.
By employer
CPA pay by employer type in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
Big 4, national, regional, and local firms vs. industry — at a manager-level base on the metro median. Estimate.
| Employer type | Est. manager-level pay | vs. industry |
|---|---|---|
| Big 4 firm | $144,300 | +7.7% |
| National firm | $135,300 | +1.0% |
| Regional firm | $126,300 | -5.7% |
| Local firm | $118,500 | -11.6% |
| Industry / corporate | $134,000 | — |
Employer-type multipliers applied at a manager-level base on the BLS national median.
What affects pay
What drives CPA pay in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
The same factors move pay within a metro. Use the calculator to model your own.
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos market
Austin has become a fast-growing technology and corporate-relocation hub, and as Texas’s capital it also carries a large government and university base. With no state income tax, take-home pay can stretch further than the headline figure suggests.
Cost of labor
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos wages track the local cost of living and employer competition — denser, higher-cost metros pay above the statewide median.
Employer mix
Big 4 and national firms pay a brand premium; regional/local firms and government pay below industry roles at the same level.
Role & experience
Pay roughly doubles from staff to controller. The CPA license adds a modeled premium and unlocks senior roles.
Remote & hybrid
Remote roles can pay to a national band rather than the local one, widening access to higher-paying employers.
How to use these figures
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro figures here are a direct BLS wage measurement — but they cover accountants and auditors as a single occupation, so they are not specific to the CPA license, your role, or your employer. Use them as a local baseline, then model your own situation and submit a salary to sharpen the employer-level detail BLS does not publish.
Other metros
Compare nearby metro pay
CPA pay across other major metros — large, high-cost areas pay the strongest.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does a CPA make in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos?
- The median accountant/auditor wage in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro is about $83,120 (-0.7% vs national). Licensed CPAs generally earn above this baseline.
- Does Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos pay more than the rest of Texas?
- Large metros like Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos typically pay above their statewide median due to higher cost of living and a denser concentration of large employers and public-accounting firms.
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.
Add your Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos salary
BLS measures the occupation, not your role, firm, or license. Submissions are what add that layer. Anonymous and quick.