SalaryCPA Research · Research brief
The State of Accountant & CPA Compensation, 2026
A data-driven brief on what accountants earn across the United States — by state, metro, and industry — built on the verified federal wage measurement for Accountants and Auditors (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-2011). Point-in-time snapshot, fully sourced and citable.
National median
$83,680
BLS OEWS May 2025
10th–90th pct
$56K–$144.1K
2.57× spread
Areas measured
51 + 387
states + metros
Industries
52
NAICS cuts
Published June 2026 · Data vintage BLS OEWS May 2025 · Occupation: Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011) · Point-in-time snapshot
Accountant pay in the United States is shaped far more by where and in what industry a professional works than by any single national number. The verified national median sits at $83,680, but the top-paying state leads the lowest by roughly 68%, the top-paying metro leads the lowest by 104%, and the gap between the best- and worst-paying industries is about 71%. This brief maps that geography and industry structure from the federal wage data, then layers a transparent, clearly-labeled estimate of the CPA-license premium and the role ladder on top. It is a point-in-time snapshot of a single OEWS vintage — not a trend series.
Key findings
Nine findings from the 2026 data
Each figure is computed directly from the committed dataset and carries its provenance — a verified BLS measurement, or a clearly-labeled modeled estimate.
- 1Verified
$83,680
National median wage
Half of the 1,449,500 accountants and auditors the BLS counts nationally earn more than $83,680, and half earn less — the verified anchor beneath every figure in this brief.
- 2Verified
2.57×
Top-decile vs bottom-decile pay
The 90th-percentile wage ($144,090) is 2.57× the 10th-percentile wage ($56,020) — an $88,070 spread that reflects how much seniority, specialization, and location move accountant pay.
- 3Verified
68%
Interstate pay gap
District of Columbia leads all states at $111,530 median, about 68% above Arkansas at $66,330. Only 13 of 51 states clear the national median.
- 4Verified
$121,700
Highest-paying metro
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara tops all 387 measured metro areas at $121,700 median — 104% above the lowest-paying metro, a wider spread than the gap between any two states.
- 5Verified
37%
Where a metro beats its state
Parkersburg-Vienna pays 37% above its own state median — evidence that a single high-wage metro (energy, tech, or finance) can detach sharply from the state around it.
- 6Verified
71%
Industry pay gap
Oil and Gas Extraction pays accountants the most at $110,940 median — 71% above the lowest-paying industry. Industry choice moves pay as much as geography does.
- 7Verified
38%
Jobs in the five largest states
The five largest state markets — led by California with 175,360 accountants (12.1% of the national total) — hold 38% of all U.S. accountant jobs.
- 8Est.
+12%
Modeled CPA-license premium
Layering the documented CPA-license multiplier on the national baseline lifts the median from $83,680 to about $93,700. This is a modeled estimate — BLS measures accountants and auditors as one occupation and publishes no CPA-specific wage.
- 9Est.
5.0×
Career-ladder pay range (modeled)
A modeled progression runs from about $65,300 for a staff accountant to roughly $326,400 for a Chief Financial Officer — a 5.0× span across a full career. Estimate, modeled from the verified baseline.
The benchmark
The national wage, and what its spread means
The single median hides a wide distribution. The percentile ladder — not the median alone — is the honest way to read accountant pay.
10th pct
$56,020
25th pct
$67,020
Median
$83,680
75th pct
$109,810
90th pct
$144,090
Read the range, not the point. The 90th-percentile accountant earns 2.57× the 10th-percentile accountant — an $88,070 gap on a base of $56,020. Most of that spread is seniority, credential, industry, and metro. The sections below decompose it.
Geography
Where accountants are paid the most
District of Columbia leads all states; Arkansas trails — a spread of about 68%. Only 13 of 51 states clear the national median.
Median accountant pay — highest-paying states
District of Columbia ($111,530) sits about 1.33× the national median.
| Rank | State | Median | P10–P90 | Accountants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $111,530 | $71.5K–$185.2K | 9,810 |
| 2 | New York | $102,640 | $63.7K–$171K | 109,830 |
| 3 | New Jersey | $100,830 | $65.7K–$167.1K | 42,250 |
| 4 | Massachusetts | $99,460 | $70.5K–$160.1K | 46,230 |
| 5 | Connecticut | $97,550 | $64.2K–$156.7K | 16,770 |
| 6 | California | $97,050 | $61.8K–$160.5K | 175,360 |
| 7 | Colorado | $97,030 | $60.8K–$162.2K | 35,410 |
| 8 | Washington | $96,550 | $66.3K–$152.3K | 34,740 |
| 9 | Rhode Island | $95,820 | $59.9K–$150.3K | 6,570 |
| 10 | Delaware | $95,020 | $60.5K–$132.6K | 6,570 |
Metro markets
The metro spread is wider than the state spread
Across 387 measured metros, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara leads at $121,700 — 104% above the lowest metro. A single high-wage metro can pull far away from the state around it.
| Metro | Median | Accountants |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $121,700 | 13,180 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $110,730 | 25,170 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY | $105,650 | 111,930 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC | $102,140 | 41,470 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $102,020 | 5,000 |
| Midland, TX | $100,890 | 1,240 |
| Parkersburg-Vienna, WV | $100,420 | 550 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA | $100,150 | 37,150 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $100,020 | 22,720 |
| Boulder, CO | $99,990 | 2,380 |
Metros that most outpace their own state
- Parkersburg-Vienna, WV+37% vs state
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA+25% vs state
- Midland, TX+25% vs state
- Midland, MI+16% vs state
- Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR+16% vs state
- Carson City, NV+15% vs state
Metro median compared with its own state median — the concentration effect of energy, tech, and finance hubs.
Industry
Industry moves pay as much as geography
Oil and Gas Extraction pays accountants the most at $110,940 median — about 71% above the lowest-paying industry. 23 of 52 measured industries pay above the national median.
Median accountant pay — highest-paying industries
Oil and Gas Extraction leads at $110,940, roughly 1.33× the all-industry national median.
Pay dispersion
Where the pay ladder is steepest
The ratio of the 90th- to the 10th-percentile wage measures how unequal — or how full of upside — a state's accountant market is. A high ratio means a long climb from entry to top pay.
| State | P10 | P90 | P90/P10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | $47.7K | $155.5K | 3.26× |
| Georgia | $51.8K | $146K | 2.82× |
| North Carolina | $53.6K | $146.1K | 2.73× |
| Utah | $48.8K | $131.6K | 2.70× |
| New York | $63.7K | $171K | 2.68× |
| State | P10 | P90 | P90/P10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | $61.2K | $115.5K | 1.89× |
| Vermont | $59.8K | $118.8K | 1.99× |
| Oregon | $62.6K | $130.7K | 2.09× |
| Alaska | $57.7K | $125.8K | 2.18× |
| New Hampshire | $59.9K | $131.1K | 2.19× |
Where the jobs are
Accountant employment is highly concentrated
The five largest state markets hold 38% of all U.S. accountant jobs. Pay and opportunity are not the same map — the biggest markets are not always the highest-paying.
Share of the 1,449,500 accountants and auditors BLS counts nationally. BLS OEWS May 2025.
Modeled estimate
The CPA-license premium and the role ladder
This section leaves verified measurement behind. BLS does not publish a CPA-specific or role-specific wage, so everything below is modeled from the verified national baseline via documented multipliers — and labeled as an estimate.
These are estimates, not measurements. The CPA license adds a modeled +12% to the baseline — lifting the median from $83,680 to about $93,700 — and the role figures scale the national median by each role’s multiplier. They sharpen as verified salary submissions accumulate.
Modeled pay by role — staff to CFO
A modeled career span of about 5.0× — from $65,300 (Staff Accountant) to $326,400 (Chief Financial Officer).
The data
Summary table & downloadable dataset
The headline figures behind this brief, in one place — plus the verified national dataset, free and machine-readable, so you can cite and re-analyze it yourself.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| National median | $83,680 | BLS OEWS (verified) |
| National 10th–90th pct | $56,020 – $144,090 | BLS OEWS (verified) |
| Highest state (District of Columbia) | $111,530 | BLS OEWS (verified) |
| Lowest state (Arkansas) | $66,330 | BLS OEWS (verified) |
| Interstate gap | 68% | BLS OEWS (verified) |
| Highest metro (San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara) | $121,700 | BLS OEWS (verified) |
| Metro gap | 104% | BLS OEWS (verified) |
| Top industry (Oil and Gas Extraction) | $110,940 | BLS OEWS (verified) |
| Industry gap | 71% | BLS OEWS (verified) |
| Five-state employment share | 38% | BLS OEWS (verified) |
| CPA-license premium | +12% | Modeled (estimate) |
| Role ladder span (staff→CFO) | 5.0× | Modeled (estimate) |
Only the verified national record is exported. State, metro, and industry figures shown here are verified BLS measurements too, but are out of scope for this national-only file; role and CPA-premium figures are modeled estimates and are never exported as data.
Attribution
How to cite this report
SalaryCPA Research. "The State of Accountant & CPA Compensation, 2026." SalaryCPA, June 2026. Analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS May 2025), Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011). https://www.salarycpa.com/research/cpa-compensation-report-2026
- Canonical URL
- https://www.salarycpa.com/research/cpa-compensation-report-2026
- Underlying source
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 — Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011). View source
Journalists and analysts are welcome to quote the figures above with attribution. Verified figures are public-domain BLS data; the analysis and modeled estimates are SalaryCPA Research.
Methodology & data
How this report was built
Verified figures are direct BLS measurements
National, state, metro, and industry wages are the BLS OEWS May 2025 measurement for Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011) — 50 states plus DC, 387 metros, and 52 NAICS industry cuts. Nothing is scaled or interpolated.
BLS measures accountants, not CPAs
BLS publishes the broad occupation "Accountants and Auditors." It does not publish a CPA-specific wage. Every verified figure here is that broad-occupation measurement; CPAs are a licensed subset who typically earn above these medians.
Estimates are modeled and labeled
The CPA-license premium (+12%) and the staff-to-CFO role ladder are modeled from the verified national median via documented multipliers. They are labeled "Estimate" everywhere they appear and are never exported as data.
A snapshot, not a trend
This brief draws on a single OEWS vintage, so it reports levels and cross-sectional gaps — not year-over-year change. Reporting a trend honestly requires two comparable vintages, which we do not claim to have.
Explore the underlying data
Report FAQ
- What is the median salary for accountants in 2026?
- The verified national median wage for accountants and auditors is $83,680, per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 13-2011). The middle 50% earn between $67,020 and $109,810, and the 10th-to-90th-percentile range runs $56,020 to $144,090.
- Which state pays accountants the most?
- District of Columbia has the highest measured median at $111,530, followed by the other top states in this brief. The lowest is Arkansas at $66,330 — an interstate gap of about 68%. These are direct BLS OEWS May 2025 measurements.
- Which industry pays accountants the most?
- Oil and Gas Extraction pays the highest measured median for accountants and auditors at $110,940, about 71% above the lowest-paying industry (Accommodation). 23 of 52 measured industries pay above the national median.
- Does this report measure CPA salaries specifically?
- No. The BLS measures the broad occupation "Accountants and Auditors" (SOC 13-2011); it does not publish a CPA-specific wage. All national, state, metro, and industry figures in this brief are that broad-occupation measurement. The CPA-license premium and the role ladder are clearly labeled modeled estimates layered on top of the verified baseline — CPAs are a licensed subset who typically earn above these medians.
- Is there a year-over-year trend in this report?
- No. This is a point-in-time snapshot built on a single OEWS vintage (May 2025). We do not report year-over-year change here because doing so honestly requires two comparable vintages; presenting one as a trend would misrepresent the data.
- How do I cite this report?
- SalaryCPA Research. "The State of Accountant & CPA Compensation, 2026." SalaryCPA, June 2026. Analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS May 2025), Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011). https://www.salarycpa.com/research/cpa-compensation-report-2026
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.
Model your own number against the benchmark
This brief is the market map. Set your role, experience, and license in the calculator to see where you land on it.