CPA role guide
Staff Accountant Salary: Entry-Level Pay
What staff accountants earn starting out, how quickly pay moves in the first few years, and what the CPA license and the jump to senior are worth.
Modeled estimate · scaled from the verified national pay benchmark
Last updated June 2026 · Baseline: BLS OEWS (SOC 13-2011)
How much does a staff accountant make?
Verified baseline: OEWS May 2025 — Accountants and Auditors (13-2011). Role and credential figures are modeled estimates layered on top and are labeled Estimate.
Estimated median
$65,300
Modeled median for Staff Accountant from the verified national benchmark.
Model your payvs. national median
-22.0%
How this role compares to all accountants & auditors nationally.
Pay by roleEntry → senior growth
1.7×
Estimated pay scales about 1.7× from 0–1 yrs to 20+ yrs.
By experienceNational · Accountants & auditors
Verified$40.23/hr median hourly · $94,750 average
By role
Pay by role and level
Estimated median pay for each level on this track, scaled from the BLS national median.
Pay by role (national)
Estimated pay spans $65,300 (Staff Accountant) to $163,200 (Controller) across the levels shown.
| Role / level | Low | Est. median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $163,200 | ||
| Accounting Manager | $118,800 | ||
| Senior Accountant | $85,400 | ||
| Staff Accountant | $65,300 |
Role multipliers applied to the BLS national median for Accountants & Auditors. The low–high band is a modeled typical range, not a guaranteed offer.
Experience
How pay scales with experience
Estimated median pay across experience bands for this track.
Median by experience band
Estimated median pay roughly 1.7× from 0–1 yrs to 20+ yrs as experience compounds.
| Experience | Est. median | CPA-licensed (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| 0–1 years | $56,100 | $62,800 |
| 2–4 years | $62,700 | $70,200 |
| 5–7 years | $70,500 | $79,000 |
| 8–12 years | $78,300 | $87,700 |
| 13–20 years | $86,200 | $96,500 |
| 20+ years | $92,700 | $103,800 |
Experience multipliers on the area median; CPA column adds a modeled +12% credential premium.
The role
What a staff accountant does
Staff accountants handle reconciliations, journal entries, accruals, and close support. The work is the foundation of every accounting function: getting transactions recorded correctly and the books closed on schedule.
It is a training seat by design. Most staff accountants are learning the close cycle, the ERP, and the controls environment — and being evaluated on accuracy and reliability more than judgment.
The path
How fast pay moves early
The first three to five years are the steepest part of the accounting pay curve in percentage terms. Moving from staff to senior accountant carries a meaningful step up, and it is typically the fastest promotion available on the track.
Two things accelerate it: passing the CPA exam, and getting exposure beyond routine close work — technical accounting, systems, or audit interaction. Staff accountants who stay purely transactional tend to plateau.
By state
Staff Accountant Salary by state
Estimated pay for this role in the top-paying states — the role multiplier applied to each state's verified BLS wage. Every figure is a modeled Estimate, since BLS does not break pay out by role. Open a state for its full local guide.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does a staff accountant make?
- A staff accountant estimate is around $65,300 median nationally, with a typical range of $52,300–$85,700+. This is a modeled estimate: BLS publishes a wage for accountants and auditors overall, not for the staff level specifically.
- Is staff accountant an entry-level job?
- Yes. Staff accountant is the standard entry-level title on the industry accounting track, typically filled by recent accounting graduates or by people moving over from public accounting associate roles.
- Do you need a CPA to be a staff accountant?
- No. Most staff accountant roles require an accounting degree, not a license. Many staff accountants are CPA-eligible and sitting for the exam — the license matters much more for the senior, manager, and controller steps above.
- Staff accountant vs. senior accountant — what is the gap?
- The senior accountant estimate is around $85,400 versus $65,300 for staff. The senior owns the close rather than supporting it, prepares financials, and reviews staff work. Both figures are modeled estimates.
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.
See your personal estimate
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