Accountant and auditor salary: what accountants earn and how a CPA affects pay

If you are weighing an accounting offer, planning your CPA, or wondering whether your current salary is fair, start with this number: accountants and auditors earned a median of $83,680 a year in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This guide shows you where that figure comes from, how far pay stretches by industry and state, where a CPA license fits, and how to use the data to benchmark an offer.

Quick reference

All figures below are for SOC code 13-2011, Accountants and Auditors, from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey unless noted.

What accountants and auditors earn nationally

The median is the middle of the pack: half of accountants and auditors earned more than $83,680 in May 2025 and half earned less. For comparison, the median for all US occupations was $50,980, and for the broader group BLS calls financial specialists it was $84,680, per the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.

The mean, or simple average, was higher at $94,750. That gap is normal for professional jobs. A smaller group of very well paid people pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical accountant takes home.

Who sits inside this code matters when you compare yourself to it. BLS groups public accountants, corporate or management accountants, government accountants, external and internal auditors, IT auditors and forensic accountants together. The OEWS survey counts wage and salary workers only, which is why it shows 1,449,500 jobs while BLS puts total employment, including the self-employed, at about 1.6 million in 2025.

The pay range and what top earners have in common

Percentiles tell you how spread out pay is. The 10th percentile is the point where 10% of workers earn less; the 90th percentile is the point where only 10% earn more.

For accountants and auditors in May 2025:

• 10th percentile: $56,020
• 25th percentile: $67,020
• Median: $83,680
• 75th percentile: $109,810
• 90th percentile: $144,090

So the top tenth earns more than two and a half times what the bottom tenth earns. That is a wide range, and it is the honest answer to "what do accountants make": it depends heavily on where you work and how senior you are.

BLS does not publish pay by credential, specialty or years of experience, so nobody can tell you from official data exactly what puts someone at the 90th percentile. What the published data does show is that the top of the range clusters in a few places:

• High-cost, finance-heavy locations. In the District of Columbia the 90th percentile was $185,220, well above the national $144,090.
• Certain industries. Finance and insurance had a higher median than accounting firms or government (see the industry section below).
• Seniority, up to a point. As accountants move into running teams, many are reclassified out of this code entirely. Controllers and finance directors usually fall under financial managers, a separate occupation with a May 2025 median of $166,570. That is why the accountant 90th percentile looks lower than you might expect: the highest earners with accounting backgrounds often show up in a different row.

Base salary vs total compensation

OEWS figures are close to base pay. Under BLS methodology, OEWS wages include base rate and items like commissions and production bonuses, but leave out overtime pay, shift differentials, non-production bonuses (such as year-end discretionary bonuses) and the cost of benefits. Your real package can be meaningfully different from the number on the table.

Things to price in when you compare offers:

• Busy-season hours and overtime. BLS notes that longer hours are typical during quarterly audits and tax season. Many salaried accountants are classified as exempt from overtime under federal law, so extra hours may be unpaid. Some firms pay overtime to junior staff or offer busy-season bonuses. Ask which applies to you.
• Annual bonus. Common in corporate and financial services roles. BLS does not publish bonus data for this occupation.
• CPA exam support. BLS notes that employers may pay the costs associated with the CPA exam. Some also give paid study time or a raise or one-time bonus when you pass. Get it in writing.
• Tuition help. Useful if you still need extra credit hours to qualify for licensure.
• Retirement match and health premiums. These can be worth thousands a year and differ a lot between employers, especially between government and private firms.
• Remote or hybrid work. BLS says most accountants work in offices but some work from home. A fully remote role can change how you weigh a location-based number.

When an offer letter lists only base salary, ask for the full picture before you compare it to a median.

Pay by industry: public accounting, government, finance and corporate

Here are the May 2025 OEWS medians for accountants and auditors in the largest employing industries, as published in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.

A few things to read into this:

• Public accounting has the lowest median of the four, but that is not the whole story. Accounting firms are the biggest employer of accountants and hire a lot of new graduates, which pulls the median down. Firms are also where the partner track sits, and partner pay is not captured well by a wage survey.
• Corporate and financial-sector roles pay more at the middle. Banks, insurers and company headquarters often hire people after a few years of firm experience, so the median reflects a more experienced group.
• Government sits close to the national median. Public-sector pay is usually set by published pay scales, which makes it more predictable and harder to negotiate, but benefits and pensions can close part of the gap. Check the specific agency's pay table for your level.

Specialty (tax, audit, forensic, IT audit). BLS treats these as types of accountants and auditors and does not publish separate wages for them. In practice, specialties that need scarce skills, such as IT audit or forensic work that leads to expert testimony, tend to command more, but treat that as a direction, not a number. If a job posting includes a pay range, that is your best evidence for a specific specialty.

Top-paying states and metro areas

Location moves pay more than almost anything else. In May 2025, only 13 of the 50 states plus DC had a median above the national $83,680.

Some of the largest accounting job markets sit below the national median:

At the low end, Arkansas ($66,330), Mississippi ($68,100) and Nebraska ($72,080) had the lowest state medians.

Weighing pay against cost of living. A higher median does not always mean more money left over. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes regional price parities, which compare price levels across states and metro areas; use them to check how far a salary goes before you relocate for one. This article does not apply a cost-of-living adjustment, so treat the state figures as raw pay.

Metro areas. Pay inside a state can vary a lot between a big city and the rest of the state. BLS publishes May 2025 metro-level wages for this occupation in its OEWS profiles; start from the OEWS May 2025 occupation profiles, choose Accountants and Auditors, and look at the metropolitan area table for your city. Small metros sometimes have thin samples, so a figure may be suppressed or less reliable.

How CPA licensure fits in

A CPA license is not required to work as an accountant, but it is required for some of the work that sits at the top of the profession. According to BLS, anyone submitting reports to the SEC needs a CPA license, and publicly traded companies need a CPA's signature on their annual and quarterly SEC filings.

There is no official CPA pay premium figure. BLS does not publish wages split by license status, so any precise "CPAs earn X% more" claim comes from private surveys. What you can say with confidence:

• Signing audit opinions and moving toward partner in public accounting generally requires a license.
• Many senior corporate roles, such as controller, list a CPA as required or preferred.
• BLS says certification "may improve job prospects" and gives you an advantage in the job market.

In practice, the license tends to widen your options more than it bumps a single paycheck, which is why the biggest pay effect often shows up at your next job change or promotion rather than the day you pass.

Who sets the rules. CPAs are licensed by each state's board of accountancy, not by a national body. BLS describes the long-standing requirement as passing the national Uniform CPA Exam, meeting state requirements, and completing 150 semester hours of college coursework, 30 more than a typical four-year degree, with a few states allowing public accounting experience to substitute. Several states have recently changed their education and experience rules, so do not rely on older summaries. Find your board through NASBA's directory of state boards of accountancy and read its current requirements before you plan coursework.

Other credentials. Depending on your path, certifications such as the CMA (management accounting), CIA (internal audit), CISA (IT audit) or CFE (fraud examination) can signal specialist skill. BLS points readers to CareerOneStop for information on certifications.

Typical progression. BLS describes two main ladders:

• Public accounting: staff accountant, then senior, supervisor, manager and partner, or opening your own firm.
• Corporate (management) accounting: cost accountant or junior internal auditor, then accounting manager, budget director or internal audit manager, and potentially controller, treasurer or CFO.

Moving from public accounting into corporate roles is common; going the other way is less so, according to BLS.

Related roles: financial analysts, tax examiners and budget analysts compared

If you are deciding between accounting and a nearby career, or thinking about a switch, here is how May 2025 national pay compares.

How to read it:

• Tax examiners and revenue agents work mainly for government, and their median is well below accountants'. If you like tax work and want higher pay, private-sector tax roles are usually the stronger financial bet.
• Budget analysts have a higher median but a narrower range than accountants.
• Financial and investment analysts earn more at the middle and the top, but the work and hiring paths differ.
• Financial managers are where many experienced accountants end up. Their pay shows the ceiling an accounting background can lead to.

How to benchmark an accounting offer

Use these steps before you accept or counter.

1. Pick the right comparison. Use your state, or better your metro area, not the national figure. Check that the job is really an accountant or auditor role and not a bookkeeping or management role.
2. Place the offer on the percentiles. Is it near the 10th, 25th, median or 75th for your area? New graduates commonly start in the lower part of the range; a senior with a license and a specialty should be aiming at or above the middle.
3. Price the whole package. Add bonus, CPA support, overtime policy and benefits. Two offers with the same base can be thousands apart.
4. Check the posted range. A growing number of states and cities, including Colorado, California, Washington, New York and Illinois, require many employers to share pay ranges in job postings or on request. If a range was posted, ask where in it you fall and why.
5. Decide your number and your reason. Pick a target with one or two pieces of evidence behind it.

Example (hypothetical): You have two years of experience and have passed two CPA exam sections. A company in Texas offers you a salary just above $65,560, the state's 25th percentile in May 2025. The Texas median was $80,920, so the offer sits near the bottom quarter of the market. Given your experience and progress toward a license, asking for something closer to the middle is reasonable, though there is no guarantee the employer will move.

A short script you could use:

"Thanks, I'm excited about the role. Based on BLS data for accountants in Texas and my two years of audit experience, I was expecting something closer to the state median. Is there flexibility on base, or could we add a bonus when I finish the CPA exam?"

If base will not move, ask for something else that has real value:

"I understand the base is set. Could you cover my remaining exam fees and commit to a salary review when I'm licensed?"

At review time after you pass the CPA exam:

"Since I'm now licensed, I can sign off on work that needed a reviewer before. I'd like to talk about moving my pay toward the middle of the market range for our area."

Keep the conversation about the job and the market data, not your personal expenses.

What to do next

• Look up your state, and if possible your metro area, in the BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimates or the occupation profile, and note the 25th, median and 75th percentile figures.
• Ask any employer that makes an offer for the full package in writing: base, bonus, overtime policy, CPA support and benefits.
• If you are not licensed yet, read your state board's current CPA rules before signing up for extra coursework.
• Revisit your numbers when BLS publishes its next OEWS release, usually each spring.

For more pay guides, browse salaries by role or brush up on negotiation.