Accountant salary
What an accountant actually earns, from 1,314 live job postings blended with the official US OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage anchor. Pick a market for its median and range, then read the seniority split, the trend, and the country comparison below. Updated 2026-09-07.
Switch the market above to see accountant pay in the 6 countries our sources cover, each with its own cost of living. The trend, seniority, and state detail below are United States data, where the official record runs deepest.
What the number means
Accounting pay is steady, which is both its appeal and its ceiling. The middle of US postings sits in a tight band from about 70,000 to 91,000 dollars, with a posted median near 72,000 and an official OEWS median of 81,680 across a 1.4-million-person occupation. That tightness is the point: accounting is a stable, licensed-adjacent profession where pay rises predictably rather than explosively. The people searching this page are often asking a second question behind the first, which is how to break out of the band, and the data has a clear answer. The move into financial analysis, forecasting and strategy rather than recording and compliance, lifts the ceiling by roughly a fifth at entry and more with a CFA (the Chartered Financial Analyst credential). Accounting is the floor you can always stand on; financial analysis is the door out of the band, and it opens with the skills an accountant already holds.
Open accountant roles
Live openings tagged to this occupation, from company career pages and remote boards. Apply at the source.
- COST ACCOUNTANT (ACCELERATED HIRE TITLE 5) at Army National Guard UnitsRaleigh, North Carolina$93k–$122kTodayApply
- STAFF ACCOUNTANT (ACCELERATED HIRE TITLE 5) at Army National Guard UnitsRaleigh, North Carolina$78k–$101kTodayApply
Property Accountant Team Lead at ColliersSydney, AUTodayApply- Comptable Senior at Qualibroker - Swiss Risk Care SAVésenaz, Geneva, Switzerland · RemoteTodayApply
- Accountant 80 – 100% at PNT Trade AGZug, Zug, SwitzerlandTodayApply
- Buchhalter Materialwirtschaft at Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AGBuochs, Nidwalden, SwitzerlandTodayApply
By seniority
Posted-median pay by seniority signal in the title, from our corpus. Noisy at the edges where sample sizes are small.
By country
- United States$74,330$98,191$129,116
- Canada$48,624$54,227$61,457
- United Kingdom$50,695$60,834$74,352
- Ireland$47,315$60,834$67,593
- Australia$58,010$61,253$72,063
- Netherlands$59,925$64,455$81,875
Switzerland · official wage bands
median CHF 9'509/month
Swiss postings do not state pay, so these are not posted salaries: they are the federal wage survey (Lohnstrukturerhebung 2024) for the ISCO group 24 Betriebswirte und vergleichbare Spezialisten: standardized gross monthly, full-time, 13th salary included pro rata. The band covers the whole occupation group, which is coarser than this occupation alone.
Annual ≈ CHF 114'108 at the median. Source: Bundesamt für Statistik, LSE 2024.
Top-paying US states
OEWS median by state, highest first.
- District of Columbia$103,030
- New York$101,780
- New Jersey$101,340
- Massachusetts$96,580
- California$96,360
- Washington$96,180
Roles that pay more, that these skills already reach
Median pay from each destination’s own postings, with the readiness an accountant profile already covers.
- 31 open actuary roles$147,322 median · +$49,131 · 24% readiness
- 159 open financial controller roles$137,907 median · +$39,716 · 83% readiness
- 600 open business analyst roles$122,339 median · +$24,148 · 21% readiness
- 597 open financial analyst roles$112,436 median · +$14,245 · 48% readiness
Every measured move out of this role, ranked by readiness: alternative careers for an accountant.
Is your offer fair?
Run a specific number through FairElephant, which weighs it against this data, your location, and remote market rates.
Move into or out of accountant
- accountant → financial analystmeasured route
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Quick answers
How much do accountants make?
The live-posting US median is about 72,000 dollars, with the official BLS OEWS median at 81,680. The typical range is a tight 70,000 to 91,000.
How can an accountant earn more?
The common move is into financial analysis, which lifts pay by roughly 20 percent at entry and more with a CFA. See the accountant-to-financial-analyst route.
Do accountants or financial analysts make more?
Financial analysts, modestly at entry and more with credentials, because the role is forward-looking and strategic rather than compliance-focused.
Method: bands are the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of live US postings with stated pay, shrunk toward the official OEWS anchor by sample size (the “blended” figure). Trend is the OEWS annual median for SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code 13-2011. Unemployment is the 2025 BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) CPS (Current Population Survey) annual-average rate for “Accountants and auditors.” Live corpus 1,314 observations, 2026-09-07. Definitions in the glossary.