Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks salary

SOC 43-3031 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$50,670

per year, nationally

Middle half

$43,520–$61,470

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

1.4M

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-5.8%

170,000 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$36,000$74,550

10th: $36,000
25th: $43,520
Median: $50,670
75th: $61,470
90th: $74,550

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Some college, no degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$65,180	109.9	1,790	0.29×
2	Connecticut	$59,970	103.6	14,930	1.00×
3	Massachusetts	$59,830	105.8	29,110	0.91×
4	California	$59,230	110.7	151,870	0.94×
5	Washington	$58,620	107.0	32,930	1.05×
6	New Jersey	$58,300	108.8	37,550	0.99×
7	New York	$58,160	107.9	84,280	0.98×
8	Alaska	$56,430	102.4	4,580	1.59×
9	Vermont	$54,720	98.0	2,950	1.10×
10	Minnesota	$54,600	98.6	26,850	1.03×
11	Oregon	$54,060	103.4	21,710	1.25×
12	Colorado	$54,000	103.1	26,140	1.03×
13	Maryland	$53,540	105.0	18,170	0.74×
14	Rhode Island	$53,280	102.3	4,570	1.03×
15	New Hampshire	$52,450	104.2	7,180	1.19×
16	Delaware	$51,780	99.8	4,600	1.07×
17	Virginia	$51,620	101.1	31,990	0.88×
18	Arizona	$50,590	100.7	22,690	0.79×
19	Maine	$50,510	97.0	7,390	1.31×
20	Nevada	$50,380	100.0	15,180	1.11×
21	Wisconsin	$50,340	94.1	25,960	1.00×
22	North Dakota	$49,710	89.0	4,290	1.13×
23	Illinois	$49,560	100.0	51,470	0.96×
24	Utah	$49,440	98.9	12,650	0.82×
25	Georgia	$49,350	96.3	38,700	0.90×
26	Florida	$49,330	103.4	88,670	1.01×
27	Michigan	$48,980	96.2	37,550	0.97×
28	Texas	$48,910	97.1	122,400	0.98×
29	Ohio	$48,810	92.8	45,140	0.92×
30	Hawaii	$48,730	110.0	5,220	0.94×
31	Pennsylvania	$48,440	97.6	48,920	0.91×
32	Idaho	$48,310	95.5	9,540	1.26×
33	Iowa	$48,180	87.8	14,020	1.02×
34	Tennessee	$48,180	91.9	37,680	1.30×
35	New Mexico	$48,080	92.2	7,780	1.01×
36	Missouri	$47,990	90.8	21,400	0.83×
37	South Carolina	$47,940	93.7	19,980	0.98×
38	North Carolina	$47,930	94.3	48,760	1.12×
39	Wyoming	$47,910	92.7	3,480	1.40×
40	Indiana	$47,820	93.3	29,910	1.06×
41	Kansas	$47,290	90.1	15,380	1.21×
42	Montana	$47,270	94.6	6,980	1.54×
43	Nebraska	$47,110	90.1	10,050	1.11×
44	Kentucky	$46,550	90.2	23,480	1.33×
45	South Dakota	$46,340	88.6	10,200	2.52×
46	Oklahoma	$46,180	87.8	16,490	1.09×
47	Louisiana	$44,890	88.2	18,980	1.11×
48	Alabama	$44,640	88.8	19,890	1.07×
49	West Virginia	$42,890	89.5	7,620	1.23×
50	Arkansas	$42,840	86.9	12,510	1.09×
51	Mississippi	$42,840	87.0	12,160	1.18×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$66,130	110.4	7,590	0.76×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$65,530	115.6	18,100	0.86×
3	New Haven, CT	$62,890	104.6	2,900	1.17×
4	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$61,960	109.9	1,120	1.29×
5	Napa, CA	$61,710	112.6	700	1.02×
6	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$61,390	106.9	3,710	1.04×
7	Vallejo, CA	$61,180	108.5	1,040	0.82×
8	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$61,140	107.8	2,040	1.13×
9	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$60,960	108.3	21,170	0.89×
10	Barnstable Town, MA	$60,680	98.4	990	1.19×
11	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$60,640	112.6	77,010	0.92×
12	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$60,460	111.1	17,860	0.97×
13	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$60,170	108.8	1,900	1.07×
14	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$59,470	102.7	4,660	0.88×
15	Fairbanks-College, AK	$59,320	103.2	470	1.45×
16	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$59,290	108.9	18,550	0.67×
17	Salinas, CA	$59,180	109.0	1,270	0.77×
18	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$59,020	102.4	560	1.21×
19	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$58,590	113.6	53,910	0.97×
20	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$58,590	105.6	780	0.94×
21	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$58,580	111.9	12,830	0.94×
22	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$58,570	108.6	1,070	0.99×
23	Rochester, MN	$58,350	90.8	790	0.72×
24	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$58,020	103.2	1,470	0.69×
25	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$57,790	104.8	16,510	0.96×
26	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$57,670	110.5	3,250	1.14×
27	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$57,530	100.4	910	0.82×
28	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$57,510	105.8	14,100	0.99×
29	Boulder, CO	$57,330	105.2	1,440	0.85×
30	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$57,290	100.1	1,070	0.94×
31	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$57,040	105.4	12,170	1.14×
32	Bellingham, WA	$57,000	103.3	1,140	1.42×
33	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$56,840	106.7	8,680	0.91×
34	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$56,690	100.9	1,020	0.97×
35	Longview-Kelso, WA	$56,620	97.5	490	1.36×
36	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$56,430	100.2	490	0.84×
37	Worcester, MA	$56,350	102.5	2,780	0.90×
38	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$56,250	105.1	2,080	0.81×
39	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$56,130	109.4	2,530	1.06×
40	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$56,100	99.8	1,440	1.02×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks earn the most

Best paying metro areas for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

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