Occupation salary profile

Accountants and Auditors

SOC 13-2011 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others. Install or advise on systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data. Excludes “Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents” (13-2081).

National median · BLS
$83,680
▲ +2.45% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$95,366
▲ +2.3% YoY · 7,658 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$94,750
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
1,449,500
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Accountants and Auditors

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 7,658 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$56,020$62,000
25th$67,020$75,000
Median (50th)$83,680$95,366
75th$109,810$124,548
90th — top pay$144,090$158,462
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $95,366 for Accountants and Auditors — 14% above the BLS national median of $83,680.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Accountants and Auditors

BLS projects employment of accountants and auditors to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 115,300 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
1,595,200 → 1,674,600
+79,400 jobs
Projected change
+5%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
115,300
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
5.5% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $95,366
Change vs prior year +2.3%
After inflation (CPI-U) -0.8%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 2,250 29.4% $60,761 $70,000 $78,000
Level II 2,854 37.3% $82,763 $95,056 $108,243
Level III 1,252 16.3% $110,000 $133,300 $150,000
Level IV 1,140 14.9% $123,300 $150,386 $180,003
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Accountants and Auditors

The 50 most-filed job titles inside SOC 13-2011, from 7,658 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Accountants and Auditor 1,751 22.86% $97,011 $115,071 $145,712 +7.69%
Accountant 992 12.95% $61,526 $73,085 $89,925 +2.36%
Staff Accountant 371 4.84% $61,526 $70,000 $76,159 +1.98%
Associate generic 303 3.96% $78,524 $93,000 $110,000 +1.09%
Tax Consultant 296 3.87% $61,526 $71,136 $79,498 +13.62%
Tax 242 3.16% $82,153 $96,470 $106,625 +12.35%
Audit & Assurance Assistant 239 3.12% $64,500 $73,700 $79,948 +17.72%
Tax Manager 208 2.72% $117,881 $140,000 $152,152 +12.91%
Manager generic 196 2.56% $137,875 $151,750 $177,000 +3.91%
Financial Analyst 164 2.14% $88,796 $101,899 $124,500 -2.77%
Audit Associate 130 1.7% $75,000 $87,000 $96,948 +6.1%
Accounting Manager 96 1.25% $85,500 $110,507 $130,500 -3.91%
Tax Associate 94 1.23% $74,630 $83,750 $99,750 -0.3%
Audit & Assurance Manager 88 1.15% $116,208 $127,824 $141,378 +11.97%
Auditor 71 0.93% $70,900 $78,891 $92,748 +4.85%
Audit Manager 70 0.91% $117,541 $126,882 $143,026 +5.74%
Audit & Assurance 64 0.84% $78,978 $87,500 $96,491 +3.23%
Audit & Assurance in-Charge 62 0.81% $77,439 $88,414 $97,406 +9.85%
Assurance Associate 57 0.74% $76,045 $83,500 $96,450 -5.52%
Tax Accountant 49 0.64% $71,136 $79,914 $97,406 -12.18%
Audit 35 0.46% $48,100 $48,500 $78,000 +4.75%
Internal Auditor 33 0.43% $88,400 $95,000 $115,000 +2.1%
Assurance Manager 31 0.4% $116,145 $122,000 $132,000 +1.88%
Accounting Analyst 27 0.35% $64,200 $72,000 $94,676 -4.11%
Director generic 27 0.35% $152,000 $203,700 $230,000 +15.08%
Accounting Specialist 26 0.34% $60,000 $70,000 $75,784 +2.94%
Vice President generic 26 0.34% $118,250 $165,750 $184,000 +0.45%
Cost Accountant 23 0.3% $60,785 $66,000 $91,436 -9.59%
Financial Accountant 22 0.29% $67,420 $79,074 $99,355 +0.15%
Accounting Associate 21 0.27% $67,538 $75,000 $88,000 +10.44%
Analyst, Business Audit 20 0.26% $81,050 $87,500 $91,425 -0.74%
Finance Manager 19 0.25% $94,578 $113,568 $139,050 +18.13%
Tax Analyst 19 0.25% $81,946 $96,117 $101,899 -5.16%
Fund Controller 18 0.24% $87,750 $91,750 $95,962 -18.7%
Staff Auditor 17 0.22% $57,500 $65,998 $79,472 -5.72%
Manager, Finance 16 0.21% $109,153 $139,550 $148,500 +0.32%
Controller 16 0.21% $89,000 $100,000 $133,750 -28.54%
Associate Accountant 15 0.2% $67,558 $80,000 $92,726 +11.89%
Manager, Accounting 15 0.2% $132,770 $168,400 $180,300 +22.91%
Associate, Financial Accounting 15 0.2% $98,550 $112,000 $124,900 +1.82%
Corporate Accountant 14 0.18% $87,500 $102,354 $118,750 +20.42%
Consultant generic 14 0.18% $97,000 $101,320 $118,375 +4.45%
Accountant/Auditor 14 0.18% $71,136 $72,067 $94,000 -13.38%
Associate Director generic 14 0.18% $160,000 $184,850 $203,125 +22.17%
Engagement Manager 14 0.18% $119,000 $120,000 $128,116 —
Fund Accountant 13 0.17% $80,000 $95,000 $121,722 -7.99%
Management Accountant 13 0.17% $63,000 $73,075 $78,978 +5.63%
Tax Supervisor 13 0.17% $94,120 $110,000 $119,662 +4.76%
Analyst generic 13 0.17% $56,500 $60,500 $73,500 -18.36%
Account Manager 12 0.16% $68,104 $76,100 $96,250 +8.71%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Accountants and Auditors

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Reading Comprehension3.9
  • Active Listening3.5
  • Complex Problem Solving3.5
  • Critical Thinking3.5
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.5
  • Writing3.5
  • Mathematics3.4
  • Speaking3.4
  • Active Learning3.3
  • Monitoring3.3
Top knowledge areas
  • Economics and Accounting4.4
  • English Language3.6
  • Mathematics3.5
  • Law and Government3.3
  • Administration and Management3.3
  • Customer and Personal Service3.3
  • Administrative3.2
  • Computers and Electronics3.1
Software and technology used
Intuit QuickBooksMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointSAP softwareAdobe AcrobatAlteryx softwareEpic SystemsGoogle DocsGoogle SheetsIBM SPSS StatisticsIntuit TurboTaxMEDITECH softwareMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft ProjectMicrosoft SharePointMicrosoft SQL Server

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What accountants and auditors do

  • Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
  • Process invoices for payment.
  • Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.
  • Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.
  • Prepare adjusting journal entries.
  • Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions.
  • Prepare detailed reports on audit findings.
  • Prepare, analyze, or verify annual reports, financial statements, and other records, using accepted accounting and statistical procedures to assess financial condition and facilitate financial planning.
Also called
AccountantAuditorCPA (Certified Public Accountant)Internal AuditorAccounting OfficerAudit PartnerCost AccountantFinancial AuditorFinancial Reporting AccountantGeneral Accountant
More job titles for this occupation (43)
Account AuditorAccounting AuditorAccounting ConsultantAccounting Methods AnalystAccounting Systems AnalystAuditor in ChargeBank AccountantBudget AccountantBursarCity AuditorCompliance AnalystCompliance AuditorCorporate AccountantCounty AuditorData Processing AuditorField AuditorFinancial AccountantForensic AccountantFund AccountantGeneral Ledger AccountantIndustrial AccountantInformation Systems AuditorInsurance AuditorInventory AccountantInventory AuditorMedical AccountantMedical AuditorMutual Fund AccountantPayroll AuditorProject AccountantProperty AccountantPublic AccountantQC Auditor (Quality Control Auditor)Railroad AccountantRailroad AuditorRevenue AccountantStaff AccountantStaff AuditorTax AccountantTax AuditorTraveling AccountantTraveling AuditorTraveling Repair Accountant

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.