CPA salary
BLS puts the median accountant-and-auditor wage at $83,680 a year (May 2025 data), with a $94,750 mean across 1,449,500 jobs. The spread is wide: $56,020 at the 10th percentile, $144,090 at the 90th. BLS does not split out CPA licenseholders, so read these as the profession's floor.
$83,680
median annual wageBLS OEWS · May 2025
$94,750
mean annual wageBLS OEWS · May 2025
1,449,500
jobs nationally, SOC 13-2011BLS OEWS · May 2025
Distribution
Percentile bands, national
| Band | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $56,020 |
| 25th percentile | $67,020 |
| Median (50th) | $83,680 |
| 75th percentile | $109,810 |
| 90th percentile | $144,090 |
BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-2011, national flat file, pulled 2026-08-02BLS OEWS · May 2025.
Geography
Median wage in the top-employment states
| State | Median | Mean | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $102,640 | $114,070 | 109,830 |
| New Jersey | $100,830 | $110,590 | 42,250 |
| Massachusetts | $99,460 | $107,170 | 46,230 |
| California | $97,050 | $103,760 | 175,360 |
| Colorado | $97,030 | $103,150 | 35,410 |
| Washington | $96,550 | $102,700 | 34,740 |
| Virginia | $93,290 | $100,660 | 47,100 |
| Maryland | $89,370 | $98,210 | 26,170 |
Eight highest medians among the 20 largest accounting-employment states; all 20 are in the register and linked from requirements by state. Cost-of-living caveat applies hard: New York's $102,640median and Tennessee's $76,840 buy different lives.
The premium
What BLS cannot tell you about the license
SOC 13-2011 pools every accountant and auditor, licensed or not, so no government series isolates the CPA premium. What the distribution implies: the licensed acts (audit signatures, representation) concentrate in the upper bands, and partner-track public accounting sits above the 90th percentile entirely. Recruiting-firm salary guides publish credential splits, but their samples are placements, not the workforce, so we do not print their numbers as benchmarks. The honest statement: the license is close to mandatory for the profession's top quartile. The cost side of the trade is on how to become a CPA and the exam page.