Business and Financial Operations Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Occupation-level safety SOC 13-2011

Accountants and Auditors

Occupation-specific BLS fatality and injury rates set the reading order for Accountants and Auditors, then wages beside peers such as Financial Risk Specialists, Financial Specialists, All Other, Business Operations Specialists, All Other, Budget Analysts.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Accountants and Auditors: Financial Risk Specialists ($117K) , Financial Specialists, All Other ($81K) , Business Operations Specialists, All Other ($83K) , Budget Analysts ($92K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Accountants and Auditors publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 13-2011 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Prepare detailed reports on audit findings
  2. 2. Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities
  3. 3. Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations…
  4. 4. Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions
  5. 5. Supervise auditing of establishments, and determine scope of investigation required
  6. 6. Confer with company officials about financial and regulatory matters
  7. 7. Examine and evaluate financial and information systems, recommending controls to ensure system reliability and data integrity
  8. 8. Inspect cash on hand, notes receivable and payable, negotiable securities, and canceled checks to confirm records are accurate
  9. 9. Examine records and interview workers to ensure recording of transactions and compliance with laws and regulations
  10. 10. Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and c…
  11. 11. Prepare adjusting journal entries
  12. 12. Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences

Accountants and Auditors: O*NET ranks Reading Comprehension first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 13-2011 - lead skill Reading Comprehension at 3.9 ; lead knowledge Economics and Accounting. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Reading Comprehension 3.9
  2. 2. Active Listening 3.8
  3. 3. Speaking 3.8
  4. 4. Critical Thinking 3.8
  5. 5. Writing 3.5
  6. 6. Judgment and Decision Making 3.5
  7. 7. Monitoring 3.4
  8. 8. Complex Problem Solving 3.4

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Economics and Accounting 4.7
  2. 2. English Language 4.0
  3. 3. Mathematics 3.9
  4. 4. Administration and Management 3.5
  5. 5. Customer and Personal Service 3.5
  6. 6. Law and Government 3.3
Occupation safety grade
A
Very Safe
Transparent derived index from BLS CFOI/SOII, not an official BLS rating · formula
National median still $83,680/yr
$84K
National median
↑ +5%
Growth 2024-2034
124,200
Annual openings
1,449,500
Estimated US jobs
Financial Risk Specialists
Highest-pay peer · $117K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree

Top Paying States for Accountants and Auditors

1. New York $102,640
2. Washington $96,550
3. Massachusetts $99,460
4. Rhode Island $95,820
5. California $97,050
6. New Jersey $100,830
7. Colorado $97,030
8. Delaware $95,020
9. District of Columbia $111,530
10. Connecticut $97,550

Other Business and Financial Operations Occupations titles

  1. 1. Financial Risk Specialists $117,330
  2. 2. Financial Specialists, All Other $81,100
  3. 3. Business Operations Specialists, All Other $83,050
  4. 4. Budget Analysts $91,640
  5. 5. Labor Relations Specialists $95,420
  6. 6. Credit Analysts $83,510

Accountants and Auditors carries an occupation-specific WageDex safety grade of A from BLS CFOI/SOII rates. The national OEWS median is $83,680 inside Business and Financial Operations Occupations (SOC 13-2011).

Employment Projections expect +5% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 124,200 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements.

Highest published state median in this ranking: New York at $102,640. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Financial Risk Specialists at $117,330. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Accountants and Auditors pay-rank #9 in Business and Financial Operations Occupations

Among 32 detailed Business and Financial Operations Occupations with a published OEWS median, Accountants and Auditors is pay-rank #9, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 13-2011 · national median $83,680 · upper third of Business and Financial Operations Occupations (#9/32). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Accountants and Auditors salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 13-2011

New York · top state for Accountants and Auditors

$103K published median

Washington · #2 state pay

$97K · behind New York

Financial Risk Specialists

Highest-pay peer vs Accountants and Auditors · $117K

Financial Specialists, All Other

Lower-pay peer beside Accountants and Auditors · $81K

Compare Accountants and Auditors

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Accountants and Auditors with another occupation →

Safety and risk next reads

Safest Occupations

Roles with the strongest published safety grades

Accountants and Auditors full wage map

State and metro pay after the safety lead

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Business and Financial Operations Occupations titles sit near Accountants and Auditors at the top of the pay table? ▼
Accountants and Auditors is pay-rank #9 of 32 detailed Business and Financial Operations Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Credit Analysts ($84K), Business Operations Specialists, All Other ($83K), Budget Analysts ($92K), Financial Examiners ($94K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do accountants and auditors do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Accountants and Auditors. Leading ones include: Prepare detailed reports on audit findings; Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities; Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations…; Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for accountants and auditors? ▼
For SOC 13-2011, O*NET importance scores lead with Reading Comprehension (3.9), Active Listening (3.8), Speaking (3.8), Critical Thinking (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Economics and Accounting, English Language, Mathematics. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Accountants and Auditors? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $83,680 as the national median for Accountants and Auditors. The published 10th-90th range is $56,020 to $144,090. Beside Financial Risk Specialists ($117,330), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Accountants and Auditors? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Accountants and Auditors is +5%. Projected annual openings: about 124,200. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Accountants and Auditors? ▼
BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Accountants and Auditors. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Accountants and Auditors? ▼
New York ($102,640), Washington ($96,550), Massachusetts ($99,460) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Accountants and Auditors card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 13-2011. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Accountants and Auditors. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics