Across the 29 states we track, Massachusetts gives Accountants the strongest cost-of-living-adjusted pay: about $98,200 real pay on a median of $106,300. New York follows at about $92,300 real pay, then District of Columbia at about $89,300. The table ranks every state by real pay, so a high nominal salary in an expensive state cannot masquerade as a raise.
Accountant Salary by State (2026): Real Pay Ranked
Massachusetts ranks first for Accountant real pay: about $98,200 after cost of living. Median and real pay for all 29 states, ranked.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS) & BEA Regional Price Parities · Updated October 2026
States ranked
29
Metros counted
45
National average
$90,780
Accountant pay by state, ranked by real pay
| State | Median pay | Real pay (COL-adjusted) | Metro(s) counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Massachusetts | $106,300 | $98,200 | Boston |
| 2. New York | $103,900 | $92,300 | New York |
| 3. District of Columbia | $97,300 | $89,300 | Washington |
| 4. North Carolina | $84,700 | $86,600 | Charlotte, Raleigh |
| 5. Washington | $95,600 | $86,000 | Seattle |
| 6. Missouri | $78,500 | $84,900 | Kansas City |
| 7. Colorado | $87,500 | $84,800 | Denver, Colorado Springs |
| 8. Oklahoma | $75,800 | $84,400 | Oklahoma City, Tulsa |
| 9. Kansas | $74,500 | $83,800 | Wichita |
| 10. California | $92,000 | $83,600 | Los Angeles-Long Beach, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco-Oakland, Fresno, Sacramento |
| 11. Ohio | $78,800 | $82,500 | Columbus |
| 12. Georgia | $81,200 | $81,100 | Atlanta |
| 13. Wisconsin | $78,300 | $80,800 | Milwaukee |
| 14. Indiana | $76,700 | $80,100 | Indianapolis |
| 15. Louisiana | $74,100 | $80,000 | New Orleans |
| 16. Tennessee | $75,300 | $79,900 | Nashville, Memphis |
| 17. Texas | $77,600 | $79,300 | Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, El Paso |
| 18. Michigan | $79,300 | $79,100 | Detroit |
| 19. Pennsylvania | $81,100 | $79,000 | Philadelphia |
| 20. Kentucky | $73,500 | $78,900 | Louisville |
| 21. Nebraska | $72,300 | $78,700 | Omaha |
| 22. Arizona | $78,200 | $78,100 | Phoenix-Mesa, Tucson |
| 23. Maryland | $81,400 | $77,900 | Baltimore |
| 24. New Mexico | $73,700 | $77,200 | Albuquerque |
| 25. Illinois | $79,800 | $77,000 | Chicago |
| 26. Oregon | $80,500 | $76,400 | Portland |
| 27. Minnesota | $79,800 | $76,100 | Minneapolis |
| 28. Florida | $79,300 | $74,300 | Jacksonville, Miami |
| 29. Nevada | $69,300 | $69,200 | Las Vegas |
Method: each state aggregates the BLS OEWS metro medians we track for Accountant in that state - an employment-weighted mean where every counted metro publishes employment (27 of 29 states), otherwise a simple mean (2 states). Real pay = state median divided by (state RPP / 100), where the state RPP is the mean BEA Regional Price Parity of its counted metros; figures are rounded to the nearest $100. Twin cities sharing one metro estimate (for example Phoenix-Mesa) are counted once. Arlington, TX and Cleveland, OH metros lack a cost-of-living index in our dataset and are excluded from their state's figures. States without a tracked metro are omitted rather than estimated.
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Frequently Asked Questions
On cost-of-living-adjusted pay, Massachusetts leads at about $98,200 real pay (median $106,300), ahead of New York at about $92,300.
We aggregate the BLS median wages of the metros we track in each state (an employment-weighted mean where employment data exists, otherwise a simple average), then divide by the mean Regional Price Parity of those metros to get real pay.
The full city-level table with 10th-90th percentiles and every metro's cost-of-living index is on the Accountant salary hub at /salary/accountant/.