Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
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Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021
43-3031 Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
Compute, classify, and record numerical data to keep financial records complete. Perform any combination of routine calculating, posting, and verifying duties to obtain primary financial data for use in maintaining accounting records. May also check the accuracy of figures, calculations, and postings pertaining to business transactions recorded by other workers. Excludes “Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks” (43-3051).
National estimates for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
Industry profile for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
Geographic profile for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
National estimates for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| Employment (1) |
Employment
RSE (3) |
Mean hourly
wage |
Mean annual
wage (2) |
Wage RSE (3) |
| 1,509,370 |
0.6 % |
$ 21.70 |
$ 45,140 |
0.2 % |
Percentile wage estimates for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| Percentile |
10% |
25% |
50%
(Median) |
75% |
90% |
| Hourly Wage |
$ 14.00 |
$ 17.67 |
$ 21.90 |
$ 23.92 |
$ 29.80 |
| Annual Wage (2) |
$ 29,120 |
$ 36,750 |
$ 45,560 |
$ 49,760 |
$ 61,980 |
Industry profile for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks are provided.
For a list of all industries with employment in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks, see the Create Customized Tables function.
Industries with the highest levels of employment in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| Industry |
Employment (1) |
Percent of industry employment |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services |
102,170 |
10.18 |
$ 21.40 |
$ 44,500 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises |
84,410 |
3.32 |
$ 22.51 |
$ 46,820 |
| Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation) |
62,160 |
1.16 |
$ 22.48 |
$ 46,760 |
| Real Estate |
49,610 |
2.97 |
$ 22.31 |
$ 46,400 |
| Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (5221 and 5223 only) |
36,940 |
1.85 |
$ 21.26 |
$ 44,220 |
Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| Industry |
Employment (1) |
Percent of industry employment |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services |
102,170 |
10.18 |
$ 21.40 |
$ 44,500 |
| Office Administrative Services |
23,030 |
4.74 |
$ 22.12 |
$ 46,000 |
| Land Subdivision |
1,390 |
4.19 |
$ 23.01 |
$ 47,860 |
| Other Investment Pools and Funds |
520 |
4.10 |
$ 17.81 |
$ 37,050 |
| Religious Organizations |
6,680 |
3.72 |
$ 20.43 |
$ 42,480 |
Top paying industries for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
Geographic profile for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks are provided.
For a list of all areas with employment in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks, see the Create Customized Tables function.
States with the highest employment level in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| State |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| California |
170,580 |
10.32 |
0.96 |
$ 24.56 |
$ 51,080 |
| Texas |
132,510 |
10.84 |
1.01 |
$ 20.94 |
$ 43,550 |
| Florida |
92,730 |
10.78 |
1.01 |
$ 20.41 |
$ 42,440 |
| New York |
88,400 |
10.20 |
0.95 |
$ 24.38 |
$ 50,720 |
| Pennsylvania |
66,260 |
11.87 |
1.11 |
$ 21.38 |
$ 44,470 |
States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| State |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| South Dakota |
9,910 |
23.53 |
2.20 |
$ 18.09 |
$ 37,640 |
| Montana |
8,330 |
17.72 |
1.65 |
$ 18.29 |
$ 38,030 |
| Alaska |
4,480 |
15.13 |
1.41 |
$ 24.39 |
$ 50,730 |
| Tennessee |
41,800 |
14.00 |
1.31 |
$ 19.67 |
$ 40,910 |
| Delaware |
6,080 |
13.95 |
1.30 |
$ 21.94 |
$ 45,640 |
Top paying states for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| State |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| District of Columbia |
2,800 |
4.22 |
0.39 |
$ 28.91 |
$ 60,130 |
| Massachusetts |
39,740 |
11.71 |
1.09 |
$ 25.64 |
$ 53,340 |
| Washington |
33,170 |
10.35 |
0.97 |
$ 24.74 |
$ 51,460 |
| California |
170,580 |
10.32 |
0.96 |
$ 24.56 |
$ 51,080 |
| Connecticut |
15,810 |
10.05 |
0.94 |
$ 24.54 |
$ 51,050 |
Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| Metropolitan area |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA |
88,160 |
10.16 |
0.95 |
$ 25.39 |
$ 52,810 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA |
63,270 |
11.06 |
1.03 |
$ 24.26 |
$ 50,470 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI |
43,300 |
10.23 |
0.95 |
$ 22.98 |
$ 47,800 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX |
38,900 |
10.84 |
1.01 |
$ 21.93 |
$ 45,610 |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX |
31,060 |
10.72 |
1.00 |
$ 21.63 |
$ 44,990 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD |
29,550 |
11.13 |
1.04 |
$ 23.20 |
$ 48,250 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH |
29,130 |
11.27 |
1.05 |
$ 26.25 |
$ 54,590 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL |
28,280 |
11.53 |
1.08 |
$ 20.64 |
$ 42,920 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA |
22,010 |
8.50 |
0.79 |
$ 21.65 |
$ 45,030 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ |
21,700 |
10.25 |
0.96 |
$ 21.64 |
$ 45,020 |
Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| Metropolitan area |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Rapid City, SD |
1,630 |
24.51 |
2.29 |
$ 18.22 |
$ 37,900 |
| Sioux Falls, SD |
3,310 |
21.30 |
1.99 |
$ 18.52 |
$ 38,530 |
| Lewiston-Auburn, ME |
850 |
17.90 |
1.67 |
$ 19.24 |
$ 40,020 |
| Missoula, MT |
990 |
16.49 |
1.54 |
$ 18.49 |
$ 38,460 |
| Utica-Rome, NY |
1,890 |
16.46 |
1.54 |
$ 20.78 |
$ 43,220 |
| Johnson City, TN |
1,220 |
15.74 |
1.47 |
$ 17.74 |
$ 36,890 |
| Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA |
5,570 |
15.60 |
1.46 |
$ 22.88 |
$ 47,580 |
| Monroe, LA |
1,140 |
15.60 |
1.46 |
$ 18.73 |
$ 38,950 |
| Billings, MT |
1,310 |
15.49 |
1.45 |
$ 19.07 |
$ 39,660 |
| Barnstable Town, MA |
1,490 |
15.33 |
1.43 |
$ 24.31 |
$ 50,570 |
Top paying metropolitan areas for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| Metropolitan area |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA |
9,350 |
8.75 |
0.82 |
$ 28.72 |
$ 59,750 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA |
20,200 |
9.01 |
0.84 |
$ 28.21 |
$ 58,670 |
| Napa, CA |
770 |
11.14 |
1.04 |
$ 26.41 |
$ 54,940 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT |
3,890 |
10.36 |
0.97 |
$ 26.30 |
$ 54,710 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH |
29,130 |
11.27 |
1.05 |
$ 26.25 |
$ 54,590 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA |
18,370 |
9.58 |
0.89 |
$ 26.01 |
$ 54,100 |
| Santa Rosa, CA |
2,390 |
12.46 |
1.16 |
$ 25.55 |
$ 53,150 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA |
1,200 |
12.90 |
1.20 |
$ 25.55 |
$ 53,130 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV |
21,300 |
7.26 |
0.68 |
$ 25.54 |
$ 53,110 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA |
88,160 |
10.16 |
0.95 |
$ 25.39 |
$ 52,810 |
Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest employment in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
| Nonmetropolitan area |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Kansas nonmetropolitan area |
4,910 |
13.06 |
1.22 |
$ 17.41 |
$ 36,220 |
| North Northeastern Ohio nonmetropolitan area (noncontiguous) |
3,490 |
11.10 |
1.04 |
$ 18.93 |
$ 39,370 |
| East South Dakota nonmetropolitan area |
3,170 |
25.02 |
2.34 |
$ 17.83 |
$ 37,080 |
| Northeastern Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area |
2,850 |
14.89 |
1.39 |
$ 19.89 |
$ 41,380 |
| Southeast Coastal North Carolina nonmetropolitan area |
2,740 |
11.42 |
1.07 |
$ 18.41 |
$ 38,290 |
Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
Top paying nonmetropolitan areas for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
About May 2021 National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors, all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and all states and the District of Columbia.
The top employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable XLS files.
The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median.
More about percentile wages.
(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.
(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours;
for those occupations where there is not an hourly wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.
(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.
(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration.
A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.
Other OEWS estimates and related information:
May 2021 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
May 2021 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
May 2021 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
May 2021 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
May 2021 Occupation Profiles
Technical Notes
Last Modified Date: March 31, 2022
United States Department of Labor
