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Job outlook for application consultants in the United States
Application consultant job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected application consultant job growth rate is 9% from 2018-2028.
About 56,000 new jobs for application consultants are projected over the next decade.
Application consultant salaries have increased 8% for application consultants in the last 5 years.
There are over 322,924 application consultants currently employed in the United States.
There are 99,368 active application consultant job openings in the US.
The average application consultant salary is $95,522.
Are application consultant jobs in demand?
Application consultant job and salary trends over time
Application consultant jobs over time
Application consultant job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 322,924 | 0.10% |
| 2020 | 313,268 | 0.09% |
| 2019 | 298,024 | 0.09% |
| 2018 | 303,265 | 0.09% |
| 2017 | 293,518 | 0.09% |
Average application consultant salary over time
Application consultant salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $95,522 | $45.92 | +3.4% |
| 2025 | $92,374 | $44.41 | +2.3% |
| 2024 | $90,283 | $43.41 | +0.5% |
| 2023 | $89,805 | $43.18 | +1.2% |
| 2022 | $88,736 | $42.66 | +1.7% |
Application consultant jobs by state
Most common states for application consultants
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 594 | 86% |
| 2 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 407 | 38% |
| 3 | Vermont | 623,657 | 164 | 26% |
| 4 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 1,741 | 25% |
| 5 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 334 | 25% |
| 6 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 954 | 23% |
| 7 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 241 | 23% |
| 8 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 204 | 23% |
| 9 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 1,960 | 22% |
| 10 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 677 | 22% |
| 11 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 1,156 | 21% |
| 12 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,630 | 19% |
| 13 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 2,253 | 18% |
| 14 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 343 | 18% |
| 15 | Delaware | 961,939 | 172 | 18% |
| 16 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 2,174 | 17% |
| 17 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 1,758 | 17% |
| 18 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 603 | 17% |
| 19 | California | 39,536,653 | 6,145 | 16% |
| 20 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 272 | 16% |
Most common cities for application consultants
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annapolis | 3 | 8% | $95,373 |
| 2 | Frankfort | 2 | 7% | $79,848 |
| 3 | Dover | 2 | 5% | $95,993 |
| 4 | Lansing | 3 | 3% | $85,039 |
| 5 | Fremont | 4 | 2% | $125,181 |
| 6 | Hartford | 2 | 2% | $97,769 |
| 7 | San Francisco | 9 | 1% | $125,703 |
| 8 | Atlanta | 7 | 1% | $85,511 |
| 9 | Boston | 4 | 1% | $100,860 |
| 10 | Sacramento | 3 | 1% | $124,429 |
| 11 | Baton Rouge | 2 | 1% | $84,163 |
| 12 | Des Moines | 2 | 1% | $86,105 |
| 13 | Phoenix | 5 | 0% | $85,422 |
| 14 | Chicago | 4 | 0% | $85,511 |
| 15 | Dallas | 3 | 0% | $88,791 |
| 16 | Indianapolis | 3 | 0% | $83,983 |
| 17 | Fort Worth | 2 | 0% | $88,943 |
Application Consultant job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of application consultant experts
Davidson College
St. John's University
Temple University
Susquehanna University
Katie Horowitz
Associate Professor of Gender & Sexuality StudiesDavidson College
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, And Group Studies
What general advice would you give to an Application Consultant?
Katie Horowitz: With the rise of artificial intelligence, soft skills like interpersonal communication, conflict management, and critical thinking will become more important than ever before. These are assets that can’t be outsourced to AI, and they are fundamental to the work that Gender & Sexuality Studies majors do in college.
What Application Consultant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Katie Horowitz: Some research shows that women and members of marginalized racial groups are less likely to negotiate their salaries than their white male counterparts. When you get a job offer, don’t forgo the opportunity to advocate for a higher salary.
What will help Application Consultants increase their earning potential?
Katie Horowitz: Don’t limit yourself. I’ve seen Gender & Sexuality Studies students land jobs in business consulting, nonprofit, medicine, law, and more. The beauty of this interdisciplinary field is that it intersects with virtually every sphere of human existence. You can bring your GSS skills to bear on any line of work that interests you.
Joseph Trainor Ph.D.
Associate Professor and ChairpersonSt. John's University
Department of Accountancy
What type of skills will young Application Consultants need?
Joseph Trainor Ph.D.: The type of skills expected by young graduates in accounting is moving increasingly into the technology area. The AICPA's new model for CPA licensure (CPA Evolution) recognizes the important role that technology has had, and will continue to have, on the accounting profession. To be competitive in the job market, accounting students need to have real-world technology skills, including some knowledge and practical ability in tools for things such as data-analyzation, data-visualization, and robotic process automation.
Students should focus on the underlying concepts of these technologies, rather than a particular software package. Finally, accounting students must be able to effectively use Excel, including advanced functions. Excel is one of the basic tools in an accountant's toolbox, so proficiency in using Excel is a must for any accountant.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Application Consultants to find work opportunities?
Joseph Trainor Ph.D.: Accountants are needed throughout the country, but demand is particularly high in New York City and other metropolitan areas. The trend towards moving into cities may be stagnant or decline, due to the pandemic, but demand for accounting professionals in cities remains strong.
How do you envision technology impacting Application Consultants in the next 5 years?
Joseph Trainor Ph.D.: Technology is rapidly changing the accounting profession as artificial intelligence, and automated processes change the nature of accountants' work. Because of advances in technology, accountants will be able to perform higher-level value-providing services for their clients, rather than being bogged down in repetitive tasks. Outsourcing of repetitive tasks will also decline, as automation fills that role. The type of work that accountants perform will change in the next five years, but those changes will be positive, as technology will free up accountants to do more interesting work and provide even greater value to their clients.
What type of skills will young Application Consultants need?
Elizabeth Gordon: Preparing accounting students for their future means focusing their education on developing their critical thinking, decision making, and judgment, and truly thinking like an accountant requires critical thinking skills to be able to make judgments, to create and to use the information to solve problems and make good decisions. After all, accounting is not about rote memorization or data processing - tasks that do not require a university education. A university accounting education should foster curious and adaptive problem solvers with strong analytical skills and technical knowledge of accounting.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Application Consultants to find work opportunities?
Elizabeth Gordon: Almost every type of organization, whether a corporation, a non-profit, or a government entity, needs an accountant. So, there will be opportunities for accounting majors throughout the United States. Regions that are growing will be particularly good places in the United States to find work opportunities after graduation.
How do you envision technology impacting Application Consultants in the next 5 years?
Elizabeth Gordon: New technologies, big data, artificial intelligence, machine-driven learning, and other trends are transforming business. The rise of these technologies threatens some traditional accounting functions and accounting jobs. To best prepare our students for this changing business environment, accounting education has to be focused, agile, and innovative. While some jobs can be automated, critical thinking, decision making, and judgment are more difficult to replace. Focusing on accounting education, on critical thinking, decision making, and problem solving provides the agility to fold in new technologies and trends as they emerge.
Mike Ozlanski Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of AccountingSusquehanna University
Department Accounting
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Application Consultants?
Mike Ozlanski Ph.D.: Even before the pandemic, the accounting profession was adopting new and disruptive technologies that enabled accountants to increase both efficiency and effectiveness of their work. The abrupt shift to remote working environments accelerated the adoption of these technologies. If anything, it increased the rate of innovation in the profession.
Accounting graduates need to be prepared to enter the profession with the appropriate skills and embrace these technologies. Accounting education also needs to be ready to instill those skills in their students.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Application Consultants to find work opportunities?
Mike Ozlanski Ph.D.: I suspect that geographic restrictions are going to be less critical than they were before. Accounting firms and accounting departments have shown tremendous resilience as they adopted remote work practices. I suspect that once the pandemic passes, organizations will not entirely abandon remote working arrangements. Yes, people will need to still access their offices (or the offices of their clients). However, they won't need to always be physically present to do their jobs.
We've already seen evidence that people are starting to leave cities for suburbans settings. Remote work arrangements (in some cases) enable people to fulfill their responsibilities from rural settings (as long as there is reliable high-speed internet access).
The potential flexibility associated with remote work will also benefit graduates who provide care to children or other family members. This should reduce their barriers to enter the profession and to thrive in it.
How do you envision technology impacting Application Consultants in the next 5 years?
Mike Ozlanski Ph.D.: It is honestly an exciting time to be an accountant. Most of the dull, tedious work that defined the profession (with negative stereotypes) will be automated. This will enable accountants to focus on more exciting tasks that provide greater insights to their clients and employers.
Automation and data analytics will allow accountants to "do more," which means that they can provide even higher quality information for business decision making. For example, we should see an improvement in audit quality as the capabilities of auditors increase.
The same is true for internal and external financial reporting and analysis. Management should be able to make better operating, and strategic decisions as the information (available to them) become more robust.
This is truly an opportunity for the profession to redefine. However, accountants need to react and upskill. Otherwise, they will, unfortunately, be left behind.