Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Job outlook for payroll specialists in the United States
Payroll specialist job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected payroll specialist job growth rate is -3% from 2018-2028.
About -38,500 new jobs for payroll specialists are projected over the next decade.
Payroll specialist salaries have increased 11% for payroll specialists in the last 5 years.
There are over 115,451 payroll specialists currently employed in the United States.
There are 6,609 active payroll specialist job openings in the US.
The average payroll specialist salary is $46,462.
Are payroll specialist jobs in demand?
Yes, payroll specialist jobs are in demand. Payroll specialist demand is projected to grow -3% from 2018 to 2028.
Payroll specialist job and salary trends over time
Compare the number of payroll specialist jobs and the average payroll specialist salary over time.
Payroll specialist jobs over time
Payroll specialist job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 115,451 | 0.03% |
| 2020 | 103,608 | 0.03% |
| 2019 | 110,373 | 0.03% |
| 2018 | 111,373 | 0.03% |
| 2017 | 118,216 | 0.04% |
Average payroll specialist salary over time
Payroll specialist salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $46,462 | $22.34 | +1.8% |
| 2024 | $45,632 | $21.94 | +2.5% |
| 2023 | $44,516 | $21.40 | +2.6% |
| 2022 | $43,370 | $20.85 | +3.5% |
| 2021 | $41,887 | $20.14 | +3.4% |
Payroll specialist jobs by state
The map below shows you the number of payroll specialist job openings in each state. The darker areas on the map show where payroll specialists earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Average salary: Job openings:
Most common states for payroll specialists
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 104 | 15% |
| 2 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 273 | 9% |
| 3 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 68 | 9% |
| 4 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 519 | 8% |
| 5 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 162 | 8% |
| 6 | Alaska | 739,795 | 59 | 8% |
| 7 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 370 | 7% |
| 8 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 98 | 7% |
| 9 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 75 | 7% |
| 10 | Delaware | 961,939 | 72 | 7% |
| 11 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 70 | 7% |
| 12 | Vermont | 623,657 | 43 | 7% |
| 13 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 42 | 7% |
| 14 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 502 | 6% |
| 15 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 395 | 6% |
| 16 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 385 | 6% |
| 17 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 269 | 6% |
| 18 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 175 | 6% |
| 19 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 173 | 6% |
| 20 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 96 | 6% |
Most common cities for payroll specialists
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Herndon | 8 | 33% | $46,510 |
| 2 | Reston | 8 | 14% | $46,523 |
| 3 | Boca Raton | 9 | 9% | $39,474 |
| 4 | Pasadena | 11 | 8% | $53,545 |
| 5 | Saint Louis | 12 | 4% | $41,757 |
| 6 | Atlanta | 16 | 3% | $41,774 |
| 7 | Orlando | 8 | 3% | $39,614 |
| 8 | Boston | 13 | 2% | $54,034 |
| 9 | Seattle | 12 | 2% | $54,115 |
| 10 | Miami | 8 | 2% | $39,474 |
| 11 | Houston | 16 | 1% | $44,056 |
| 12 | San Diego | 15 | 1% | $52,587 |
| 13 | Phoenix | 12 | 1% | $45,102 |
| 14 | Austin | 11 | 1% | $44,314 |
| 15 | Dallas | 8 | 1% | $43,721 |
| 16 | Washington | 8 | 1% | $57,820 |
| 17 | Detroit | 7 | 1% | $44,954 |
| 18 | New York | 21 | 0% | $55,123 |
| 19 | Los Angeles | 18 | 0% | $53,554 |
| 20 | Chicago | 13 | 0% | $49,662 |