The average public accountant salary is $58,843. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an accounting major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a public accountant. Public accountants with a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 90,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Public Accountant Do

There are certain skills that many public accountants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and detail oriented.

Learn more about what a Public Accountant does

How To Become a Public Accountant

If you're interested in becoming a public accountant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 76.7% of public accountants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.0% of public accountants have master's degrees. Even though most public accountants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Public Accountant

Public Accountant Career Paths

Average Salary for a Public Accountant

Public Accountants in America make an average salary of $58,843 per year or $28 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $80,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $43,000 per year.
Average Public Accountant Salary
$58,843 Yearly
$28.29 hourly

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Roles and Types of Public Accountant

There are several types of public accountant, including:

Staff Accountant

Role:

Many businesses rely on staff accountants to handle the "math" of the business. But that's just a lazy way for saying you'll be in charge of handling the budget and tax requirements. Basically, any financial records will be prepared and examined by you.

Depending on the industry you're in, the majority of the year will be your "busy season." Some industries this may not apply and you'll only be required to work the normal 40-hour work week.

Typically, staff accountants need a bit of an education to find a job. And no, we're not talking about a high school degree. Most employers prefer you to have a bachelor's degree. Here's to learning more math!

  • Average Salary: $54,216
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Certified Public Accountant

Role:

A certified public accountant, or CPA for short, offers his/her or her services to companies or individuals in preparing forms for tax returns and financial statement documents. CPAs oversee audits, keep track of clients' financial records, and contribute to budgeting processes.

Knowing how to develop and implement bookkeeping policies and being familiar with local and federal laws and regulations of taxing procedures is a must, as this is what poses the challenge for people hiring CPAs. CPAs generally have basic computer skills and use accounting software to make the most of their time and resources.

In order to become a CPA, you need to have a BA in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field. As implied in the name, you need to obtain a certification to fill the role, and this is usually preceded by years of experience in the field as a public accountant.

  • Average Salary: $76,693
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Project Accountant

Role:

Project accounting of a company allows keeping a track record of all the financial documents of the company, such as billings, bookings, budgets, costs, and estimates. This team is handled by none other than a project accountant. As a project accountant, you need to maintain the project records with the approval of incomes and expenditures, analyze the project buildings which are issued to the customers.

For this position, you need to have a minimum bachelor's degree in accounting, business management, or finance. Also, you must gain some additional requirements such as excellence in analytical skills, project management skills, communication skills, and maintaining strong relationships with staff and clients. The collected payments provide assistance for the development of financial aspects and more.

Project accountants generally work in the office for about 8 to 9 hours a day, for which they get paid up to $57,000 per annum or $27.82 per hour. You must feel comfortable to move countryside for any work related to the project.

  • Average Salary: $60,467
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Public Accountant Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active public accountant jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where public accountants earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Public Accountant Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California2,887$64,225
2Texas1,755$56,419
3Florida1,275$45,663
4Illinois1,181$50,634
5New York1,171$78,673
6Pennsylvania845$58,677
7Georgia794$48,271
8Massachusetts753$69,189
9Virginia749$70,275
10Ohio719$54,248
11North Carolina655$57,369
12Colorado568$64,290
13Minnesota565$52,441
14New Jersey562$73,841
15Michigan549$57,920
16Maryland548$61,651
17Missouri497$47,781
18Arizona464$54,557
19Washington436$58,874
20Tennessee436$47,547
21Wisconsin390$56,155
22Indiana354$47,555
23Connecticut343$53,497
24Oregon317$61,899
25Iowa295$47,423
26Utah281$46,482
27Alabama259$44,126
28South Carolina246$43,779
29Oklahoma231$51,476
30Nevada212$52,440
31Kentucky205$47,610
32Louisiana203$49,395
33Kansas168$46,084
34Nebraska149$45,206
35Arkansas138$47,395
36Mississippi122$42,253
37Rhode Island121$68,688
38Montana118$59,622
39New Mexico109$48,705
40Delaware104$61,612
41New Hampshire104$64,043
42Idaho99$53,679
43Hawaii73$49,845
44Maine70$49,540
45West Virginia65$46,401
46Alaska57$60,927
47Vermont55$52,643
48South Dakota54$44,993
49Wyoming45$44,950
50North Dakota36$44,244

Public Accountant Education

Public Accountant Majors

19.2 %
3.2 %

Public Accountant Degrees

Bachelors

76.7 %

Masters

10.0 %

Associate

9.5 %

Top Colleges for Public Accountants

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

4. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

5. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

6. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

7. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

8. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,306

Enrollment

9,394

9. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

10. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

Top Skills For a Public Accountant

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 17.0% of public accountants listed cpa on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Public Accountant Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Public Accountant templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Public Accountant resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Public Accountant Resume
Public Accountant Resume
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Public Accountant diversity

Public Accountant Gender Distribution

Male
Male
52%
Female
Female
48%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among public accountants, 48.0% of them are women, while 52.0% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among public accountants is White, which makes up 63.1% of all public accountants.

  • The most common foreign language among public accountants is Spanish at 40.5%.

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Best States For a Public Accountant

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a public accountant. The best states for people in this position are New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Public accountants make the most in New York with an average salary of $78,673. Whereas in New Jersey and Virginia, they would average $73,841 and $70,275, respectively. While public accountants would only make an average of $69,189 in Massachusetts, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. New York

Total Public Accountant Jobs: 1,171
Highest 10% Earn:
$111,000
Location Quotient:
1.15

2. Rhode Island

Total Public Accountant Jobs: 121
Highest 10% Earn:
$97,000
Location Quotient:
1.25

3. District of Columbia

Total Public Accountant Jobs: 292
Highest 10% Earn:
$102,000
Location Quotient:
2.19
Full List Of Best States For Public Accountants

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Top Public Accountant Employers

Most Common Employers For Public Accountant

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Ernst & Young$95,777$46.057
2IBM$92,664$44.553
3Dell$87,995$42.312
4Pwc$77,947$37.473
5Billups$71,629$34.441
6Benton County$66,166$31.812
7Davis & Company$64,562$31.042
8KPMG LLP$64,260$30.893
9Moss Adams$64,145$30.842
10Draffin Tucker$62,748$30.171