City of Albuquerque / Principal Accountant
Role across City of Albuquerque
Principal Accountant
Maintain financial records, prepare budgets and reports, and ensure compliance with fiscal rules.
6 people hold the Principal Accountant role across 1 department in City of Albuquerque, with a median total compensation of $37,348. Among 4 jurisdictions where this role is reported, City of Albuquerque ranks #3 by median pay.
- Employees
- 6
- Median pay
- $37,348
- Departments
- 1
- Cross-jurisdiction
- #3 of 4
Compared with the local labor market
Principal Accountant pay vs. the Albuquerque, NM area
Across all employers in the Albuquerque, NM area, the median wage for Accountants and Auditors — about 3,260 people — is $79,880. City of Albuquerque pays a median base salary of $37,348 for this role, 53% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where City of Albuquerque sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Accountants and Auditors across every employer in the Albuquerque, NM area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows City of Albuquerque’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Accountants and Auditors — about 1,449,500 people — is $83,680. City of Albuquerque’s median base salary is 55% below that national figure, below the 10th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Albuquerque, NM range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at City of Albuquerque is $37,348, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Principal Accountant pay in other jurisdictions
Where Principal Accountants are paid most
Median total compensation for comparable Principal Accountantroles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.