City of Baltimore / Finance and Accounting & Payroll (001) / Accountant I
Job-title file
Maintain financial records, prepare budgets and reports, and ensure compliance with fiscal rules.
1 employee holds this title in Finance and Accounting & Payroll (001). Median total compensation for the role is $72,404, above the department median of $71,884.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, the median wage for Accountants and Auditors — about 13,550 people — is $85,160. Finance and Accounting & Payroll (001) pays a median base salary of $72,404 for this role, 15% below that figure — about the 27th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Accountants and Auditors across every employer in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Finance and Accounting & Payroll (001)’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. Finance and Accounting & Payroll (001)’s median base salary is 13% below that national figure, about the 33rd 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 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Finance and Accounting & Payroll (001) is $72,404, 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 departments
Accountant I is held in 23 City of Baltimore departments. In Finance and Accounting & Payroll (001), the median of $72,404 ranks #1 of 23.
Median total compensation for the Accountant I role in other City of Baltimoredepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 38 jurisdictions. In City of Baltimore, the median of $58,712 ranks #23 of 38. See Accountant across all of City of Baltimore →
Median total compensation for comparable Accountant roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Record list
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Accountant I/Finance and Accounting & Payroll (001)
Source-specific fields
Janet Lawson is a Accountant I at Finance and Accounting & Payroll (001). They have served since 2013 (about 7 years). 2020 total compensation came to $72,404.