City of Buffalo / Accounting / Principal Accountant
Job-title file
Maintain financial records, prepare budgets and reports, and ensure compliance with fiscal rules.
2 employees hold this title in Accounting. Median total compensation for the role is $85,264, above the department median of $64,176.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY area, the median wage for Accountants and Auditors — about 4,870 people — is $82,120. Accounting pays a median base salary of $64,313 for this role, 22% below that figure — about the 22nd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Accountants and Auditors across every employer in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Accounting’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. Accounting’s median base salary is 23% below that national figure, about the 21st 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 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Accounting is $85,264, 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
Principal Accountant is held in 2 City of Buffalo departments. In Accounting, the median of $85,264 ranks #2 of 2.
Median total compensation for the Principal Accountant role in other City of Buffalodepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 4 jurisdictions. In City of Buffalo, the median of $85,308 ranks #2 of 4. See Principal Accountant across all of City of Buffalo →
Median total compensation for comparable Principal Accountantroles 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
Page 1
Principal Accountant/Accounting
Source-specific fields
Meghan Betyn works as a Principal Accountant for Accounting within General Government Support. Meghan earned $85,308 in 2026.
Principal Accountant/Accounting
Source-specific fields
Karla Filer works as a Principal Accountant for Accounting within General Government Support. Karla earned $85,221 in 2026.