Los Angeles County / Public Works Department / Accountant I

Job-title file

Accountant I

Maintain financial records, prepare budgets and reports, and ensure compliance with fiscal rules.

5 employees hold this title in Public Works Department. Median total compensation for the role is $98,750, below the department median of $147,401.

Employees: 5
Total payroll: $434.9K
Role median: $98,750
Agency median: $147,401
Comparison: Below

Compared with the local labor market

Accountant I pay vs. the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area

Across all employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, the median wage for Accountants and Auditors — about 70,640 people — is $94,360. Public Works Department pays a median base salary of $78,250 for this role, 17% below that figure — about the 30th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Public Works Department sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$60,310

$74,060

$94,360

$122,290

$154,630

Public Works Department median · $78,250

The bar is the range of annual wages for Accountants and Auditors across every employer in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Public Works Department’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. Public Works Department’s median base salary is 6% below that national figure, about the 42nd percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$56,020

$67,020

$83,680

$109,810

$144,090

Public Works Department median · $78,250

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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 47 of 49 people in this role paid at least $25,000 in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at Public Works Department is $132,805, 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

This role across Los Angeles County

Accountant I is held in 15 Los Angeles County departments. In Public Works Department, the median of $98,750 ranks #11 of 15.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Fire Department

$129,234 · 1

Sheriff

$128,778 · 1

Treasurer & Tax Collector

$117,216 · 1

County Counsel

$112,759 · 1

Health Services

$110,819 · 14

Public Health

$109,720 · 16

Public Social Services Department

$108,463 · 2

Consumer and Business Affairs

$106,569 · 3

Mental Health

$105,242 · 4

Assessor

$104,555 · 1

Agricultural Comm/Wts & Measures

$90,308 · 2

Auditor-Controller

$88,939 · 7

Median total compensation for the Accountant I role in other Los Angeles Countydepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.

Compare jurisdictions

Accountant beyond Los Angeles County

This role is reported in 38 jurisdictions. In Los Angeles County, the median of $130,683 ranks #4 of 38. See Accountant across all of Los Angeles County →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

City and County of San Francisco

$197,263 · 316

$171,368 · 6

$141,841 · 31

$108,576 · 57

$107,046 · 94

$107,037 · 54

$104,820 · 157

Johnson County, Kansas

$82,640 · 5

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