Compared with the local labor market
Principal 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. Controller pays a median base salary of $130,127 for this role, 38% above that figure — about the 79th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Controller sits in the local pay range
$60,310
$74,060
$94,360
$122,290
$154,630
Controller median · $130,127
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 Controller’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. Controller’s median base salary is 56% above that national figure, about the 84th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$56,020
$67,020
$83,680
$109,810
$144,090
Controller median · $130,127
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.
Median total compensation for this role at Controller is $178,298, 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 City of Los Angeles
Principal Accountant I is held in 5 City of Los Angeles departments. In Controller, the median of $148,872 ranks #2 of 5.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Principal Accountant I role in other City of Los Angelesdepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
Principal Accountant beyond City of Los Angeles
This role is reported in 4 jurisdictions. In City of Los Angeles, the median of $179,195 ranks #1 of 4. See Principal Accountant across all of City of Los Angeles →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
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.