City of Seattle / Seattle Public Utilities / Accountant

Job-title file

Accountant

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

8 employees hold this title in Seattle Public Utilities. Median total compensation for the role is $107,037, below the department median of $114,795.

Employees: 8
Total payroll: $840.1K
Role median: $107,037
Agency median: $114,795
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$98,946$107,037+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How total compensation varies among the 8 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Compared with the local labor market

Accountant pay vs. the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area

Across all employers in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, the median wage for Accountants and Auditors — about 22,100 people — is $99,370. Seattle Public Utilities pays a median base salary of $107,037 for this role, 8% above that figure — about the 57th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Seattle Public Utilities sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$73,250

$80,880

$99,370

$126,800

$160,640

Seattle Public Utilities median · $107,037

The bar is the range of annual wages for Accountants and Auditors across every employer in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Seattle Public Utilities’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. Seattle Public Utilities’s median base salary is 28% above that national figure, about the 72nd percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$56,020

$67,020

$83,680

$109,810

$144,090

Seattle Public Utilities median · $107,037

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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA range relative to the national one.

Median total compensation for this role at Seattle Public Utilities is $107,037, 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 Seattle

Accountant is held in 18 City of Seattle departments. In Seattle Public Utilities, the median of $107,037 ranks #1 of 18.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Construction and Inspections

$107,037 · 2

Seattle Department of Transportation

$107,037 · 4

Education and Early Learning

$107,037 · 2

Employees Retirement System

$107,037 · 3

Finance and Administrative Service

$107,037 · 6

Housing Office

$107,037 · 2

Seattle Police Department

$107,037 · 1

Human Services

$107,037 · 5

Seattle Fire Department

$107,037 · 1

Law Department

$107,037 · 1

Office of Arts and Culture

$107,037 · 1

Parks and Recreation Department

$107,037 · 5

Median total compensation for the Accountant role in other City of Seattledepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.

Compare jurisdictions

Accountant beyond City of Seattle

This role is reported in 38 jurisdictions. In City of Seattle, the median of $107,037 ranks #7 of 38. See Accountant across all of City of Seattle →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

City and County of San Francisco

$197,263 · 316

$171,368 · 6

$141,841 · 31

$130,683 · 595

$108,576 · 57

$107,046 · 94

$104,678 · 160

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.

Same department

Other job titles in Seattle Public Utilities

Record list