Accounting Officer

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

1,220 people hold the Accounting Officer role across 77 departments in California, with a median total compensation of $64,264. Among 4 jurisdictions where this role is reported, California ranks #4 by median pay.

Employees: 1,220
Median pay: $64,264
Departments: 77
Cross-jurisdiction: #4 of 4

Compared with the local labor market

Accounting Officer pay vs. California

Across all employers in California, the median wage for Accountants and Auditors — about 175,360 people — is $97,050. California pays a median base salary of $63,380 for this role, 35% below that figure — about the 12th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where California sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$61,770

$75,810

$97,050

$125,850

$160,520

California median · $63,380

The bar is the range of annual wages for Accountants and Auditors across every employer in California, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows California’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. California’s median base salary is 24% below that national figure, about the 20th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$56,020

$67,020

$83,680

$109,810

$144,090

California median · $63,380

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 California range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 1,148 of 1,220 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 California is $64,264, 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 jurisdictions

Accounting Officer pay in other jurisdictions

Where Accounting Officers are paid most

Los Angeles County

$170,134 · 109

District of Columbia

$150,436 · 17

Minnesota

$67,307 · 144

Median total compensation for comparable Accounting Officer roles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.

Within California