Accountants and Auditors in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,171
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$24,879
25.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,106
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$97,050
Kept after tax
$72,171
Worth in national money
$64,106
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for accountants and auditors is strong here. California's middle earner gets $97,050, putting the state 6 of 51 — about 15.98% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations California reports figures for, this is number 143.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $97,050 the take-home is $72,171. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $64,106 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $103,760, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For accountants and auditors, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $97,050, ranking 6 of 51 and running about 15.98% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In California's occupational distribution, accountants and auditors sits at 143 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $72,171 for accountants and auditors, from $97,050. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $64,106. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $103,760 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Accountants and Auditors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $160,520 |
| This salary | $97,050 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in California | $72,171 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,105 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,240 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $90,037 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$21,052 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of accountants and auditors in California earn under $97,050 and half over. The published range runs $61,770 at the tenth percentile to $160,520 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $72,171 take-home in California comes from $97,050. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 143 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,106, the adjusted value of that $97,050 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 143 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for accountants and auditors in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $61,770 to $160,520; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $72,171, from $97,050, assumes a single California filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 143 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $64,106 — the adjusted value of that $97,050 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 143 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $103,760, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $61,770, the highest tenth $160,520, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in California run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $64,106 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and California's own levy, $72,171 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in California is $103,760. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($61,770) and the ninetieth ($160,520) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $64,106 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $72,171 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.