Highest-paying Cities for Tax Preparers

The top 100 highest paying cities for tax preparers (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment of tax preparers in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $96,520, Anchorage, Alaska is the highest paying city for tax preparers. It is followed by Ogden-Clearfield, Utah (average annual salary $83,990). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2023 [1]. For more salary information of tax preparers in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Tax Preparers

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Anchorage, Alaska	$96,520	$60,540	140
2	Ogden-Clearfield, Utah	$83,990	$34,700	170
3	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, California	$81,710	$45,560	410
4	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$80,000	$40,660	950
5	Salt Lake City, Utah	$78,010	$34,010	850
6	Idaho Falls, Idaho	$70,460	$47,600	40
7	New Haven, Connecticut	$67,630	$46,420	40
8	New York-White Plains-Wayne, New York	$67,420	$31,500	3,180
9	Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$65,140	$25,760	530
10	Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado	$64,920	$40,020	200
11	Boulder, Colorado	$64,570	$44,190	130
12	Waco, Texas	$63,940	$47,060	60
13	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California	$63,860	$36,390	1,160
14	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$63,720	$37,420	7,590
15	Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area, Illinois	$63,420	$30,670	60
16	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	$63,250	$28,810	3,120
17	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$63,000	$29,090	3,590
18	Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, South Carolina	$62,550	$23,920	120
19	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$62,540	$31,900	240
20	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$62,480	$42,340	970
21	Danbury, Connecticut	$61,760	$31,270	50
22	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$61,450	$30,570	1,010
23	Charlottesville, Virginia	$61,110	$28,700	50
24	Cheyenne, Wyoming	$60,890	$30,470	30
25	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	$60,340	$30,440	540
26	Provo-Orem, Utah	$60,330	$30,940	210
27	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$60,290	$32,780	1,330
28	Syracuse, New York	$60,220	$31,370	100
29	Portsmouth, New Hampshire	$59,900	$28,490	40
30	Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont	$59,600	$36,960	120
31	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$59,540	$32,920	1,360
32	Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina	$59,510	$27,260	140
33	Northcentral Colorado nonmetropolitan area, Colorado	$59,420	$39,520	50
34	West Colorado nonmetropolitan area, Colorado	$59,380	$29,600	70
35	Visalia-Porterville, California	$59,160	$53,260	n/a
36	Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$59,080	$27,190	40
37	Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa	$58,960	$28,880	100
38	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$58,950	$37,650	1,630
39	Appleton, Wisconsin	$58,600	$36,730	60
40	Logan, Utah	$58,440	$28,760	40
41	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin	$57,990	$32,860	300
42	Columbia, Missouri	$57,990	$23,190	30
43	South Bend-Mishawaka, Michigan	$57,630	$29,170	80
44	West North Dakota nonmetropolitan area, North Dakota	$57,580	$34,830	40
45	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pennsylvania	$57,140	$24,150	70
46	Abilene, Texas	$56,850	$26,020	30
47	Grand Junction, Colorado	$56,800	$39,000	50
48	Bismarck, North Dakota	$56,780	$30,720	60
49	California-Lexington Park, Maryland	$56,190	$42,590	n/a
50	Green Bay, Wisconsin	$56,090	$36,210	60
51	Indianapolis-Carmel, Indiana	$55,700	$31,270	740
52	St Cloud, Minnesota	$54,680	$30,320	60
53	Duluth, Wisconsin	$54,100	$29,400	50
54	Asheville, North Carolina	$53,940	$25,980	80
55	Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, Massachusetts	$53,670	$32,110	n/a
56	Nashua, New Hampshire	$53,510	$25,110	40
57	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California	$53,370	$24,870	3,250
58	Wausau, Wisconsin	$52,860	$30,430	50
59	Tyler, Texas	$52,820	$27,050	80
60	Manchester, New Hampshire	$52,570	$29,830	100
61	Albany, Oregon	$52,300	$36,330	40
62	Peoria, Illinois	$52,260	$28,440	80
63	Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey	$52,180	$28,060	60
64	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania	$51,820	$28,500	1,070
65	Northwestern Connecticut nonmetropolitan area, Connecticut	$51,700	$32,090	30
66	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas	$51,480	$27,940	640
67	Reno-Sparks, Nevada	$51,430	$24,190	240
68	Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada	$51,360	$23,490	830
69	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tennessee	$50,960	$22,480	690
70	Medford, Oregon	$50,770	$37,500	130
71	Victoria, Texas	$50,540	$42,610	60
72	Northwest Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, Minnesota	$50,450	$29,430	70
73	Springfield, Massachusetts	$50,430	$30,550	120
74	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$50,300	$36,940	1,260
75	Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, Louisiana	$50,260	$20,490	30
76	Madison, Wisconsin	$50,050	$36,780	100
77	San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas	$49,960	$27,780	580
78	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$49,770	$32,460	5,000
79	Southwestern Montana nonmetropolitan area, Montana	$49,760	$29,890	80
80	Rochester, Minnesota	$49,750	$29,940	40
81	Framingham, Massachusetts	$49,580	$30,260	80
82	Ann Arbor, Michigan	$49,490	$33,410	40
83	Lewiston-Auburn, Maine	$49,460	$43,850	40
84	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$49,400	$36,040	590
85	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California	$49,330	$32,800	100
86	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona	$49,070	$30,160	1,460
87	Western Washington nonmetropolitan area, Washington	$48,890	$35,420	100
88	Racine, Wisconsin	$48,880	$29,600	40
89	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine	$48,850	$44,680	70
90	Fargo, North Dakota	$48,660	$30,750	50
91	Southeast Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, Minnesota	$48,630	$29,250	40
92	Rochester, New York	$48,460	$30,330	220
93	Massachusetts nonmetropolitan area, Massachusetts	$48,410	$37,820	40
94	Eastern Utah nonmetropolitan area, Utah	$48,340	$30,210	40
95	Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina	$48,340	$27,950	370
96	Kalamazoo-Portage, Michigan	$48,340	$29,170	50
97	Honolulu, Hawaii	$48,280	$28,900	310
98	Worcester, Massachusetts	$48,270	$30,820	150
99	Barnstable Town, Massachusetts	$48,240	$38,450	50
100	Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Washington	$48,220	$35,420	50

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for tax preparers.