Accountant.
New Orleans.
$72,000
median salary, 12% below the national average
$57,000 to $94,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
New Orleans is 8% cheaper than the national average. For Accountants, that shakes out to a median of $72,000, with the full range spanning $57,000 to $94,000. CPA licensure, industry specialization, and company size are the biggest factors. Know the range before you walk in. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Accountant in New Orleans, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $77,940 for Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011) in the New Orleans-Metairie, LA metropolitan area, based on 3,740 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$52,630
25th percentile
$62,550
Median
$77,940
75th percentile
$98,540
90th percentile
$121,170
Workers surveyed
3,740
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011) rather than Accountant specifically. The New Orleans range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 13-2011Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $65,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$47,000
to $58,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$61,000
to $76,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$79,000
to $94,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$90,000
to $112,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $16,000 to the total package.
Base
$72,000
Equity
$9,000
Bonus
$6,000
Signing
$1,000
Estimated total: $88,000
How New Orleans compares.
New Orleans, LA
$72,000
Cost of living: 8% below average
National Average
$82,000
New Orleans is $10,000 below
Accountant salary by city.
Salary by role in New Orleans.
What you should know.
Here is what the Accountant market actually looks like in New Orleans. New Orleans has a distinctive economy shaped by energy, port operations, tourism, and a growing digital media sector. The city's creative and cultural industries are unique employment drivers. Post hurricane rebuilding has created ongoing demand in construction, engineering, and resilience planning roles. CPA licensure, industry specialization, and company size are the biggest factors. Public accounting at Big Four firms pays well at entry but demands long hours. Corporate accountants in tech and finance earn 10 to 20% more than those in other industries. Experience with complex areas like international tax, M&A, or revenue recognition commands premiums.
Staff accountants start at $52,000 to $68,000, advancing to senior accountant at $70,000 to $90,000 in two to three years. Accounting managers earn $90,000 to $120,000. Controllers reach $130,000 to $175,000, and CFOs at mid size companies earn $200,000 to $350,000. Public accounting partnership offers the highest ceiling. In New Orleans, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. Bonuses of 5 to 15% are typical in corporate roles, rising to 15 to 25%+ in public accounting at manager level. Benefits include CPA exam reimbursement, busy season bonuses, and in public firms, a path to partnership with profit sharing. Tech companies add equity grants of $5,000 to $25,000. And on the tax side: louisiana's top income tax rate is 4.25%. New Orleans has no city income tax. The moderate state rate and affordable living costs yield good take home pay. When someone quotes you $72,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Highlight energy sector or resilience engineering experience. New Orleans employers pay premiums for professionals who understand the region's unique environmental and infrastructure challenges. The range for Accountants in New Orleans runs from $57,000 to $94,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
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Common questions.
Accountant salary in other cities.
Other salaries in New Orleans.
Related salary pages
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Accountant Salary in New Orleans, LA." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/accountant/new-orleans
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