Accountant.
St. Louis.
$74,000
median salary, 10% below the national average
$59,000 to $95,000. Last updated August 2026.
Get the job.
Data points to own the conversation.
Accountant pay in St. Louis ranges from $59,000 to $95,000 in 2026. The median is $74,000, 10% below the national average. St. Every dollar in that range is negotiable if you come prepared. 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 St. Louis, 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 $78,880 for Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011) in the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, based on 13,610 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$51,040
25th percentile
$62,470
Median
$78,880
75th percentile
$101,410
90th percentile
$130,340
Workers surveyed
13,610
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 St. Louis 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 $67,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$48,000
to $59,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$63,000
to $78,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$81,000
to $96,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$93,000
to $115,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $16,000 to the total package.
Base
$74,000
Equity
$9,000
Bonus
$6,000
Signing
$1,000
Estimated total: $90,000
How St. Louis compares.
St. Louis, MO
$74,000
Cost of living: 10% below average
National Average
$82,000
St. Louis is $8,000 below
Accountant salary by city.
Salary by role in St. Louis.
What you should know.
Before you negotiate an Accountant offer in St. Louis, understand the terrain. St. Louis offers one of the most affordable major metro areas in the country, with a strong base in healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing. The region's anchor employers include Boeing, Centene, and Washington University's medical campus. A growing biotech and plant sciences corridor centered on the Cortex Innovation District is attracting new investment and talent. 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 St. Louis, 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: missouri's top income tax rate is about 4.8%, and St. Louis City adds a 1% earnings tax. The low base cost of living means your after tax salary still stretches further than in most metros. When someone quotes you $74,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Emphasize your willingness to work in person at Cortex or the BJC campus. St. Louis employers offer higher packages for candidates who commit to the local innovation hubs. The range for Accountants in St. Louis runs from $59,000 to $95,000. 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
Considering a related role?
- A Respiratory Therapist in St. Louis earns $75,000 (1% more)
- The highest-paying role in St. Louis is CTO at $278,000
Common questions.
Accountant salary in other cities.
Other salaries in St. Louis.
Related salary pages
Jump to nearby roles and cities most relevant to Accountants in St. Louis.
Related tools.
Do you work as an accountant in St. Louis?
Your individual figure is never published. Submissions appear only as aggregate percentiles, and nothing is shown for a role and city until at least five people have reported. It is stored against your account, which is what keeps the dataset clean.
Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Accountant Salary in St. Louis, MO." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/accountant/st-louis
Want this data on your site? Embed the salary widget. One script tag, free forever.
Related tools