Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2003

43-3031 Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

Compute, classify, and record numerical data to keep financial records complete. Perform any combination of routine calculating, posting, and verifying duties to obtain primary financial data for use in maintaining accounting records. May also check the accuracy of figures, calculations, and postings pertaining to business transactions recorded by other workers.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
1,750,680 0.6 % $13.93 $28,980 0.2 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $8.59 $10.64 $13.35 $16.66 $20.44
Annual Wage (2) $17,860 $22,140 $27,760 $34,660 $42,510

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Accounting and bookkeeping services 86,930 $13.50 $28,070 1 198
Local government (OES designation) 75,030 $14.34 $29,820 2 131
Management of companies and enterprises 64,160 $14.34 $29,830 3 130
Depository credit intermediation 51,540 $12.30 $25,580 4 270
Employment services 41,120 $12.29 $25,570 5 271

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Internet publishing and broadcasting 320 $19.23 $40,000 269 1
Securities and commodity exchanges 70 $18.89 $39,290 289 2
Other financial investment activities 9,210 $18.47 $38,410 54 3
Natural gas distribution 1,330 $18.04 $37,530 196 4
Insurance and employee benefit funds 1,830 $17.62 $36,660 166 5

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
South Dakota 8,040 $10.75 $22,360 2.268% 369
Vermont 5,920 $13.33 $27,720 2.038% 331
North Dakota 6,360 $10.84 $22,550 2.025% 401
Wyoming 4,320 $11.31 $23,520 1.793% 351
Oregon 26,650 $14.16 $29,450 1.729% 423

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
District of Columbia 4,820 $17.70 $36,820 0.811% 286
Connecticut 26,150 $16.74 $34,820 1.594% 393
Alaska 4,890 $16.21 $33,720 1.673% 323
Massachusetts 44,860 $16.04 $33,350 1.413% 451
California 206,100 $15.87 $33,010 1.420% 481

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Rapid City, SD MSA 1,200 $10.73 $22,320 2.499%
Sarasota-Bradenton, FL MSA 6,490 $12.56 $26,120 2.352%
Bellingham, WA MSA 1,540 $13.82 $28,740 2.255%
Danbury, CT PMSA 1,880 $16.89 $35,130 2.111%
Casper, WY MSA 670 $11.22 $23,340 2.046%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Stamford-Norwalk, CT PMSA 3,850 $19.43 $40,410 1.923%
San Jose, CA PMSA 9,850 $18.64 $38,770 1.122%
San Francisco, CA PMSA 14,490 $18.51 $38,510 1.485%
Oakland, CA PMSA 12,540 $17.88 $37,180 1.233%
Santa Rosa, CA PMSA 3,070 $17.27 $35,910 1.610%

About May 2003 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

To see profiles of other occupations, select from the major groups below:

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files(XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

All Office and Administrative Support Occupations

2003 May National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2003 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: May 7, 2004