Accountant salary in Charleston-North Charleston, SC

Pay in Charleston-North Charleston against South Carolina and the US

The middle half of accountants in Charleston-North Charleston earns $65,380–$104,460. The top tenth earns $138,620 or more, 2.6 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.6 times. The mean ($91,850) is 16% over the median, so a group of high earners pulls the average up; price a typical hire from the median. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $39,080 wide, between the figure for South Carolina ($36,980) and the US figure ($42,790).

What to budget for an accountant here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $25,110 over the median, the 25th only $13,970 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $32,400 a year in employer cost. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $83,680 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Charleston-North Charleston, and the South Carolina statewide median of $76,560 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Charleston-North Charleston

At the $79,350 median, a local hire costs about $102,387 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $23,037 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for accountants we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Charleston-North Charleston

Of the 17 roles we track in Charleston-North Charleston, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($94,730); recruiters come next at $70,580.

Measured against the US median, accountants rank #9 of the 17 roles we track in Charleston-North Charleston (-5.2%), between office managers (-5.2%) and HR assistants (-5.5%). The typical role here is at -5.2%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Accountants hold 6.0% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Charleston-North Charleston, 6.1% across South Carolina and 9.1% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in South Carolina

Across the 11 areas of South Carolina with data for this job, the median runs from $68,070 in the Southern South Carolina nonmetro area to $79,350 in Charleston-North Charleston, a gap of $11,280 a year. All 2 areas in South Carolina with more accountants than Charleston-North Charleston pay less, among them Columbia, SC ($69,210) and Greenville-Anderson, SC ($76,870).

Charleston-North Charleston against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Charleston-North Charleston is #81 of 521 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside South Carolina, Visalia and Cape Coral-Fort Myers pay just above Charleston-North Charleston and Ames and Des Moines-West Des Moines just below. All four are within $70 a year of the median in Charleston-North Charleston. Of the three markets with about as many accountants, one pays more.

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How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.