Accountant salary in the East Kentucky nonmetro area

Pay in the East Kentucky nonmetro area against Kentucky and the US

Accountants at the 90th percentile earn $112,950, 2.7 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.6. The middle half of accountants in the East Kentucky nonmetro area earns $53,900–$89,330. The mean ($73,540) is 14% 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 only $35,430 wide, against $35,740 across Kentucky and $42,790 nationally: employers in the East Kentucky nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an accountant here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $24,880 over the median, the 25th only $10,550 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $32,103 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 the East Kentucky nonmetro area, and the Kentucky statewide median of $75,270 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in the East Kentucky nonmetro area

At the $64,450 median, a local hire costs about $83,161 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $18,711 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 the East Kentucky nonmetro area

Of the 16 roles we track in the East Kentucky nonmetro area, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($78,100); office managers come next at $54,900.

Measured against the US median, accountants rank #9 of the 16 roles we track in the East Kentucky nonmetro area (-23.0%), between paralegals (-22.4%) and medical administrative assistants (-23.1%). The typical role here is at -22.7%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Accountants hold 5.1% of the jobs in these 16 roles in the East Kentucky nonmetro area, 6.0% across Kentucky and 9.2% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Kentucky

Across the 10 areas of Kentucky with data for this job, the median runs from $64,450 in the East Kentucky nonmetro area to $77,800 in Owensboro, a gap of $13,350 a year. All 5 areas in Kentucky with more accountants than the East Kentucky nonmetro area also pay more, among them Louisville, KY-IN ($76,320) and Lexington-Fayette, KY ($77,780).

the East Kentucky nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the East Kentucky nonmetro area is #382 of 521 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Kentucky, McAllen-Edinburg and Alexandria pay just above the East Kentucky nonmetro area and Jefferson City and Cape Girardeau just below. All four are within $440 a year of the median in the East Kentucky nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many accountants, all three pay more.

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