Accountant salary in Fort Smith, AR-OK

Pay in Fort Smith against Arkansas and the US

The middle half of accountants in Fort Smith earns $50,960–$84,850. The top tenth earns $108,330 or more, 2.4 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.6 times. The mean ($72,390) is 15% 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 $33,890 wide, against $36,380 across Arkansas and $42,790 nationally: employers in Fort Smith 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 $21,860 over the median, the 25th only $12,030 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $28,206 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 Fort Smith, and the Arkansas statewide median of $66,330 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Fort Smith

At the $62,990 median, a local hire costs about $81,277 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $18,287 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 Fort Smith

Of the 16 roles we track in Fort Smith, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($74,990); marketing specialists come next at $58,970.

Measured against the US median, accountants rank #10 of the 16 roles we track in Fort Smith (-24.7%), between payroll specialists (-22.2%) and marketing specialists (-25.1%). The typical role here is at -22.1%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Accountants hold 6.8% of the jobs in these 16 roles in Fort Smith, 7.4% across Arkansas and 9.2% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Arkansas

Across the 9 areas of Arkansas with data for this job, the median runs from $59,770 in Hot Springs to $77,190 in Fayetteville-Springdale, a gap of $17,420 a year. All 2 areas in Arkansas with more accountants than Fort Smith also pay more, among them Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR ($65,810) and Fayetteville-Springdale, AR ($77,190).

Fort Smith against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Fort Smith is #339 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 Arkansas, Terre Haute and Gadsden pay just above Fort Smith and Tallahassee just below. All four are within $1,150 a year of the median in Fort Smith. Of the three markets with about as many accountants, all three pay more.

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Sources

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