Accountant salary in Grand Forks, ND-MN

Pay in Grand Forks against North Dakota and the US

Accountants at the 90th percentile earn $124,960, 2.5 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.6. The middle half of accountants in Grand Forks earns $61,250–$89,900. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $28,650 wide, against $34,820 across North Dakota and $42,790 nationally: employers in Grand Forks pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an accountant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $13,490 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $15,160, or about $19,561 once benefits are added. 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 Grand Forks, and the North Dakota statewide median of $75,730 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Grand Forks

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $21,699 to the $74,740 median and brings it to $96,439 a year. 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 Grand Forks

Of the 14 roles we track in Grand Forks, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($90,140); recruiters come next at $73,300.

Measured against the US median, accountants rank #9 of the 14 roles we track in Grand Forks (-10.7%), between customer support specialists (-4.9%) and project coordinators (-11.9%). The typical role here is at -4.2%, so, measured against the US, accountants cost less in Grand Forks than the area's general pay level would suggest. Accountants hold 11.4% of the jobs in these 14 roles in Grand Forks, 13.2% across North Dakota and 9.3% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in North Dakota

Across the 6 areas of North Dakota with data for this job, the median runs from $66,240 in the East North Dakota nonmetro area to $77,640 in the West North Dakota nonmetro area, a gap of $11,400 a year. Of the 4 areas in North Dakota with more accountants than Grand Forks, 1 pays less: the East North Dakota nonmetro area ($66,240).

Grand Forks against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Grand Forks is #383 of 521 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside North Dakota, Punta Gorda and Blacksburg-Christiansburg pay just above Grand Forks and Rome and Houma-Bayou Cane just below. All four are within $120 a year of the median in Grand Forks. Of the three markets with about as many accountants, two pay more.

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Sources

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