Accountant salary in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA

Pay in Kingsport-Bristol against Tennessee and the US

Accountants at the 90th percentile earn $122,020, 2.4 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.6. The middle half of accountants in Kingsport-Bristol earns $60,290–$98,470. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $38,180 wide, between the figure for Tennessee ($32,360) and the US figure ($42,790).

What to budget for an accountant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $15,650 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $22,530, or about $29,071 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 Kingsport-Bristol, and the Tennessee statewide median of $76,840 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Kingsport-Bristol

At the $75,940 median, a local hire costs about $97,987 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $22,047 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 Kingsport-Bristol

Of the 17 roles we track in Kingsport-Bristol, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($87,290); marketing specialists come next at $65,420.

Measured against the US median, this job is the best paid of the 17 roles we track in Kingsport-Bristol (-9.2%); executive assistants come last (-24.6%). The typical role here is at -14.9%, so, measured against the US, accountants cost more in Kingsport-Bristol than the area's general pay level would suggest. Accountants hold 6.8% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Kingsport-Bristol, 7.5% across Tennessee and 9.1% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Tennessee

Across the 14 areas of Tennessee with data for this job, the median runs from $64,710 in Johnson City to $78,080 in Nashville-Murfreesboro, a gap of $13,370 a year. Of the 4 areas in Tennessee with more accountants than Kingsport-Bristol, 1 pays less: Knoxville, TN ($75,380).

Kingsport-Bristol against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Kingsport-Bristol is #249 of 521 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside Tennessee, Lewiston-Auburn and Battle Creek pay just above Kingsport-Bristol and Athens-Clarke County and Palm Bay-Melbourne just below. All four are within $90 a year of the median in Kingsport-Bristol. Of the three markets with about as many accountants, one pays more.

Questions

Sources

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