Accountant salary in Louisville, KY-IN

Pay in Louisville against Kentucky and the US

The middle half of accountants in Louisville earns $62,760–$97,470. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $121,630, only 2.3 times the bottom tenth, against 2.6 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $34,710 wide, against $35,740 across Kentucky and $42,790 nationally: employers in Louisville 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 $21,150 over the median, the 25th only $13,560 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $27,290 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 Louisville, and the Kentucky statewide median of $75,270 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Louisville

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 $22,157 to the $76,320 median and brings it to $98,477 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 Louisville

Of the 17 roles we track in Louisville, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($82,660); recruiters come next at $71,880.

Measured against the US median, accountants rank #12 of the 17 roles we track in Louisville (-8.8%), between customer support specialists (-7.1%) and virtual receptionists (-9.2%). The typical role here is at -5.6%, so, measured against the US, accountants cost less in Louisville than the area's general pay level would suggest. Accountants hold 6.8% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Louisville, 6.0% across Kentucky and 9.1% 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. No other area in Kentucky has as many accountants, and 7 of the other 9 pay less.

Louisville against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Louisville is #54 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 Kentucky, Gulfport-Biloxi and Eau Claire pay just above Louisville and Tucson and Saginaw just below. All four are within $60 a year of the median in Louisville. 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.