Accountant salary in the South Illinois nonmetro area

Pay in the South Illinois nonmetro area against Illinois and the US

The middle half of accountants in the South Illinois nonmetro area earns $55,550–$82,840. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $104,140, 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 $27,290 wide, against $35,980 across Illinois and $42,790 nationally: employers in the South Illinois nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an accountant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $13,110 a year in pay and about $16,916 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $14,180 in pay. 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 75th and 90th percentiles in the South Illinois nonmetro area, and the Illinois statewide median of $80,230 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local accountants earn.

What a hire really costs in the South Illinois nonmetro area

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 $20,244 to the $69,730 median and brings it to $89,974 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 the South Illinois nonmetro area

Of the 16 roles we track in the South Illinois nonmetro area, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($91,680); recruiters come next at $63,380.

Measured against the US median, accountants rank #9 of the 16 roles we track in the South Illinois nonmetro area (-16.7%), between recruiters (-16.5%) and office managers (-17.1%). The typical role here is at -16.6%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Accountants hold 7.0% of the jobs in the 15 of these roles with a job count in the South Illinois nonmetro area, 9.2% across Illinois and 9.4% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Illinois

Across the 12 areas of Illinois with data for this job, the median runs from $69,670 in Champaign-Urbana to $86,440 in Springfield, a gap of $16,770 a year. All 6 areas in Illinois with more accountants than the South Illinois nonmetro area also pay more, among them Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN ($82,360) and Springfield, IL ($86,440).

the South Illinois nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the South Illinois nonmetro area is #265 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 Illinois, Johnstown and Williamsport pay just above the South Illinois nonmetro area and Texarkana and Columbia just below. All four are within $520 a year of the median in the South Illinois nonmetro area. 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.