Accountant salary in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area

Pay in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area against Iowa and the US

The middle half of accountants in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area earns $58,930–$96,160. The top tenth earns $124,430 or more, 2.5 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.6 times. The mean ($81,530) is 8% 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 $37,230 wide, between the figure for Iowa ($36,060) and the US figure ($42,790).

What to budget for an accountant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $20,770 a year in pay and about $26,800 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $16,460 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 median and the 75th percentile in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area, and the Iowa statewide median of $77,440 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in the Southeast Iowa 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 $21,887 to the $75,390 median and brings it to $97,277 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 Southeast Iowa nonmetro area

Of the 17 roles we track in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($84,430); recruiters come next at $65,490.

Measured against the US median, accountants rank #8 of the 17 roles we track in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area (-9.9%), between customer support specialists (-8.8%) and office managers (-10.2%). The typical role here is at -10.2%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Accountants hold 9.4% of the jobs in these 17 roles in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area, 9.7% across Iowa and 9.1% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in Iowa

Across the 12 areas of Iowa with data for this job, the median runs from $70,190 in the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area to $79,320 in Ames, a gap of $9,130 a year. All 2 areas in Iowa with more accountants than the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area also pay more, among them Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA ($79,290) and Davenport-Moline, IA-IL ($77,600).

the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area is #147 of 521 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside Iowa, Abilene and Muskegon-Norton Shores pay just above the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area and Knoxville and Rockford just below. All four are within $130 a year of the median in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area. 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.