Accountant salary in the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area

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

The middle half of accountants in the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area earns $57,670–$90,840. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $104,100, only 2.2 times the bottom tenth, against 2.6 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. The mean ($77,080) is 10% 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 only $33,170 wide, against $36,060 across Iowa and $42,790 nationally: employers in the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area 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 $20,650 over the median, the 25th only $12,520 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $26,645 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 the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area, and the Iowa statewide median of $77,440 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area

At the $70,190 median, a local hire costs about $90,568 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $20,378 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 the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area

Of the 15 roles we track in the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($84,560); recruiters come next at $63,060.

Measured against the US median, accountants rank #8 of the 15 roles we track in the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area (-16.1%), between medical administrative assistants (-14.5%) and recruiters (-17.0%). The typical role here is at -16.1%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Accountants hold 8.9% of the jobs in the 14 of these roles with a job count in the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area, 9.9% across Iowa and 9.3% 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 11 areas in Iowa with more accountants than the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area also pay more, among them Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA ($79,290) and Davenport-Moline, IA-IL ($77,600).

the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area is #388 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 Iowa, Shreveport-Bossier City and Scranton-Wilkes-Barre pay just above the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area and Lake Charles and Erie just below. All four are within $290 a year of the median in the Southwest Iowa nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many accountants, all three pay more.

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