Accountant salary in Trenton-Princeton, NJ

Pay in Trenton-Princeton against New Jersey and the US

Accountants at the 90th percentile earn $154,650, 2.3 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.6. The middle half of accountants in Trenton-Princeton earns $79,940–$125,180. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $45,240 wide, between the figure for New Jersey ($48,960) and the US figure ($42,790).

What to budget for an accountant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $25,630 a year in pay and about $33,071 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $19,610 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 25th percentile and the median in Trenton-Princeton, and the New Jersey statewide median of $100,830 falls between the median and the 75th percentile.

What a hire really costs in Trenton-Princeton

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 $28,902 to the $99,550 median and brings it to $128,452 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 Trenton-Princeton

Of the 17 roles we track in Trenton-Princeton, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($113,750); marketing specialists come next at $82,110.

Measured against the US median, this job is the best paid of the 17 roles we track in Trenton-Princeton (+19.0%); payroll specialists come last (-5.8%). The typical role here is at +7.1%, so, measured against the US, accountants cost more in Trenton-Princeton than the area's general pay level would suggest. Accountants hold 11.2% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Trenton-Princeton, 8.8% across New Jersey and 9.1% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in New Jersey

Across the 3 areas of New Jersey with data for this job, the median runs from $82,960 in Vineland to $99,550 in Trenton-Princeton, a gap of $16,590 a year. No other area in New Jersey has as many accountants, and both others pay less.

Trenton-Princeton against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Trenton-Princeton is #73 of 521 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job and one of the better-paying ones. Outside New Jersey, Napa and Boulder pay just above Trenton-Princeton and Seattle-Tacoma and San Diego-Chula Vista just below. Of the three markets with about as many accountants, none pays as much.

Questions

Sources

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