Accountant salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA

Pay in Waterloo-Cedar Falls against Iowa and the US

Accountants at the 90th percentile earn $122,140, 2.5 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.6. The middle half of accountants in Waterloo-Cedar Falls earns $59,790–$94,330. The mean ($80,970) 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 $34,540 wide, against $36,060 across Iowa and $42,790 nationally: employers in Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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 $20,800 over the median, the 25th only $13,740 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $26,839 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, and the Iowa statewide median of $77,440 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Waterloo-Cedar Falls

At the $73,530 median, a local hire costs about $94,877 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $21,347 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls

Of the 17 roles we track in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($81,600); marketing specialists come next at $64,000.

Measured against the US median, accountants rank #9 of the 17 roles we track in Waterloo-Cedar Falls (-12.1%), between customer support specialists (-11.7%) and office managers (-13.1%). The typical role here is at -12.1%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Accountants hold 8.4% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, 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 7 areas in Iowa with more accountants than Waterloo-Cedar Falls also pay more, among them Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA ($79,290) and Davenport-Moline, IA-IL ($77,600).

Waterloo-Cedar Falls against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Waterloo-Cedar Falls is #332 of 521 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside Iowa, Columbus and Paducah pay just above Waterloo-Cedar Falls and Minot and Valdosta just below. All four are within $120 a year of the median in Waterloo-Cedar Falls. 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.