Bookkeeper salary in Grand Forks, ND-MN

Pay in Grand Forks against North Dakota and the US

The middle half of bookkeepers in Grand Forks earns $44,200–$59,590. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $66,040, only 1.8 times the bottom tenth, against 2.1 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $15,390 wide, between the figure for North Dakota ($14,240) and the US figure ($17,950).

What to budget for a bookkeeper here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $9,330 over the median, the 25th only $6,060 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $12,039 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 $50,670 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Grand Forks, and the North Dakota statewide median of $49,710 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Grand Forks

At the $50,260 median, a local hire costs about $64,852 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $14,592 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 bookkeepers 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 Grand Forks

Of the 14 roles we track in Grand Forks, this one ranks #8 by median pay, between payroll specialists ($59,010) and paralegals ($49,290). Project Coordinator is the highest at $90,140.

Measured against the US median, bookkeepers rank #5 of the 14 roles we track in Grand Forks (-0.8%), between administrative assistants (+0.8%) and office managers (-1.6%). The typical role here is at -4.2%, so, measured against the US, bookkeepers cost more in Grand Forks than the area's general pay level would suggest. Bookkeepers hold 13.2% of the jobs in these 14 roles in Grand Forks, 12.8% across North Dakota and 8.8% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in North Dakota

Across the 6 areas of North Dakota with data for this job, the median runs from $48,870 in the East North Dakota nonmetro area to $50,570 in Fargo, a gap of $1,700 a year. Of the 4 areas in North Dakota with more bookkeepers than Grand Forks, 3 pay less: the West North Dakota nonmetro area ($50,000), the East North Dakota nonmetro area ($48,870) and Bismarck, ND ($49,310).

Grand Forks against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Grand Forks is #422 of 521 US areas for this job. The market is small, but its pay is in the top quarter of US areas. Outside North Dakota, Miami-Fort Lauderdale and Coeur d'Alene pay just above Grand Forks and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton and Lewiston-Auburn just below. All four are within $70 a year of the median in Grand Forks. Of the three markets with about as many bookkeepers, one pays more.

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