Concentration of tax preparers and accountants and auditors in 2015

It’s April and that means it’s time to file your taxes! Did you hire a tax preparer or accountant this year? In May 2015, Georgia had the highest concentration of tax preparers among states and Washington, DC, had the highest concentration of accountants and auditors. We measure this concentration with the location quotient. A location quotient greater than 1.00 means the occupation has a higher share of state employment than the national average. Georgia had a location quotient of 1.74 for tax preparers and Washington, DC, had a location quotient of 1.81 for accountants and auditors.

In May 2015, there were 1,226,910 people employed as accountants and auditors and 72,060 employed as tax preparers nationwide. After Georgia, tax preparers were most concentrated in Oregon (location quotient of 1.62), Alaska (1.41), and Michigan (1.35). In the United States, the average annual wage for tax preparers was $44,730, compared to $75,280 for accountants and auditors. Wages were higher for accountants and auditors than for tax preparers in every state for which data are available.

After Washington, DC, accountants and auditors were most concentrated in Colorado (location quotient of 1.55), Delaware (1.44), and New York (1.27). In each of these states, wages for accountants and auditors averaged more than $74,000 per year.

These data come from the Occupational Employment Statistics program. To learn more, see, "Occupational Employment and Wages — May 2015" (HTML) (PDF) and state and area occupational location quotient charts. The location quotient is the ratio of an occupation’s share of total state employment to the national average employment share.