Bookkeeper Salary in 2027: Hourly Pay, Annual Range and the Outlook

If you’re looking at bookkeeping, the median pay is $50,670 a year, or $24.36 an hour, in BLS May 2025 data for bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks. Most bookkeepers earn between $43,520 and $61,470. The pay is modest, but you can get in with less schooling than almost anywhere else in the field.

What Is the Hourly Bookkeeper Salary?

A lot of bookkeeping jobs pay by the hour, so start there. The median is $24.36 an hour and the mean is $25.75. Over a full-time year, that matches the $50,670 median and the $53,560 mean.

The lowest-paid tenth earn under $36,000, and the highest-paid tenth earn over $74,550. BLS counted 1,373,680 people in this group, so the numbers rest on a large base.

Why Is the Mean Higher Than the Median?

A few bookkeepers at the top pull the mean up. But the gap here is small, since the mean is $53,560 and the median is $50,670. That tells you pay in this job is tightly bunched. You won’t see many big outliers the way you do in accounting.

The 90th percentile is $74,550, which is still below the accountant median of $83,680. Put simply, the ceiling for a clerk sits under the middle of the accountant pay range. That’s the main reason to think about a degree.

How Does a Bookkeeper Salary Vary by State?

State to state, the spread is narrower than it is for accountants, which makes sense for clerical work. The District of Columbia has the highest median at $65,180. Among the states, Connecticut has a median of $59,970 and Massachusetts has $59,830.

The most jobs are in other places, though. California has 151,870 bookkeepers, Texas has 122,400 and Florida has 88,670. Texas pays a median of $48,910 and Florida pays $49,330, both a little under the national figure. New York has 84,280 jobs at $58,160.

At the other end, Alabama has a median of $44,640 and West Virginia has $42,890. Arkansas and Mississippi both have $42,840. The state table on this page lists the rest, so look up yours before you decide what a fair offer is.

What Does a Bookkeeper Do for This Pay?

According to BLS, you’d use bookkeeping software, spreadsheets and databases. You’d enter financial transactions, process cash, checks and vouchers, and assign debits and credits to the right accounts. You’d also create balance sheets and income statements, check the numbers for accuracy, and report any discrepancies you find.

Here’s how a day tends to run. You open the bank feed and match it against yesterday’s entries. You code a stack of invoices to the right accounts and process the checks that are due.

Then you reconcile one account that doesn’t balance, and you chase down the missing receipt that explains it. By the end of the week you’ve put together a balance sheet and an income statement for the owner or the accountant.

It’s detailed, repetitive work, and mistakes carry weight because other people rely on your records. The pay reflects a job that follows set rules and doesn’t ask for a license or a degree. Once you start reviewing the accounts and recommending changes, that’s accountant work, and it pays more. Our accountant salary page shows the median there is $83,680.

Is the Bookkeeper Job Outlook as Weak as It Sounds?

It’s mixed, so look at both numbers. BLS expects bookkeeping employment to fall 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, which is 85,600 fewer jobs. Software handles more of the routine entry work each year, so fewer people are needed to do it.

But BLS also expects 144,100 openings over the same stretch. People retire, change careers or move up, and each one leaves a seat open. So the field is shrinking while hiring continues. If you want long-term security, plan to grow into a role the software can’t do.

How Can You Raise a Bookkeeper Salary?

You have three routes, and they take more effort as you go down the list:

1. Move to a better-paying market. Washington pays a median of $58,620 and New Jersey pays $58,300.
2. Add skills. Our accounting certificate guide covers short programs that add credentials to your resume.
3. Finish a degree. BLS says a bachelor’s is the typical entry education for accountants. A bachelor’s in accounting moves you out of the clerk group.

The third route has the biggest payoff, and you don’t have to stop working to take it. Plenty of accounting degrees are built for working adults, and our working adults list shows which ones fit. Check costs on our cheapest programs list first.

Where Does a Bookkeeper Salary Fit in an Accounting Career?

It sits at the start. Plenty of people use bookkeeping to get into the field while they study. Our entry level accounting jobs guide covers the other first jobs you could take, and the accounting degree jobs overview shows what each one pays.