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Accountants and Auditors vs Actuaries: which pays more in 2026
$44,643 median pay gap, actuaries over accountants
Actuaries earn a $131,070 median vs $86,427 for Accountants and Auditors in 2025-2026. We break down the $44,643 gap, credential timelines, and which path pays more.
TL;DR
- Actuaries earned a national median of $131,070 in May 2024 (BLS OES). Accountants and Auditors earned $86,427 in 2025 (BLS OES, RateOrchard derived).
- The gap is $44,643 per year in raw terms. Cost of living and career path length close it, but do not eliminate it.
- Actuaries require credentialing exams that take 5-10 years. Accountants can reach full pay with a CPA in 2-3 years post-degree.
- If you want higher ceiling pay, the actuarial path wins. If you want faster entry and broader job availability, accounting wins by a wide margin.
- Next step: Use the RateOrchard salary tool to run your metro against the national figures before you decide.
The Numbers, Side by Side
The headline comparison starts with federal wage data. Both figures below come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Accountants and Auditors: national median $86,427 in 2025 (BLS OES, RateOrchard derived national). Actuaries: national median $131,070 in May 2024 (BLS OES, retrieved 2026-05-22).
The mean tells a different story at the top end. For Accountants and Auditors, the mean annual wage is $94,752, which means a right-skewed tail of high earners (CFOs, Big 4 partners) pulls the average up by roughly $8,325. The actuarial mean sits above $160,000, reflecting a thinner workforce with concentrated high-earners in insurance and reinsurance.
| Metric | Accountants & Auditors | Actuaries |
|---|---|---|
| National median wage | $86,427 | $131,070 |
| National mean wage | $94,752 | ~$160,000+ |
| Total employed (national) | 1,449,490 | ~29,000 |
| Projected growth (to 2034) | 4.6% | ~22% |
| Typical entry education | Bachelor's | Bachelor's |
| Credentialing timeline | 1-3 yrs (CPA) | 5-10 yrs (FSA/FCAS) |
Actuary employment and mean figures from BLS OES May 2024. Accountant figures from BLS OES 2025 (RateOrchard derived).
The raw gap is $44,643 per year. That number does most of the work in this comparison.
What These Numbers Do Not Say
BLS OES national medians are a blunt instrument. Three caveats apply here.
First, the Actuaries figure is May 2024; the Accountants and Auditors figure is a 2025 RateOrchard-derived national estimate. They are not from the same release year. The directional gap is accurate; the exact dollar spread may shift slightly when BLS publishes the full May 2025 OES file.
Second, the actuarial median covers all credential levels, from exam-one candidates to fully credentialed Fellows. Entry-level actuarial analysts earn closer to $70,000-$85,000, which overlaps almost entirely with entry-level accounting roles. The gap opens only after credentialing.
Third, BLS OES suppresses small-cell estimates in some state-level tables. The national actuary figure is reliable; state-level actuary figures in low-density states (Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota) are often suppressed. Do not use a suppressed state figure as your benchmark — pull the full national table instead.
The Decision Frame
Career Timeline Comparison
The pay gap only materializes if you complete the credential. Here is how the two paths look in real time.
Accountants and Auditors path:
- Year 1: Entry-level staff accountant, ~$55,000-$65,000
- Year 2-3: CPA exam completed (4 sections, roughly 300-400 study hours total), salary moves to ~$70,000-$85,000
- Year 5: Senior accountant or manager, ~$90,000-$115,000
- Year 10: Controller, Director of Finance, or public accounting manager, $110,000-$160,000+
Actuaries path:
- Year 1: Actuarial analyst, ~$70,000-$85,000 (with 1-2 exams passed)
- Year 3-5: Associate credential (ASA/ACAS), salary jumps to ~$110,000-$130,000
- Year 7-10: Fellow credential (FSA/FCAS), $150,000-$200,000+
- Year 10: Senior actuary or Chief Actuary, $180,000-$250,000+
The crossover point is approximately Year 5. Before that, the paths earn comparably.
Where You Work Changes Everything
Industry placement shifts the comparison as much as the credential does.
| Industry | Accountant Median | Actuary Median |
|---|---|---|
| Finance & Insurance | ~$100,000 | ~$138,000 |
| Government (federal) | ~$92,000 | ~$125,000 |
| Management consulting | ~$105,000 | ~$145,000 |
| Healthcare | ~$85,000 | ~$130,000 |
| Manufacturing | ~$82,000 | limited sample |
Industry-level figures are BLS OES May 2024 industry cross-tabulations. "Limited sample" means BLS did not publish a reliable estimate for that cell.
Cost-of-Living Adjustment
Raw salary comparisons between metros mislead. A $131,070 actuary salary in Des Moines, Iowa is worth more than the same salary in Hartford, Connecticut after housing.
Run the cost-of-living adjustment calculator with your origin and target metro before making a relocation decision. The BEA Regional Price Parities (2023) show a spread of roughly 15-20% between mid-cost and high-cost metros for professional salaries.
Three non-pay factors that matter in this comparison:
- Job availability. Accountants and Auditors number 1,449,490 nationally. Actuaries number roughly 29,000. An accounting job exists in every mid-size city. An actuarial job often means Hartford, Chicago, New York, or Des Moines.
- Remote work penetration. Accounting roles, especially in audit and tax, have moved substantially remote post-2020. Actuarial roles have followed, but the smaller market means fewer remote postings per geographic area.
- Licensing reciprocity. The CPA license is state-issued but widely reciprocal. Actuarial credentials (SOA, CAS) are national and employer-portable without state filing.
Job Market Size and Stability
The Accountants and Auditors salary page shows the full state-by-state breakdown, but the national employment story is worth stating plainly here.
At 1,449,490 employed, Accountants and Auditors is one of the largest single professional occupations in the US economy. BLS projects 4.6% growth from 2024 to 2034, in line with average for all occupations (BLS Employment Projections).
Actuaries project growth closer to 22% over the same period, but off a much smaller base. In absolute terms, that is fewer than 6,000 additional positions over a decade. Accounting will add roughly 67,000 positions over the same period.
Volume matters when you're job-hunting. A 22% growth rate on 29,000 jobs does not beat a 4.6% growth rate on 1,449,490 jobs for a new graduate without a credential yet.
Who Should Choose Which Path
This is not a binary answer. The right path depends on three personal variables.
Choose the actuarial path if:
- You scored well in probability and statistics coursework
- You are willing to study for credentialing exams for 5-10 years while working
- You are comfortable with geographic concentration in your job search
- Your target total compensation in 10 years is above $175,000
Choose the accounting path if:
- You want to reach median professional pay ($86,427) within 3 years of graduation
- You value job market breadth, including smaller cities and diverse industries
- You prefer a credential (CPA) that can be completed alongside a full-time job in under 3 years
- You want a career with a defined senior-management track (CFO, Controller) beyond pure technical work
The hybrid option: Some professionals earn a CPA, work 5-7 years in finance or insurance, then pursue actuarial exams. This is unusual, but it exists in insurance finance roles.
For a full breakdown of how to enter the accounting field, see how to become an accountant or auditor.
Sources and Methodology
| Source | Observation Date | What We Used |
|---|---|---|
| BLS OES, Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011) | 2025 (RateOrchard derived national) | Median and mean annual wage, total employment |
| BLS OES, Actuaries (SOC 15-2011) | May 2024 | Median annual wage, employment total |
| BLS Employment Projections | 2024-2034 projection cycle | Growth percent, employment base and projected |
| O*NET Online, SOC 13-2011 | 2026 | Education requirements, job zone, credential detail |
| BEA Regional Price Parities | 2023 | Cost-of-living adjustment framing |
We joined BLS OES national figures to O*NET education and credential data. We did not adjust the BLS medians for inflation between the 2024 and 2025 observation dates. Industry-level medians in the comparison table are BLS OES May 2024 industry cross-tabulations and are approximate where cell sizes are small. The actuary mean wage is described as approximate because the BLS top-codes cells near the survey ceiling.
FAQ
How much more do actuaries make than accountants?
At the national median, actuaries earn $131,070 versus $86,427 for Accountants and Auditors. That is a gap of roughly $44,643 per year. The gap is smaller at entry level, where an actuarial analyst without full credentialing earns in the same range as a staff accountant. The full gap opens after the actuary completes associate-level credentials, typically 4-6 years into the career.
Is becoming an actuary worth it compared to accounting?
It depends on your time preference and risk tolerance. The actuarial credential takes 5-10 years to complete while working, with no guaranteed salary bump until each exam milestone is passed. Accounting's CPA can be completed in 1-3 years. If you stay in the field for 15+ years and complete credentialing, the actuarial path produces materially higher total lifetime earnings. For a 10-year horizon, the gap narrows significantly.
Can an accountant become an actuary?
Yes, though it requires sitting for Society of Actuaries (SOA) or Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) exams, which have no accounting prerequisite. The math foundation matters more than the accounting credential. Some professionals with a CPA do pursue actuarial exams, particularly those working in insurance finance or risk management where the career paths intersect.
Which career has better job security: accounting or actuary?
Both are stable. Accounting has the advantage of scale: 1,449,490 employed nationally means demand is distributed across every industry and geography. Actuarial roles are concentrated in insurance and finance in a small number of cities. BLS projects 4.6% growth for accounting and roughly 22% for actuaries through 2034, but accounting adds far more absolute positions. For raw job-market resilience, accounting wins on availability.
What states pay accountants the most?
BLS OES state-level data shows the highest accountant medians in California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Washington. For state-specific figures with cost-of-living context, see the Accountants and Auditors salary page.
Do actuaries or accountants have a better work-life balance?
BLS and O*NET do not publish work-life balance scores. Anecdotally, public accounting (Big 4 audit and tax) is known for high hours during busy season (January-April). Actuarial roles in insurance tend toward more regular hours outside of annual reserve cycles. Neither generalization holds universally across employers and roles.