Industry · NAICS 5412

Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services

The United States has 137,069 employer establishments in accounting, tax preparation and payroll services (4.1 per 10,000 residents), employing 1,297,995 people at an average annual pay of $76,876, plus 405,112 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
137,069
405,112 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
4.1
Paid employees
1,297,995
Average annual pay
$76,876

Places ranked by residents per establishment

Places ranked by residents per establishment: more residents for each business, fewer competitors per resident. A count, not a measure of demand: retirement areas, low incomes or tourism change what a business needs.

Places
State
Size
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1Jacksonville, NC210,955297,2741.40.34×330$30,491141
2Salem, OH100,060147,1471.40.34×83$31,86780
3Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI176,299286,2961.60.39×261$66,368126
4Morristown, TN124,431206,2221.60.39×103$52,990108
5Clarksville, TN-KY340,083556,1831.60.40×602$42,450252
6Danville, VA101,712175,9831.70.41×111$49,62256
7Johnstown, PA130,590225,9361.70.41×210$64,57695
8Hanford-Corcoran, CA153,197275,6741.80.43×172$39,33194
9Merced, CA294,319535,5531.80.44×306$36,160188
10Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA181,422335,4981.80.45×154$56,857103
11Anderson Creek, NC141,772265,4531.80.45×116$42,595114
12Sandusky, OH113,596215,4091.80.45×111$54,243103
13Monroe, MI155,563295,3641.90.46×124$30,048119
14Las Cruces, NM225,966435,2551.90.47×257$45,163160
15Elizabethtown, KY127,637255,10520.48×99$51,52595
16Wildwood-The Villages, FL151,889305,06320.49×53$36,755249
17Fond du Lac, WI104,349214,96920.49×147$64,75560
18Auburn-Opelika, AL202,368414,93620.50×232$55,034163
19Killeen-Temple, TX502,4971024,92620.50×418$57,043347
20Champaign-Urbana, IL238,586494,8692.10.50×415$52,853163
21Michigan City-La Porte, IN111,144234,8322.10.51×110$63,92793
22College Station-Bryan, TX283,278594,8012.10.51×378$57,386240
23Jackson, TN182,442384,8012.10.51×275$33,011160
24Cookeville, TN148,324314,7852.10.51×131$49,282175
25Ithaca, NY104,453224,7482.10.52×170$49,17181

1–25 of 398 places

Sources: County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024).

  • Residents per establishment is the place's population estimate for 2023 divided by its establishments; more residents per business means fewer competitors per resident. Places with fewer than the minimum establishments are left out because a handful of businesses makes the ratio jump around.
  • Metro areas are made of whole counties and their figures are the exact sums of those counties'. A metro area is listed under its principal state.
  • This compares counts of businesses with counts of residents. It does not measure demand, spending power, visitors, the size or quality of the businesses, or whether a market is open. Employment and payroll carry the Census Bureau's noise infusion.
  • County Business Patterns 2023 uses NAICS 2017 codes; the nonemployer figures use NAICS 2022. Industries are matched by name between editions.
  • Growth needs a second reference year of County Business Patterns in the same industry classification; only 2023 is loaded, so there is no growth column yet.

Federal contracts in this industry

Federal agencies obligated $1.4B on contracts under NAICS 5412 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (1,313 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$1.1B78%
    779 awards
  2. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$64.5M4.5%
    69 awards
  3. Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA$47M3.3%
    3 awards
  4. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD$36.7M2.6%
    47 awards
  5. Charleston-North Charleston, SC$29.8M2.1%
    45 awards
  6. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH$24.3M1.7%
    4 awards
  7. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC$19.5M1.4%
    5 awards
  8. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL$11.9M0.8%
    2 awards
  9. Kansas City, MO-KS$10.9M0.8%
    15 awards
  10. Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN$6.3M0.4%
    2 awards

Counties

  1. District of Columbia, DC$498.9M35%
    348 awards
  2. Fairfax County, VA$361.3M25%
    147 awards
  3. Alexandria city, VA$115.4M8.1%
    98 awards
  4. New York County, NY$64.5M4.5%
    69 awards
  5. Arlington County, VA$63.2M4.4%
    43 awards
  6. Black Hawk County, IA$47M3.3%
    3 awards
  7. Montgomery County, MD$39.5M2.8%
    78 awards
  8. Charleston County, SC$29.8M2.1%
    45 awards
  9. Durham County, NC$19.5M1.4%
    5 awards
  10. Prince George's County, MD$19.4M1.4%
    54 awards

Cities and towns

  1. Washington city, DC$498.9M35%
    348 awards
  2. McLean CDP, VA$231.3M16%
    99 awards
  3. Alexandria city, VA$115.4M8.1%
    98 awards
  4. New York city, NY$64.4M4.5%
    69 awards
  5. Arlington CDP, VA$63.2M4.4%
    43 awards
  6. Tysons CDP, VA$56.5M4.0%
    110 awards
  7. Great Falls CDP, VA$31.4M2.2%
    98 awards
  8. North Charleston city, SC$26.7M1.9%
    45 awards
  9. Braintree Town city, MA$13.8M1.0%
    1 award
  10. Cedar Falls city, IA$13.2M0.9%
    3 awards

Where the work was performed, as agencies report it (often the contractor's office). Metro areas are the exact sums of their counties. Cities are estimated: each action's county money split by the share of its ZIP code's land inside the city, so a city's figure is part of its county's.

USAspending.gov, prime award contract transactions (FPDS)