What Accountants and Auditors earn in Erie County, NY
The median pay for Accountants and Auditors in Erie County, NY is $82,120 per year, which works out to $39.48 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY metropolitan area, the labor market that Erie County, NY belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $91,190, which is 11.0% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 4,870 people working in this occupation across the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Erie County, NY has roughly 950,622 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Accountants and Auditors in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $56,550 a year ($27.19 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $135,370 or more ($65.08 an hour). That is a gap of $78,820 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $66,290 at the 25th percentile and $104,160 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.4 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $39.48 an hour or $82,120 a year at the median for Erie County, NY. Before any deductions, that is $6,843 a month, $3,158 every two weeks and $1,579 each week. After taxes the same job pays $30.01 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Accountants and Auditors
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Accountants and Auditors this way: "Examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others. Install or advise on systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Prepare detailed reports on audit findings"; "Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities"; "Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies"; "Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions".
Job outlook for Accountants and Auditors
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,595,200 jobs in 2025 to 1,674,600 in 2035, a change of +5%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 115,300 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 7.2% of current employment each year. About 5.5% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $83,680 for this occupation; the Erie County, NY median of $82,120 is 1.9% below it.
How pay in Erie County, NY compares
Compared with the New York average
Pay in Erie County, NY runs $19,307 below the New York average of $101,427, a gap of 19.0%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of New York would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within New York, the highest median we track for this job is $105,650 in Kings County, NY.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Accountants and Auditors is $86,390 across the contiguous United States. At $82,120, Erie County, NY pays $4,270 less, which is 4.9% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Erie County, NY
Among the 523 occupations with published wages in Erie County, NY, Accountants and Auditors ranks number 135 by median pay, ahead of about 74% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $103,280 a year, which is $21,160 more than the median for Accountants and Auditors.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Accountants and Auditors earning the Erie County, NY median of $82,120, they add up to $19,709. The result is $62,411 of take-home pay a year ($5,201 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $24 goes to taxes and $76 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 24.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $66,370. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $9,515, an effective 11.6% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $5,091 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,191. FICA totals $6,282, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in New York
New York income tax on this salary is $3,912 a year, or 4.8% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 41% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $326 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Erie County, NY
IRS Statistics of Income data for Erie County, NY show an average adjusted gross income of $83,474 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.1% across all filers. Filers in the $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 9.5%, compared with the 11.6% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Erie County, NY
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Erie County, NY: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $62,411 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Erie County, NY, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,203 a month ($14,436 a year), and at $1,423 for two bedrooms. For Accountants and Auditors, a one-bedroom absorbs 23.1% of take-home pay and 17.6% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 4.2% of gross pay for Accountants and Auditors in Erie County, NY. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using New York residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,581 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $653, for $3,235 in total. Gasoline in New York averages $3.17 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,467.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $22,573 a year in Erie County, NY. Subtract that from $62,411 of take-home pay and $39,838 remains, which is $3,320 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 48.5% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Erie County, NY
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Erie County, NY: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Erie County, NY, set beside the New York and national medians.
Property taxes in Erie County, NY
Homeowners in Erie County, NY pay a median of $4,622 a year in real estate taxes, 30% below the New York median of $6,582 and 48% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $233,800, the median tax bill is 1.98% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Accountants and Auditors median of $82,120, a tax bill of that size would equal 5.6% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Erie County, NY
Renters in Erie County, NY pay a median gross rent of $1,090 a month in the Census survey, 33% below the New York median of $1,621. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,203 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $233,800, 45% below the New York median of $423,800. Median household income is $72,839, 15% below the New York median of $85,974, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.8% of that income.
Commuting in Erie County, NY
Workers in Erie County, NY who travel to a workplace spend an average of 21.3 minutes each way, 35% below the New York average of 32.6. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.5 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 12.9% of workers in Erie County, NY work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Accountants and Auditors afford to live in Erie County, NY?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $82,120 that ceiling is $2,053 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,203 is $850 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $23.13 an hour; the median for Accountants and Auditors is $39.48, which is 71% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $30.01 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 9.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,423 a month means $712 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,898 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $45,736.
How fast you can save
At $3,320 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 4 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 8 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Accountants and Auditors pay in Erie County, NY
How much do Accountants and Auditors make per hour in Erie County, NY?
The median is $39.48 per hour, based on $82,120 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $27.19 at the 10th percentile to $65.08 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Accountants and Auditors take home after taxes in Erie County, NY?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $82,120 becomes $62,411 a year. That is $5,201 a month, $2,400 every two weeks or $1,200 a week.
How much tax do Accountants and Auditors pay in Erie County, NY?
Total taxes are $19,709 a year, an effective rate of 24.0%: $9,515 federal income tax, $6,282 FICA and $3,912 New York income tax.
Do Accountants and Auditors earn more in Erie County, NY than elsewhere in New York?
No. The local median of $82,120 is -19.0% versus the New York average of $101,427, a difference of $19,307 a year.
Can Accountants and Auditors afford a one-bedroom apartment in Erie County, NY?
A one-bedroom costs $1,203 a month against take-home pay of $5,201, which is 23.1% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $2,053 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Accountants and Auditors in Erie County, NY?
About $3,320 a month ($39,838 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $22,573 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Erie County, NY at the 30% guideline?
$23.13 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,436 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Accountants and Auditors is $39.48.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the New York rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.