Bookkeeper salary

What It Means

Bookkeeper salary is what a bookkeeper earns for keeping a business's financial records up to date: recording what comes in and goes out, posting it, and checkingChecking accountA bank or credit union account for everyday money going in and out, used by debit card, checks, transfers and direct deposit. See more the figures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counts bookkeepers in its occupation "bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks", whose median annual wage was $50,670 in May 2025, or $24.36 an hour. Half of the workers in that group earned more and half earned less.

How People Say It at Work

• "Our bookkeeper comes in two days a week to do the books."
• "She handles payables and receivables for the shop."
• "Do they want a bookkeeper or a full accountant?"

The Breakdown

The numbers, from BLS (May 2025)

Worked example. A small business offers a bookkeeper $46,000 a year (an example figure). At 2,080 hours (40 hours a week for 52 weeks, Buhata's assumption), that's about $22.12 an hour, $4,670 under the median and well inside the range BLS reports. An offer of $56,000 would be about $26.92 an hour and above the median.

What the result means. By definition, eight in ten of these workers earned between the 10th and 90th percentile lines. Half of all these workers earned less than the median, so the gap between your offer and $50,670 is a concrete number to bring into a pay conversation.

What moves the number

• Where you work. BLS publishes state estimates from the same May 2025 survey alongside the national figure.
• Whether you're on payroll. The BLS survey covers wage and salary workers and leaves out the self-employed, so a freelanceFreelancingWorking for yourself, selling your skills to different clients by the project or the hour instead of holding a long-term job with one employer. See more bookkeeper's rates aren't in it.

Good to Know

The figures are from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, reported in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. They describe wages for employees of businesses; a bookkeeper working for themselves sets their own rate and pays self-employment taxSelf-employment taxThe Social Security and Medicare tax self-employed people pay on their own profit: 15.3% of 92.35% of net earnings, owed once those reach $400 a year. See more on the profit. Use the median as a starting point and check what bookkeepers in your own state earn.

Related Terms and Categories

• Salary negotiation

  Discussing pay and other terms with an employer before you accept a job offer, to reach a starting salary that fits the role and your skills.

• Total compensation

  The full value of what an employer pays for your work in a year: base pay plus bonuses and the employer's spending on benefits such as insurance and retirement.

• 1099 contractor

  An independent contractor whose pay a business reports on Form 1099-NEC; they're self-employed, so no tax is withheld and they owe self-employment tax.

• Freelancing

  Working for yourself, selling your skills to different clients by the project or the hour instead of holding a long-term job with one employer.

• Take-home pay

  The money that actually reaches you from a paycheck after taxes and other deductions are taken out, also called net pay or net income.

• Asking for a raise

  Requesting higher pay from your current employer, usually backed by your results, your role's market pay and what you plan to take on next.

Pay, rates and costs