Accountants & Auditors salary in Santa Maria, CA

Median pay for accountants & auditors in Santa Maria, CA: $85,370/yr

Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $49,720 – $144,930 · about 1,430 employed locally

Above the typical metro median ($74,290) by +$11,080 (+15%).

What it's really worth in Santa Maria

With Santa Maria's cost of living at 114 (US=100), that $85,370 has the buying power of about $75,066 in an average-cost US metro.

Local context: median household income $92,332 · median home $1,005,339 · median rent $3,338/mo.

Full Santa Maria cost of living & taxes →

How Santa Maria ranks for this job

On raw pay, Santa Maria, CA is 15th of the 187 metros we hold accountants & auditors wages for. Once Santa Maria's cost of living is applied, it ranks 117th.

The headline number flatters Santa Maria. Once housing and everyday costs are taken into account, accountants & auditors here keep less of what they earn than the raw salary implies.

What that salary buys in Santa Maria

A median home in Santa Maria, CA costs $1,005,339 — about 11.8× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is harder here than in the average metro on this income.

Median rent of $3,338/mo works out at 47% of gross pay — above the conventional 30% affordability ceiling, so renting would stretch this salary.

Where accountants & auditors earn more

Pay on its own is only half the picture, so each row shows what rent costs there relative to Santa Maria.

Metro	Median pay	vs Santa Maria	Rent vs Santa Maria
San Jose, CA	$113,980	+34%	1.1×
San Francisco, CA	$103,990	+22%	1×
New York, NY	$103,900	+22%	1×
Washington, DC	$97,320	+14%	0.7×

Same job elsewhere in CA

Metro	Median pay	vs Santa Maria	Rent vs Santa Maria
San Jose, CA	$113,980	+34%	1.1×
San Francisco, CA	$103,990	+22%	1×
Santa Rosa, CA	$93,650	+10%	0.8×
San Diego, CA	$89,120	+4%	0.9×

Staying in CA keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.

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