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Business & Financial

Tax Preparers

SOC 13-2082

Prepare individual and business tax returns, especially through filing season.

The job
Median pay
$55k
$39k to $76k typical range
Outlook, 2025 to 2035
Growing fast
+4.7% projected
Openings a year
9k
BLS projection
Typical education
High school
Our model
AI displacement risk
Very high
How much of this job AI may do instead of the person
Works with AI
4/100
AI alongside the person rather than instead of them
AI exposure
86th pct
More exposed than 86% of occupations · modeled estimate · 90th pct in Microsoft's data
Future-proof
43/100

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Weigh it against Loan OfficersPay, outlook, entry and AI exposure side by side See where it pays mostNew York leads at $72k; every state is below Find careers like itOpen the map at Tax Preparers and explore its neighbours See open jobsTax Preparers roles hiring now Learn the skillsCourses for Tax Preparers, who lean most on reading comprehension Real pay & reviewsWhat Tax Preparers say they actually earn

Key skills

Pay and jobs by state

BLS OEWS May 2025, 51 states. Sorted by jobs; per 1,000 is jobs per thousand workers in the state; vs national compares that rate with the country's. A tilde marks a figure estimated from the parent occupation group where BLS publishes none.

StateJobsPer 1,000vs nationalMedian pay
California10,2700.61.1×$70k
New York7,6200.81.6×$72k
Texas6,0100.40.9×$47k
Florida5,1660.51.1×$49k~
New Jersey3,2200.81.5×$43k
North Carolina2,7100.51.1×$48k
Arizona2,2400.71.4×$45k
Pennsylvania2,0100.30.7×$61k
Virginia1,9600.51.0×$59k
Indiana1,8200.61.2×$46k
All 51 states
StateJobsPer 1,000vs nationalMedian pay
Georgia1,6700.30.7×$49k
Michigan1,6600.40.8×$46k
Ohio1,5900.30.6×$49k
Oregon1,5900.81.6×$61k
Wisconsin1,5500.51.1×$44k
Colorado1,5400.51.1×$63k
Massachusetts1,5000.40.8×$58k
Nevada1,4100.91.9×$60k
South Carolina1,3600.61.2×$39k
Washington1,3600.40.8×$45k
Missouri1,3300.50.9×$63k
Illinois1,3100.20.4×$54k
Oklahoma1,3000.81.6×$43k
Tennessee1,2600.40.8×$37k
Maryland1,2400.40.9×$47k
Utah1,1900.71.4×$67k
Kentucky1,0800.51.1×$37k
Minnesota1,0400.40.7×$59k
Washington DC8031.12.3×$73k~
Iowa7800.51.0×$54k
Connecticut7000.40.8×$41k
Louisiana6500.30.7×$39k
Mississippi5800.51.0×$51k
Arkansas5500.40.9×$35k
Kansas4500.30.6×$47k
Nebraska4200.40.8×$43k
New Hampshire4200.61.3×$61k
Montana3600.71.4×$63k
New Mexico3400.40.8×$38k
West Virginia3300.51.0×$36k
Idaho3120.40.7×$49k~
Alabama2900.10.3×$33k
Rhode Island2840.61.1×$58k~
South Dakota2800.61.2×$53k
Maine2500.40.8×$47k
Delaware2400.51.0×$52k
Hawaii2200.40.7×$35k~
North Dakota2200.51.0×$57k
Vermont1280.40.9×$52k~
Wyoming900.30.7×$58k
Alaska700.20.4×$62k

Top metro areas

  1. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ8,100 jobs · $71k median
  2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA3,250 jobs · $65k median
  3. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX1,780 jobs · $47k median
  4. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ1,580 jobs · $45k median
  5. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA1,410 jobs · $84k median
  6. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX1,280 jobs · $47k median
  7. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD1,150 jobs · $62k median
  8. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV1,150 jobs · $58k median

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Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2025-2035). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How these numbers are made.