Auditor Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 2,851 US job postings by 1,121 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for auditors: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 2,851 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for auditors in US job postings is $105,000 a year (847 postings from 340 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $85,000 to $135,000.
- The skills that most set auditor postings apart are analytical skills, public accounting, internal audit.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 3 years of experience.
Auditor job postings in the US, October 2026
- $105,000
- Median advertised pay (847 postings)
- $85,000–$135,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 2,851
- US job postings from 1,121 employers
- 3 years
- Median experience asked
How much does an auditor make?
The median advertised pay is $105,000 a year, from 847 US job postings by 340 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $169,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 847 US auditor job postings: median $105,000 a year, middle half $85,000 to $135,000.
- Median: $105,000
- 25th percentile: $85,000
- 75th percentile: $135,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 1.2% |
| $40K–$50K | 4.3% |
| $50K–$60K | 2.5% |
| $60K–$70K | 4.6% |
| $70K–$80K | 9.0% |
| $80K–$90K | 9.6% |
| $90K–$100K | 12.8% |
| $100K–$110K | 9.5% |
| $110K–$120K | 9.9% |
| $120K–$130K | 7.6% |
| $130K–$140K | 8.0% |
| $140K–$150K | 5.8% |
| $150K–$160K | 3.0% |
| $160K–$170K | 2.6% |
| $170K–$180K | 2.8% |
| $180K–$190K | 1.1% |
| $190K–$200K | 0.7% |
| $200K–$210K | 1.5% |
| $210K–$220K | 0.5% |
| $220K–$230K | 0.1% |
| $230K–$240K | 1.5% |
| $240K–$250K | 0.3% |
| $250K–$260K | 0.3% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an annual salary | $108,000 | $88K–$135K | 685 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $105,000 | $85K–$135K | 847 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Accountants and Auditors (13-2011) at $84,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for an auditor?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Auditor levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked. Senior auditors have a median advertised pay of $97,000 a year.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | 25.4% | 3 years | $97,000 |
| No level in title | 60.2% | 4 years | $121,000 |
Skills employers ask for in auditor job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 48% |
| Analytical skills | 34% |
| Excel | 25% |
| Problem-solving | 19% |
| Organizational skills | 18% |
| Interpersonal skills | 17% |
| Microsoft Office | 16% |
| Attention to detail | 16% |
| Word | 15% |
| Work independently | 11% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set auditors apart
- Analytical skills4.6× as often as in all postings · 34%
- Public accounting130.3× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Internal audit331.8× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Gaas411.1× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Gaap47.7× as often as in all postings · 9%
- Internal controls59.8× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Coso330.2× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Auditing71.9× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Data analytics27.3× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Accounting18× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Project management skills7.6× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Risk management10.9× as often as in all postings · 5%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a auditor job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does an auditor do?
Employers post these jobs as Senior Internal Auditor, Audit Manager, Senior Auditor, Internal Auditor, Compliance Auditor and other titles. The largest specializations are Internal Auditor (21%), Audit Manager (25%), IT Auditor (11%), Compliance Auditor (6%), Internal Control Manager (2%), Quality Auditor (1%).
The closest official occupation is Accountants and Auditors (13-2011.00). Its most important tasks:
- Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
- Process invoices for payment.
- Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.
- Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.
- Prepare adjusting journal entries.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be an auditor?
Among 1,552 postings that state a minimum, the median is 3 years. 1% say 0 years and 13% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 1,552 US auditor job postings: median 3 years, and 13% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 1% |
| 1 yr | 12% |
| 2 yrs | 22% |
| 3-4 yrs | 30% |
| 5-7 yrs | 26% |
| 8-9 yrs | 4% |
| 10+ yrs | 6% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for an auditor: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Senior Internal Auditor | 114 (10.2%) |
| Audit Manager | 92 (8.2%) |
| Senior Auditor | 91 (8.1%) |
| Internal Auditor | 77 (6.9%) |
| Compliance Auditor | 63 (5.6%) |
| Internal Audit Manager | 57 (5.1%) |
| Audit Senior | 56 (5.0%) |
| Auditor | 53 (4.7%) |
| Senior IT Auditor | 36 (3.2%) |
| Staff Auditor | 34 (3.0%) |
| IT Auditor | 32 (2.9%) |
| Senior Audit Manager | 31 (2.8%) |
| Senior Audit Associate | 29 (2.6%) |
| IT Audit Manager | 25 (2.2%) |
| Audit Senior Manager | 20 (1.8%) |
| Audit Associate | 20 (1.8%) |
| Audit Supervisor | 19 (1.7%) |
| Audit Senior Associate | 18 (1.6%) |
| Assurance Manager | 18 (1.6%) |
| Sr. Internal Auditor | 18 (1.6%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Auditor job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit Manager | 160 | 92 | – | – | communication, analytical skills, public accounting |
Auditor compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditor | $105K | 3 years | 2,851 | – |
| Accountant | $100K | 3 years | 24,685 | 16 |
| Compliance Specialist | $113K | 3 years | 2,331 | 17 |
| Finance Manager | $153K | 5 years | 3,165 | 16 |
| Risk Manager | $132K | 5 years | 1,114 | 16 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Accountant | 16 | $100K |
| Compliance Specialist | 17 | $113K |
| Finance Manager | 16 | $153K |
| Risk Manager | 16 | $132K |
| Accounting Clerk | 13 | $24.00/hr |
| Financial Analyst | 12 | $104K |
Applying for auditor jobs?
- Auditor resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find auditor jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does an auditor make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 18 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.