Payroll Specialist Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 2,173 US job postings by 1,586 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for payroll specialists: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 2,173 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for payroll specialists in US job postings is $70,000 a year (487 postings from 374 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $58,000 to $94,000.
- The skills that most set payroll specialist postings apart are Excel, payroll processing, attention to detail.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 3 years of experience.
Payroll Specialist job postings in the US, October 2026
- $70,000
- Median advertised pay (487 postings)
- $58,000–$94,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 2,173
- US job postings from 1,586 employers
- 3 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a payroll specialist make?
The median advertised pay is $70,000 a year, from 487 US job postings by 374 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $126,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 487 US payroll specialist job postings: median $70,000 a year, middle half $58,000 to $94,000.
- Median: $70,000
- 25th percentile: $58,000
- 75th percentile: $94,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 0.7% |
| $30K–$40K | 3.7% |
| $40K–$50K | 7.1% |
| $50K–$60K | 17.2% |
| $60K–$70K | 20.3% |
| $70K–$80K | 12.5% |
| $80K–$90K | 10.3% |
| $90K–$100K | 7.1% |
| $100K–$110K | 4.5% |
| $110K–$120K | 4.3% |
| $120K–$130K | 3.0% |
| $130K–$140K | 1.9% |
| $140K–$150K | 1.1% |
| $150K–$160K | 2.4% |
| $160K–$170K | 1.3% |
| $170K–$180K | 0.4% |
| $180K–$190K | 1.1% |
| $190K–$200K | 0.4% |
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 | $82,000 | $64K–$110K | 286 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $70,000 | $58K–$94K | 487 |
What is the starting salary for a payroll specialist?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying payroll specialist jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll Specialist (general) | $62,000 | 280 | 206 |
Skills employers ask for in payroll specialist job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Excel | 51% |
| Communication | 49% |
| Attention to detail | 46% |
| Organizational skills | 33% |
| Analytical skills | 30% |
| Problem-solving | 29% |
| Microsoft Office | 22% |
| Accuracy | 16% |
| Interpersonal skills | 15% |
| Customer service | 15% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set payroll specialists apart
- Excel4.9× as often as in all postings · 51%
- Payroll processing414.5× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Attention to detail3.6× as often as in all postings · 46%
- Payroll experience626× as often as in all postings · 9%
- Payroll109.9× as often as in all postings · 11%
- Adp190.5× as often as in all postings · 9%
- Analytical skills4.2× as often as in all postings · 30%
- Accuracy11× as often as in all postings · 16%
- Payroll software432.5× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Confidentiality9.3× as often as in all postings · 13%
- Payroll systems195.2× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Pivot tables27.6× as often as in all postings · 7%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a payroll specialist job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a payroll specialist do?
Employers post these jobs as Payroll Manager, Payroll Administrator, Payroll Coordinator, Payroll Analyst, Payroll Clerk and other titles. The largest specializations are Payroll Manager (18%), Payroll Analyst (8%), Payroll & Benefits Specialist (4%), HR/Payroll Coordinator (3%), Payroll Accountant (2%), MILITARY PAY TECHNICIAN (under 1%).
The closest official occupation is Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks (43-3051.00). Its most important tasks:
- Verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records.
- Process and issue employee paychecks and statements of earnings and deductions.
- Compute wages and deductions, and enter data into computers.
- Process paperwork for new employees and enter employee information into the payroll system.
- Prepare and balance period-end reports, and reconcile issued payrolls to bank statements.
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 a payroll specialist?
Among 1,099 postings that state a minimum, the median is 3 years. 1% say 0 years and 14% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 1,099 US payroll specialist job postings: median 3 years, and 14% 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 | 26% |
| 3-4 yrs | 33% |
| 5-7 yrs | 24% |
| 8-9 yrs | 2% |
| 10+ yrs | 2% |
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 a payroll specialist: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Payroll Specialist | 401 (25.3%) |
| Payroll Manager | 160 (10.1%) |
| Payroll Administrator | 118 (7.4%) |
| Payroll Coordinator | 115 (7.2%) |
| Payroll Analyst | 93 (5.9%) |
| Payroll Clerk | 72 (4.5%) |
| Senior Payroll Specialist | 48 (3.0%) |
| Payroll Assistant | 40 (2.5%) |
| Payroll Supervisor | 37 (2.3%) |
| Payroll Accountant | 29 (1.8%) |
| Senior Payroll Analyst | 25 (1.6%) |
| Payroll Technician | 23 (1.5%) |
| Payroll & Benefits Specialist | 23 (1.5%) |
| Payroll Associate | 20 (1.3%) |
| Payroll and Benefits Specialist | 19 (1.2%) |
| Director of Payroll | 15 (0.9%) |
| Payroll Admin | 15 (0.9%) |
| Payroll Processor | 13 (0.8%) |
| Payroll Director | 13 (0.8%) |
| Payroll Specialist II | 13 (0.8%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Payroll specialist 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll Manager | 180 | 160 | – | – | Excel, communication, analytical skills |
Payroll Specialist compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll Specialist | $70K | 3 years | 2,173 | – |
| Compensation and Benefits Specialist | $120K | 4 years | 1,840 | 19 |
| HRIS Analyst | – | 3 years | 948 | 15 |
| Accounting Clerk | $24.00/hr | 2 years | 9,552 | 17 |
| Office Manager | $23.31/hr | 2 years | 4,611 | 20 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Compensation and Benefits Specialist | 19 | $120K |
| HRIS Analyst | 15 | – |
| Accounting Clerk | 17 | $24.00/hr |
| Office Manager | 20 | $23.31/hr |
| Administrative Assistant | 19 | $21.50/hr |
| Accountant | 17 | $100K |
Applying for payroll specialist jobs?
- Payroll specialist 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 payroll specialist jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a payroll specialist 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; 20 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.