If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that accountants really can work from anywhere — which means they are free to cast a much wider net when it comes to figuring out where, exactly, they want to live.
Rather than putting on a blindfold and throwing a dart at a map of the U.S., accountants who are looking to up stakes would be wise to consult AdvisorSmith’s new list of the "Best Cities for Accountants," which ranks 363 metro areas in terms of how attractive they are to accounting pros.
The cities are ranked overall, and in three subcategories by size (small, midsized and large), the salaries accountants can earn there, the number of accounting jobs available, and the cost of living.
The top places tend to be concentrated in the center of the country and in the South. Of the 30 cities that make up the top 10 in each category, only one is in the Northeast (Trenton, N.J.) and one is on the West Coast (Napa, California). Alabama and Texas come out the best, with three Best Cities wins apiece, while Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin each boast two.
We’ve listed the top two cities in each size category below; you can see the
