What payroll specialists are paid in 2026, by state and by title
US payroll specialist postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026 state a coverage-adjusted median of $62,500, and the as-posted median is up 7.5% on 2025. Only 37.5% state pay. Payroll administrator postings state a median of $70,304, payroll clerk postings $48,818.
$62,500
National Median
US payroll specialist job postings collected from January 1 to August 31, 2026 state a median base salary of $62,500 a year, coverage-adjusted. That median comes from the 880 postings that stated usable pay out of 2,348 collected, so 37.5% of the market disclosed a figure. The unadjusted median of the same postings is $64,480.
Every figure here is base pay as the employer wrote it, with bonus and overtime left out. Payroll postings rarely state a level (158 of the 880 do), so this page measures the role as a whole. The posted title moves the number more than the state does: payroll administrator postings state a median of $70,304 and payroll clerk postings $48,818.
How much does a payroll specialist make?
A payroll specialist makes a median of $62,500 a year in base pay, coverage-adjusted, across postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026. That equals $30.05 an hour, $1,202 a week or $5,208 a month. The hourly figure is the annual median divided by 2,080 working hours, and no employer posted it as an hourly rate. The middle half of postings runs from $54,000 to $75,000 a year, or $25.96 to $36.06 an hour.
| Measure | Annual | Hourly equivalent | Monthly equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $54,000 | $25.96 | $4,500 |
| Median | $62,500 | $30.05 | $5,208 |
| 75th percentile | $75,000 | $36.06 | $6,250 |
The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median for payroll and timekeeping clerks (SOC 43-3051) at $58,260 a year, or $28.01 an hour, in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2025. The two figures measure different things. BLS surveys everyone employed in the occupation, in every industry and at every length of tenure, and the category also covers timekeepers. This page reads the base pay employers advertised in 2026 postings, and Payroll Specialist is one of O*NET's sample titles for 43-3051, so the occupational match is close. PayScope's $62,500 median sits $4,240 above the BLS figure.
The figures: $62,500 coverage-adjusted, $64,480 as posted
As posted is the plain median of the 880 postings that stated pay. Coverage-adjusted re-weights them so each state counts by its share of all 2,348 collected postings, with or without stated pay. For payroll specialists that lowers the median by $1,980, or 3.1%, and trims the 25th and 75th percentiles by $1,000 and $1,413.
California shows how the correction works. It accounts for 19.9% of the postings that state pay but 13.3% of all postings collected, and it has the highest median of the states that clear the 30-posting floor, so giving it its true weight pulls the national figure down.
| Measure | As posted | Coverage-adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile | $55,000 | $54,000 |
| Median | $64,480 | $62,500 |
| 75th percentile | $76,413 | $75,000 |
Base pay, annualized, 880 US payroll specialist postings that stated pay, collected January 1 to August 31, 2026.
Pay by state: California $71,514, Pennsylvania $55,000
| State | Postings with pay | Median | Middle half (p25 to p75) |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 175 | $71,514 | $60,830 to $80,080 |
| New York | 58 | $63,000 | $53,040 to $75,000 |
| Illinois | 46 | $62,400 | $52,500 to $76,250 |
| Texas | 40 | $60,000 | $47,840 to $72,500 |
| Pennsylvania | 36 | $55,000 | $50,960 to $67,500 |
| Florida | 33 | $56,500 | $49,920 to $70,720 |
| New Jersey | 32 | $60,320 | $57,500 to $72,800 |
Base pay as posted, postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026, states with at least 30 postings that stated pay.
California's median of $71,514 is the highest of the seven and $16,514 above Pennsylvania's $55,000, the lowest. California is also the only state in the table whose median sits above the national as-posted figure of $64,480. New Jersey has the narrowest middle half, $57,500 to $72,800, while Texas has the widest. States with fewer than 30 postings that stated pay are left out and not ranked.
Only 37.5% of payroll specialist postings state pay
Of the 2,348 postings collected, 880 carried a usable annual figure, 1,467 gave none, and one quoted pay in a currency other than US dollars. Disclosure for this role varies widely by state. In California 55.9% of payroll postings state pay, Illinois (51.1%) and New York (45.0%) also sit above the national rate, and Texas and Florida trail at 25.5% and 28.0%.
Across all roles, the 13 states with pay-transparency laws in force disclose at 53.9% against 33.8% elsewhere, the median role pays about 10% more there, and re-weighting by state usually moves a role median by about 1%. The payroll correction is larger, at 3.1%, which fits how heavily California weighs in the disclosed sample.
If a payroll posting you are weighing gives no number, what a DOE listing actually means covers the phrasings employers use instead.
Posted pay is 7.5% higher than a year ago
For the same four titles over a matching January 1 to early September window, the 2025 as-posted median was $60,000 across 3,376 postings that stated pay. The 2026 median is $64,480 across 880 postings, a rise of 7.5%, which places the role in PayScope's balanced market band. Posting counts are not compared across years, because collection volume changes from month to month.
The posted title moves pay: payroll administrator $70,304, payroll clerk $48,818
Four posted titles make up this role, and they do not pay alike. Payroll administrator postings state the highest median and payroll clerk postings the lowest, a gap of $21,486. Payroll specialist, the title on about two in three postings, sits close to the role figure. Rounded to the nearest thousand dollars, the four title medians read $70K for payroll administrator, $66K for payroll specialist, $60K for payroll coordinator and $49K for payroll clerk, so administrators out-earn clerks by about $21K a year.
| Title | Postings with pay | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll administrator | 138 | $57,500 | $70,304 | $80,000 |
| Payroll specialist | 574 | $56,992 | $65,742 | $78,000 |
| Payroll coordinator | 106 | $54,080 | $60,000 | $64,000 |
| Payroll clerk | 62 | $45,760 | $48,818 | $55,120 |
Base pay as posted, US postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026.
Only 158 of the 880 postings that state pay name a level, and Senior is the only rung with the 30 postings PayScope needs to publish a level median: $80,000 on 121 postings, with a middle half of $69,846 to $90,002 and a stated range of 3 to 5 years in role. Entry (17 postings), Mid (16) and Lead (4) fall short of that floor. The other 722 postings name no level, and their median of $62,400 is within $100 of the role median, so the headline figure mostly describes them.
What payroll specialists do, and a projected 15.9% decline
A payroll specialist makes sure people are paid the right amount on the right day. O*NET OnLine describes the core work of payroll and timekeeping clerks as checking hours, attendance and pay changes, computing wages and deductions, issuing paychecks and earnings statements, entering new hires into the payroll system, and reconciling payroll to bank statements at the end of each period. O*NET lists these as the occupation's essential skills:
- Reading comprehension
- Active listening
- Mathematics
- Critical thinking
- Speaking
- Writing
BLS projects employment of payroll and timekeeping clerks to decline 15.9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,400 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2). That is a fall from 159,600 jobs in 2025 to a projected 134,300 in 2035. BLS defines openings to include replacing workers who leave the occupation or the labor force, so a shrinking occupation still has openings.
The same table lists a high school diploma as the typical entry-level education for the occupation, with no prior work experience and moderate-term on-the-job training.
Pay in related roles
Medians for neighboring roles, from the same PayScope collection and method.
| Role | Median | Data |
|---|---|---|
| HR manager | $100,000 | Postings through Aug 31, 2026 |
| Executive assistant | $79,934 | Postings through Aug 31, 2026 |
| Account manager | $70,000 | Postings through Aug 31, 2026 |
| Insurance claims adjuster | $61,876 | Postings through Aug 31, 2026 |
| Operations specialist | $57,796 | Postings through Aug 31, 2026 |
Postings titled payroll specialist, payroll administrator, payroll coordinator and payroll clerk all count toward this page.
How these figures were produced
The source is PayScope's collection of US job postings, deduplicated by posting id, for postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026. The first payroll posting in the window is dated January 6 and the last August 30. 2,348 postings matched the role, 880 stated a usable annual base salary, 1,467 stated none, and one was set aside for quoting pay in a non-US currency. The matched titles are payroll specialist, payroll administrator, payroll coordinator and payroll clerk.
The coverage adjustment re-weights the 880 postings by state so each state counts by its share of all collected postings, which moves the median from $64,480 to $62,500. Bonus, overtime, commission and equity are excluded, and posting counts appear only as sample sizes. The figures are dated August 31, 2026, the last fully collected month, and are regenerated monthly on the same method. The collection query ran to early September, though the last payroll posting in this sample is dated August 30.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a payroll specialist make?
A payroll specialist makes a median of $62,500 a year in base pay, coverage-adjusted, based on 880 US job postings that stated pay between January 1 and August 31, 2026. The middle half of those postings runs from $54,000 to $75,000. The unadjusted median of the same postings is $64,480.
How much does a payroll specialist make per hour?
The $62,500 coverage-adjusted median equals $30.05 an hour when divided by 2,080 working hours. It converts the annual figure, and no employer posted it as an hourly rate. The middle half of US postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026 works out to $25.96 to $36.06 an hour.
How much does a senior payroll specialist make?
Postings that name a senior level state a median of $80,000 a year, on 121 US postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026, with a middle half of $69,846 to $90,002. Senior is the only level with enough postings to publish. Most payroll postings, 722 of the 880 that state pay, name no level at all.
How much do payroll specialists make in California?
California payroll postings state a median of $71,514 a year, the highest of the seven states with at least 30 postings that state pay. The figure comes from 175 California postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026, with a middle half of $60,830 to $80,080. California also has the highest disclosure rate in that group, at 55.9%.
Is $40 an hour a good salary for a payroll specialist?
$40 an hour equals $83,200 a year on 2,080 working hours. That is above the $75,000 coverage-adjusted 75th percentile for payroll specialist postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026, which puts it in the top quarter of advertised base pay. It is also above the $80,000 median for postings that name a senior level.
Is $70,000 a good salary for a payroll specialist?
$70,000 sits above the $62,500 coverage-adjusted median for payroll specialist postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026, and below the $75,000 75th percentile. It is close to the $70,304 median for postings titled payroll administrator, the highest of the four payroll titles.
Are these payroll figures base pay or total compensation?
They are base pay as employers posted it, annualized. Bonus, overtime, commission and equity are excluded, so total pay for someone in the role can be higher. Every figure covers US postings collected January 1 to August 31, 2026.
What does a payroll specialist do?
A payroll specialist checks hours and pay changes, computes wages and deductions, issues paychecks and earnings statements, and reconciles payroll records. BLS groups the job with payroll and timekeeping clerks, with a May 2025 median wage of $58,260, and projects that occupation to shrink 15.9% from 2025 to 2035.