Peter Vander WallFounder driving creative community growth

How many accountants are there in the US

Name: How many accountants are there in the US
Uploaded: 2025-04-12T13:04:23+00:00
Duration: 36 s
Channel: Peter Vander Wall
Description: YouTube video (Peter Vander Wall, Apr 12, 2025) discussing the size and demographics of the US accounting profession and career prospects. Speaker states…

12 Apr 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:36

YouTube video (Peter Vander Wall, Apr 12, 2025) discussing the size and demographics of the US accounting profession and career prospects. Speaker states there are ~600,000 CPAs in the US, that 63% are aged 50 or older, and that 75% of CPAs in public accounting plan to retire within five years. The speaker argues this creates strong career opportunities and cites salary examples (e.g., entry salary $70,000; potential $150k+ as employee, $300k+ as solopreneur; a friend earning $3M/year).

Questions this video answers

Around 600,000 CPAs.

63%.

75%.

Example entry salary $70,000 at graduation; claimed achievable salaries include $150,000/year as an employee, $300,000/year as a solopreneur, and an anecdote of a friend now making $3,000,000/year.

Chapters

There's not that many accountants left in the US like, there's only around 600,000 CPAs out there. But the crazy thing is 63% of them are in their 50s or older. 75% of CPAs who work in public accounting plan to retire in the next five years. And so if you're looking for a career to get into, I don't know, a better guaranteed win than accounting. Like, if you're halfway decent with numbers and you're maybe slightly above average intelligence, there's nothing stopping you from making 150 grand a year working for somebody else, or 300 grand a year as a solopreneur. My friend Ryan was making $70,000 a year immediately when he graduated college, and now he makes $3 million a year running his own firm.