Accountant Shortage Index: The States Facing America's Worst Accountant Shortage
Kimberly Green | 2026-04-08
America's accounting profession is contracting. Across dozens of states, the number of active practitioners has failed to keep pace with population growth, leaving businesses and individuals competing for a shrinking pool of financial professionals. In Nevada, there are 139 professionally prepared tax returns for every accountant. In Washington, D.C., that figure is 16. Sam's List analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data, IRS practitioner-filed return records, and 2025 Census population estimates across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. to produce the Accountant Shortage Index, which ranks each jurisdiction by the severity of its supply gap. Key findings: The national average is approximately 4.2 accountants per 1,000 residents and 59 professionally prepared returns for every accountant. Nevada is the most accountant-starved state in the country, with just 1.75 accountants per 1,000 residents and 139 professionally prepared returns for every accountant, the highest ratio in the study. Texas carries the largest absolute shortfall, with an estimated 24,746 more accountants needed to meet current demand. Washington, D.C. leads all jurisdictions in supply, with 13.84 accountants per 1,000 residents and just 16 professionally prepared returns per accountant. Massachusetts and South Dakota follow, both at 6.36 per 1,000. Eight jurisdictions lost accountants between 2019 and 2024, with Nevada's workforce falling the furthest, down 29.5%. Utah grew the most, adding 61.4% to its accounting workforce over the same period. The share of returns filed through a professional preparer runs from 43% in Washington state to 69% in New Jersey. The states with the worst shortages Nevada ranks first on the index by a clear margin. With just 5,740 accountants serving 3.28 million residents, the state has a ratio of 1.75 per 1,000, the lowest in the country. That translates to 139 professionally prepared returns for every accountant, more than twice the national average of 59 and nearly nine times the figure in Washington, D.C. Mississippi (#2), Arkansas (#3), Kentucky (#4), and South Carolina (#5) round out the bottom five. None of the four records more than 2.75 accountants per 1,000 residents. Mississippi has 97 professionally prepared returns for every accountant. In Arkansas, that figure is 91. Nine of the ten most shortage-stricken states sit in the South or Mountain West. Maine is the exception, ranking seventh: its 4,020 accountants serve 1.41 million residents, with 82 professionally prepared returns for every accountant. Rank State Accountants per 1,000...
