United States comparison

Accountant
vs Secondary Teacher

See how pay, opportunity, entry requirements and working life differ.

O*NET 30.3BLS May 20252024–34 outlook

Labour market

United States

Compare Careers

See the trade-offs side by side

Choose two options. The figures update instantly.

A

Analytical detail and financial control

Accountant

$83,680median annual earnings
OccupationHQ49.4Occupational similarity
B

Teaching, communication and constant variety

Secondary Teacher

$72,040median annual earnings
Higher medianAccountant
More annual openingsAccountant
Lower physical-demand signalAccountant

Exploration tool

What matters to you?

Set what matters most to you.

Fit and similarity scores are experimental OccupationHQ calculations.

Accountant54/100Based on your priorities
Your current mixAccountant leads by 6

Its strongest weighted advantage here is market signal.

Secondary Teacher48/100Based on your priorities

Ten-year projections and openings. Market momentum uses the selected country’s available signal and stays neutral when none is available. Entry-path scoring is a transparent editorial band used by this exploration tool, based on the typical education and credential route shown below.

01

At a glance

Money, demand and entry

Accountant
United States data
Secondary Teacher
A · Accountant$83,680Median annual earningsB · Secondary Teacher$72,040
A · Accountant$56,020–$144,090Typical range · P10–P90B · Secondary Teacher$48,780–$107,600trade-off
A · Accountant1.4MCurrent employmentB · Secondary Teacher1.1M
A · Accountant4.6%Projected growthB · Secondary Teacher-1.6%
A · Accountant124.2KAnnual openingsB · Secondary Teacher66.2K
A · AccountantBachelor’s degreeTypical educationB · Secondary TeacherBachelor’s degreetrade-off
A · AccountantNo typical OJTTraining / credentialB · Secondary TeacherCertification variestrade-off

United States figures: BLS OEWS May 2025 and 2024–34 employment projections.

02

Working life

What the work is like

These percentiles describe the work; they do not rate it as good or bad. Select a signal for details. Work signals are native O*NET occupation percentiles.

03

What they share

What these careers have in common

49.4/100

Experimental model similarity

An OccupationHQ calculation across skills, interests, work context and education signals. It is not an official statistic or a measure of transition feasibility.
Skills65.8
Interests44.5
Work context51.8
Educationn/a

Accountant foundations

  • Critical thinking
  • Mathematics
  • Attention to detail

Secondary Teacher foundations

  • Instructing
  • Speaking
  • Learning strategies

What a switch would take

Shared strengths are only part of the move

Licences, apprenticeships, education and missing technical knowledge still matter—even when two options share useful skills.

Explore Careers

Twenty options across six fields

Browse the facts, working life and realistic next steps for each one.

How OccupationHQ works

Facts first.
Calculations explained.

  1. 1
    Official inputs

    Wages and outlook from BLS. Skills, interests and work context from O*NET.

  2. 2
    Experimental comparison model

    Work descriptors become percentiles across covered occupations; model outputs are clearly separated from official inputs.

  3. 3
    Visible trade-offs

    No magic “best career.” You see each factor and decide what matters.