Labor Market Pulse · Finance · September 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY MSA — September 2026
Albany Finance pay climbs even as metro job growth stalls.
Albany-Schenectady-Troy added jobs at the slowest pace since 2020 this year, yet Controller pay rose to a $101,303 metro median while national financial-activities employment shed 129,000 positions since May 2025.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro monthly job growth, 2026: -250/month — Weakest pace since 2020; 2025 avg was +267/month
- Albany County unemployment: 3.9% — vs 4.3% NY state, 4.1% national, Aug 2026
- National financial-activities job losses: -129,000 — Since May 2025, concentrated in insurance carriers
- National wage growth deceleration: 3.0% y/y — Sept 2026, below 3.2% consensus estimate
Key takeaways
Metro Finance hiring is calmer than the national headline suggests.
National financial-activities employment has contracted for sixteen straight months, but Albany's government-anchored economy and absence of major local WARN filings point to a more insulated Finance labor pool here. Budget planning should weight local vacancy data over national sector headlines when forecasting backfill timelines.
Controller pay is accelerating even as the metro job count shrinks.
Controller advertised pay rose significantly to a $101,303 metro median while total nonfarm employment contracted through 2026 — a sign that senior finance oversight roles are being protected or upgraded even during broader headcount restraint. Treasury and FP&A leaders building succession plans should budget for this premium now rather than at next review cycle.
FP&A Manager pay softening may reflect automation substitution, not demand loss.
Metro FP&A Manager pay fell moderately to $124,597 even as national F&A leaders report aggressive 2026 hiring intentions (74% planning headcount increases). Softer local advertised pay alongside national automation and shared-services adoption suggests the role's value is shifting toward platforms and fewer, more senior seats rather than disappearing outright.
Credit Analyst pay decline bucks the national tightening trend.
Metro Credit Analyst pay dropped significantly to $70,684 while the national median rose moderately to $71,758 — a local-national divergence worth flagging before benchmarking comp bands off national survey data. Verify whether this reflects a thinner local posting sample or genuine softening in regional credit-function demand before adjusting offers.
Median advertised pay by role — Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $51,664 | $101,303 | $112,718 | Significant increase | $113,754 |
| Senior Accountant | $79,000 | $87,633 | $89,110 | Moderate increase | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $71,895 | $92,500 | $101,916 | Moderate increase | $94,782 |
| Billing Specialist | $39,602 | $48,890 | $55,203 | Moderate increase | $49,512 |
| Tax Specialist | $50,760 | $70,586 | $91,590 | Significant increase | $65,842 |
| Credit Analyst | $57,056 | $70,684 | $71,760 | Significant decline | $71,758 |
| FP&A Manager | $99,602 | $124,597 | $136,479 | Moderate decline | $128,139 |
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Local market conditions
Albany-Schenectady-Troy's labor market enters September soft, with 2026 job growth averaging negative 250 positions per month — the weakest pace since 2020 — while county unemployment holds near 3.9-4.2% across Albany, Schenectady, and Rensselaer. Government and office-anchored employment (roughly 86% of downtown Albany jobs) insulates the metro from the sharper financial-activities contraction playing out nationally, where the sector has shed 129,000 jobs since May 2025, concentrated in insurance carriers.
What it means
National financial-activities headcount losses haven't translated into local Finance layoffs — New York's WARN filings show no large-scale cuts in the Capital Region, and the metro's government-heavy base buffers it from the insurance-driven national contraction. Controller pay rising significantly locally ($101,303, trailing the national $113,754) alongside FP&A Manager pay softening moderately suggests budget-cycle hiring is bifurcating by role rather than tightening uniformly. Consider reviewing headcount plans role-by-role rather than applying a flat freeze or expansion assumption across the Finance function.
Looking ahead
Expected release: September 2026 metro unemployment and nonfarm payroll figures are due from NYS DOL in October, the first read on whether the 2026 monthly job-loss trend (-250/month average) persisted or stabilized. This will shape Q4 headcount cost forecasts for Finance functions tied to government and office-sector employment.
Worth watching: National average hourly earnings growth decelerated to 3.0% year-over-year in September, below consensus — if this holds locally, it eases salary budget pressure heading into 2027 planning cycles, a rare mid-cycle relief point for Controllers building next year's compensation reserves.
Emerging pressure point: National financial-activities job losses (-7,000 in September, -129,000 since May 2025) remain concentrated in insurance carriers rather than corporate Finance functions. Watch whether any Albany-area insurance or financial-services employer appears in upcoming NYS WARN filings, which would signal the contraction reaching the Capital Region.
Potential inflection point: CPA and accountant talent shortage signals are building nationally (2026 Talent Shortage Index at 77%, up from a 2025 surplus reading of 108%), a reversal that typically reaches secondary metros like Albany with a lag. Senior Accountant and Tax Specialist requisitions opened now may face longer fill times by Q1 2027.
Methodology
Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay. WageScape observes 98% of U.S. job openings daily.
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