Labor Market Pulse · Finance · September 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Binghamton, NY MSA — September 2026
Binghamton Finance pay splits: specialists up, analysts down.
Senior Accountant and Tax Specialist advertised pay rose significantly in Binghamton this month while Financial Analyst pay fell significantly to $82,725, even as national financial activities payrolls shed 7,000 jobs in September.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.4% — Unchanged since July; NY state at 4.3%
- National financial activities jobs: -7,000 — September loss; -129,000 since May 2025
- F&A hiring intent vs. sector losses: 74% — Plan headcount increases despite sector contraction
- National wage growth deceleration: 3.0% y/y — Below 3.2% forecast; eases budget pressure
Key takeaways
Local Finance pay is splitting into two markets, not one.
Senior Accountant (+significant) and Tax Specialist (+significant) advertised pay are rising locally while Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst pay fell significantly over the same period. Treat these as separate labor markets for budgeting purposes rather than applying a single blended Finance merit pool.
National sector contraction has not reached this metro's hiring plans.
Financial activities lost 7,000 jobs nationally in September and 129,000 since May 2025, yet 74% of F&A leaders report plans to increase permanent headcount. Binghamton's steady 4.4% unemployment and modest employment gain (+1,500) suggest local Finance functions are better insulated than national sector headlines imply.
FP&A Manager pay softening locally bucks the national scarcity narrative.
Metro FP&A Manager median fell moderately to $128,881, now essentially even with the national median of $128,139 — a convergence that erases the local premium this role has historically commanded. Worth testing whether this reflects a genuine demand shift or a smaller, thinner local posting sample before resetting offer ranges.
Wage growth deceleration gives budget-cycle breathing room.
National average hourly earnings rose just 0.13% in September (3.0% year-over-year), below the 3.2% consensus estimate, following New York's broader cooling from near-4% wage growth earlier in the year. Current conditions suggest FY27 merit budget assumptions can likely moderate from last cycle's planning figures without triggering competitive exposure.
Median advertised pay by role — Binghamton, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $89,362 | $96,608 | $101,229 | Stable | $113,754 |
| Senior Accountant | $81,605 | $83,200 | $83,200 | Significant increase | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $72,269 | $82,725 | $94,597 | Significant decline | $94,782 |
| Billing Specialist | $41,600 | $45,344 | $48,880 | Significant decline | $49,512 |
| Tax Specialist | $34,830 | $62,902 | $67,139 | Significant increase | $65,842 |
| Credit Analyst * | $59,986 | $72,023 | $85,935 | Significant decline | $71,758 |
| FP&A Manager * | $104,005 | $128,881 | $137,500 | Moderate decline | $128,139 |
* State-level figure shown where metro postings were too few.
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
Binghamton metro unemployment held at 4.4% in August, with employment edging up 1,500 to 103,800 even as national financial activities payrolls shed 7,000 jobs for the month and have now lost 129,000 positions since May 2025. Local Finance pay movements are diverging sharply by role — Senior Accountant and Tax Specialist advertised pay up significantly while Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst pay fell significantly — a pattern consistent with the national bifurcation between contracting back-office functions and scarce specialist talent.
What it means
National data showing 74% of finance and accounting leaders planning permanent headcount increases, against a sector that has shed 129,000 jobs since mid-2025, signals that Binghamton employers are not hiring broadly — they are reallocating budget toward scarce technical and compliance skill sets while automation absorbs routine transactional work. Falling local Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst pay alongside rising Senior Accountant and Tax Specialist pay suggests headcount planning should separate 'commodity' finance roles, where supply is loosening, from specialist roles facing genuine scarcity premiums. Consider reviewing role-level advertised pay trends rather than department-wide averages before setting FY planning assumptions, since metro-level Finance composite wage data would mask this divergence entirely.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Billing Specialist advertised pay fell significantly locally even as the national median rose moderately to $49,512. Watch whether this gap narrows or whether it signals a genuine local oversupply in transactional finance support roles.
Emerging pressure point: National Talent Shortage Index for CPAs and accountants swung from a 108% surplus in 2025 to a 77% shortage index in 2026. Binghamton's Senior Accountant pay gains (significant, local) may be an early local echo of this national shift worth tracking into Q4 hiring cycles.
Potential inflection point: New York financial activities employment has declined over the past three months statewide even as NYC financial services added jobs. Monitor whether Binghamton-area Finance headcount follows the statewide contraction or the NYC specialist-hiring pattern more closely over coming payroll cycles.
Expected: Automation and shared-services adoption are cited nationally as offsetting F&A headcount growth despite hiring intent. Expect continued downward pressure on transactional roles (Billing Specialist, Financial Analyst) locally even as specialist and compliance-adjacent roles command premiums.
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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