Labor Market Pulse · Finance · October 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Binghamton, NY MSA — October 2026
Binghamton finance pay splits: Controllers rise, analysts fall.
Metro Controller pay climbed to $111,913 while Financial Analyst pay dropped to $76,331 — nearly $18,000 below the national median — against a Broome County unemployment rate that has risen to 4.5%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Broome County unemployment: 4.5% — Up from 4.2% in April 2026
- Metro Controller advertised pay: $111,913 — Up significantly vs. $115,420 national
- Metro Financial Analyst advertised pay: $76,331 — Down significantly vs. $94,646 national
- Broome County avg weekly wage: $1,242 — +2.8% YoY, Q1 2026
Key takeaways
Controller pay is rising locally while analyst pay falls.
Metro Controller advertised pay climbed to $111,913 even as Financial Analyst pay dropped significantly to $76,331 — a $15,000 gap below the national median. Consider whether this reflects a skills premium for close-cycle leadership or a local market under-pricing analytical talent that competitors could poach.
Tax Specialist demand is outpacing the broader market.
Metro Tax Specialist pay rose significantly to $62,902, tracking a matching national surge to $69,556. Rising CFO turnover (18.3% nationally) and tighter audit timelines appear to be pushing tax expertise into scarcer, higher-priced territory even in a mid-size metro.
Credit Analyst and Billing Specialist softness points to local demand shifts.
Both roles show significant or moderate pay declines locally while national medians hold stable, a divergence pattern distinct from Controller and Tax Specialist moves. Current conditions suggest employers should benchmark these roles against metro-specific postings, since national stability may not apply locally.
Finance talent shortage pressure is arriving from NYC and locally.
85% of CFOs nationally report finance talent shortages, and NYC finance employment fell 5,800 jobs in September even as securities pay rose 11.1% — a bifurcation that could push displaced NYC finance professionals toward smaller metros like Binghamton. Watch whether this inbound supply eases senior-role scarcity without depressing advertised pay further.
Median advertised pay by role — Binghamton, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $89,362 | $111,913 | $146,250 | Significant increase | $115,420 |
| Senior Accountant | $72,500 | $83,200 | $83,200 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $71,815 | $76,331 | $80,269 | Significant decline | $94,646 |
| Billing Specialist | $40,080 | $44,720 | $48,880 | Moderate decline | $49,000 |
| Tax Specialist | $34,830 | $62,902 | $62,902 | Significant increase | $69,556 |
| Credit Analyst * | $58,140 | $71,122 | $81,666 | Significant decline | $71,397 |
| FP&A Manager * | $105,764 | $130,000 | $138,747 | Moderate increase | $130,000 |
* 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
Broome County unemployment has drifted up to 4.5% in July 2026 from 4.2% in April, a trend consistent with statewide softening but still below the 4.8% NYC rate, even as average weekly wages rose 2.8% year-over-year to $1,242 in Q1 2026. Healthcare employers — Guthrie and United Health Services among them — continue to anchor hiring activity locally, while manufacturing holds steady at roughly 10,000 jobs, insulating the metro from the sharper finance-sector contraction playing out in NYC.
What it means
Metro-level finance role pay is diverging from national trends: Controller and Tax Specialist advertised pay are climbing while Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst rates have dropped significantly against stable national medians, suggesting local demand is consolidating around senior, close-critical roles while broad-based finance hiring stays limited. With statewide CFO turnover at 18.3% and 70% of finance leaders expanding contract talent use, Binghamton organizations competing for scarce senior finance talent against NYC's FP&A and M&A hiring surge may find mid-level analyst roles easier to fill but harder to retain once trained. Consider reviewing whether Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst compensation has fallen out of step with the skills actually required for current close and audit workloads, since softer local pay may not reflect softer demand.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Broome County unemployment has risen four consecutive readings since spring 2026 (3.5% to 4.5%). A continued climb toward 5% would likely pressure wage growth in roles below the FP&A/Controller tier, affecting headcount cost assumptions for 2027 budget cycles.
Potential inflection point: NY's minimum wage freeze, triggered by statewide job losses, removes a scheduled January 2027 cost increase — worth modeling into labor cost forecasts now, since the prior trajectory may no longer hold.
Worth watching: NYC's finance sector hiring freeze in non-revenue functions (JPMorgan, Bank of America) and Goldman's projected 8-12% reductions in fixed-income and corporate banking could redirect displaced talent toward upstate metros over the next two quarters.
Emerging pressure point: 70% of finance leaders nationally are shifting toward contract talent in H2 2026. Binghamton Controllers and FP&A managers should evaluate whether local contract/FTE cost differentials support this shift given the metro's already-elevated Controller pay.
Sources
- NY State Department of Labor — Broome County unemployment rate reached 4.5% in July 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Broome County average weekly wage was $1,242, up 2.8% YoY in Q1 2026
- Crist|Kolder — CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic
- AFP FP&A Forum — 70% of finance leaders increasing use of contract talent in H2 2026
- NYC Economic Development Corporation — NYC finance employment declined 5,800 jobs in September; securities pay rose 11.1%
- Washington Post — NY minimum wage freeze triggered by statewide job losses through July 2026
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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