Labor Market Pulse · Finance · October 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Cedar Rapids, IA MSA — October 2026
Controller pay slips locally as national finance wages climb.
Cedar Rapids Controller advertised pay fell to $104,855 against a national median climbing to $115,420, even as metro unemployment held near 3.9%-4.0%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Cedar Rapids MSA unemployment: 3.9% — Aug 2026; Linn Co. at 4.0%, up from 3.8% in July
- Controller advertised pay gap: $104,855 vs $115,420 — Metro down/moderate vs national up/moderate
- CFO turnover rate, national: 18.3% — Highest since pandemic; Crist|Kolder, 2026
- Iowa financial activities weekly wage: $1,534 — Highest of any Iowa sector, Sept. 2026
Key takeaways
Controller pay is drifting backward while the national market climbs.
Metro Controller advertised pay fell to $104,855 even as the national median rose to $115,420 — a widening gap of over $10,000. Left unaddressed, this spread increases the odds that strong internal candidates get poached or counteroffers escalate during a vacancy.
Billing Specialist pay decline may reflect frontline hiring softness.
A significant drop in metro Billing Specialist advertised pay to $43,028, against a stable national median near $49,000, stands out against an otherwise tight local labor market. Worth distinguishing whether this reflects demand softening or recalibration after the casino's large-scale frontline hiring push, measured by job ads, which track demand and often cover several openings each, absorbed other hourly labor.
Tax Specialist demand is strengthening on both sides of the comparison.
Metro Tax Specialist advertised pay rose moderately to $70,720, now above the nationally surging median of $69,556. Convergence with outsized national wage pressure (+5.6% electrical engineering, +4.7% IT, per Indeed) suggests tax and compliance expertise is being bid up alongside technical specialties.
Finance talent shortages nationally raise local retention stakes.
With 85% of CFOs reporting finance talent shortages and 70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026, Cedar Rapids employers competing for a comparatively small local finance labor pool should expect retention to be the harder problem compared with sourcing.
Median advertised pay by role — Cedar Rapids, IA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $73,281 | $104,855 | $115,444 | Moderate decline | $115,420 |
| Senior Accountant | $70,000 | $79,373 | $83,999 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $68,078 | $89,182 | $96,537 | Stable | $94,646 |
| Billing Specialist | $38,979 | $43,028 | $46,375 | Significant decline | $49,000 |
| Tax Specialist | $45,044 | $70,720 | $83,034 | Moderate increase | $69,556 |
| Credit Analyst * | $57,069 | $63,135 | $63,523 | Moderate increase | $71,397 |
| FP&A Manager * | $103,775 | $125,993 | $136,259 | 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
Cedar Rapids' metro labor market remains tight by national standards, with August unemployment at 3.9% even as Linn County's rate crept up to 4.0% from 3.8% in July, suggesting modest softening at the margins. Hiring momentum is bifurcated — Cedar Crossing Casino's push to fill 350-370 roles ahead of November opening and a data-center-driven construction boom are absorbing labor supply, while NFI Interactive Logistics' 49-worker closure and scattered manufacturing WARN activity signal selective contraction in goods-movement and production roles.
What it means
Tight headline unemployment masks uneven conditions across finance-adjacent sectors — Iowa's financial activities workers already command the state's highest average weekly earnings at $1,534, and local Controller advertised pay softening to $104,855 against a rising national median of $115,420 suggests Cedar Rapids employers may be under-pricing senior finance talent relative to where the market is heading. With CFO turnover nationally projected at 18.3% for 2026 and 85% of CFOs reporting finance talent shortages, headcount cost planning should assume elevated flight risk for senior finance roles even in a metro with comparatively favorable labor supply. Consider reviewing Controller and FP&A Manager compensation against the national trajectory now, before a vacancy forces a reactive, above-market counteroffer during close or audit season.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Linn County unemployment ticked up two consecutive months (3.8% to 4.0%); confirm whether this reflects manufacturing softness (54 Iowa WARN filings, 4,255 employees year-to-date) spilling into finance support roles like billing and AP.
Emerging pressure point: Data-center construction driving Cedar Rapids rent growth above the state average could pressure total rewards expectations for relocating or early-career finance hires, even without a corresponding local wage signal yet.
Potential inflection point: National Controller and FP&A Manager pay is rising while local Controller pay softens — a gap that typically closes through either local wage catch-up or accelerated turnover as professionals benchmark against remote and out-of-metro offers.
Expected: Cedar Crossing Casino's November opening will test local frontline labor absorption; watch whether it pulls administrative and finance-support talent (AP, billing) from existing employers, consistent with the Billing Specialist pay softness already observed.
Sources
- Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) — Cedar Rapids MSA unemployment at 3.9% in August 2026
- Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) — Linn County unemployment rose to 4.0% from 3.8% in July
- Iowa Starting Line — NFI Interactive Logistics closing, laying off 49 workers
- Crist|Kolder Associates — CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic
- MAVI — 85% of CFOs report finance talent shortages affecting operations
- Iowa Workforce Development / BLS — Iowa financial activities sector weekly wage of $1,534, highest statewide
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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