Labor Market Pulse · Finance · October 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Dayton, OH MSA — October 2026
Dayton finance pay softens as hiring run stalls.
Senior Accountant and Financial Analyst advertised pay fell moderately in Dayton even as national medians held stable, while the metro's historic 400,000-job milestone gave way to an August loss of 1,000 jobs.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Dayton metro job change, August: -1,000 — Reversed July's +700 gain
- Dayton unemployment rate: 3.7% — Aug 2026, down 1.0pt year-over-year
- Ohio labor force participation: 61.2% — vs 61.8% national rate
- CFO turnover rate, national: 18.3% — Highest since pandemic (Crist|Kolder)
Key takeaways
Dayton finance pay is softening while national pay holds firm.
Senior Accountant, Financial Analyst, and Credit Analyst advertised pay all declined moderately in the metro this month while national medians stayed stable, a gap that suggests local demand cooled faster than the broader market. Organizations benchmarking against national data risk overpaying relative to what the local market is actually clearing.
Tax Specialist pay is diverging from every other role tracked.
Metro Tax Specialist pay rose significantly even as five of seven tracked finance roles moved down or flat locally, pointing to a narrow but acute scarcity likely tied to year-end tax planning and compliance workload. This looks like a role-specific signal worth isolating in 2027 budget conversations, kept separate from a broader finance pay adjustment.
August's job loss interrupts a historic hiring run.
Dayton's 1,000-job decline in August followed a 700-job gain in July and came right after the metro broke 400,000 jobs for the first time since 2005. A single month doesn't confirm a turn, but it's reason to watch whether finance and accounting hiring plans built on the earlier growth narrative need revisiting.
CFO turnover risk compounds a shrinking local labor pool.
National CFO turnover is running at 18.3%, the highest since the pandemic, while Dayton's labor force participation rate sits below the national average. A finance leadership departure in this market may take longer to backfill than national hiring-rate data would suggest.
Median advertised pay by role — Dayton, OH MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $110,000 | $114,400 | $130,000 | Stable | $115,420 |
| Senior Accountant | $75,460 | $82,939 | $85,140 | Moderate decline | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $74,345 | $86,800 | $94,042 | Moderate decline | $94,646 |
| Billing Specialist | $36,048 | $40,560 | $48,880 | Moderate decline | $49,000 |
| Tax Specialist | $33,535 | $49,655 | $70,720 | Significant increase | $69,556 |
| Credit Analyst | $51,599 | $58,841 | $67,290 | Moderate decline | $71,397 |
| FP&A Manager * | $102,056 | $125,000 | $133,797 | Stable | $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
Dayton's metro economy crossed 400,000 nonfarm jobs in June for the first time in over two decades, but momentum reversed sharply in August with a 1,000-job loss that erased July's gain and marked the third-weakest month in five years. Defense and aerospace spending continues to anchor growth, with private education and health services (+3.3%) and construction (+3.2%) leading year-over-year gains even as statewide softness — Ohio shed 5,000 jobs in September and labor force participation trails the national rate (61.2% vs. 61.8%) — signals a tightening, less elastic local talent pool for finance functions.
What it means
Metro-level finance and accounting pay is softening even as talent remains hard to find: Senior Accountant, Financial Analyst, and Credit Analyst advertised pay are all down moderately locally while national figures hold stable, a divergence that complicates headcount cost forecasting for multi-site organizations benchmarking against national survey data. With CFO turnover projected at 18.3% nationally and 70% of finance leaders expanding contract talent use, Dayton organizations face a dual risk — losing senior finance staff during close and audit cycles while backfilling at advertised rates that may not reflect true local scarcity. Consider reviewing whether current FTE-to-contractor ratios in accounting and FP&A functions account for Dayton's below-national participation rate, which constrains the bench available for rapid backfill.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Whether Dayton's August job loss extends into a second consecutive down month when September/October metro data releases, which would suggest the growth run through June was closer to a peak than a new baseline.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide softening — Ohio's 5,000-job loss in September and rising unemployment to 3.4% — has not yet shown up distinctly in Dayton's finance and accounting advertised pay, but a lag effect is plausible given the metro's exposure to broader Ohio labor trends.
Early indicator: Tax Specialist pay's significant local increase warrants tracking into Q1 2027 to see whether it holds post-tax-season or reverts, which would clarify whether this is a durable repricing or a seasonal spike.
Potential inflection point: Continued CFO and senior finance turnover nationally, paired with Dayton's tighter labor force participation, may extend time-to-fill for finance leadership roles during Q4 close and year-end audit preparation.
Sources
- Dayton Daily News — Dayton metro reached 400,800 jobs in June 2026, first time above 400K in two decades
- USA Facts — Dayton metro lost 1,000 jobs in August 2026 after July gain of 700
- Buckeye Institute — Ohio labor force participation rate at 61.2% vs 61.8% national
- Crist|Kolder Associates — CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic
- Robert Half / AFP FP&A Forum — 70% of finance and accounting leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Dayton unemployment rate 3.7% in August 2026, down 1.0pt year-over-year
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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