Labor Market Pulse · Finance · September 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Duluth, MN-WI MSA — September 2026
Duluth finance pay climbs selectively as sector jobs contract.
Metro Tax Specialist pay rose to $67,550 and Financial Analyst pay to $80,056 even as Minnesota Financial Activities employment fell 3.3% year-over-year and metro unemployment held at 4.5%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Duluth MSA unemployment: 4.5% — June 2026 preliminary, up from 4.1% national rate
- MN Financial Activities employment: -3.3% YoY — 6,307 jobs lost statewide
- MN labor force participation: 66.9% — Down from 68.1% one year earlier
- National wage growth (avg hourly earnings): 3.0% YoY — Below 3.2% forecast, eases budget pressure
Key takeaways
Financial Analyst pay is rising locally while the sector contracts.
Metro Financial Analyst advertised pay moved up moderately to $80,056 even as statewide Financial Activities employment fell 3.3% year-over-year — a signal that analytical and planning talent is being retained or recruited selectively despite broader sector softness. FP&A functions may be insulated from the contraction hitting insurance and traditional finance roles.
Tax Specialist and Billing Specialist pay are outrunning the national trend.
Both roles show significant upward movement locally ($67,550 and $55,120 respectively), outpacing national wage growth that decelerated to 3.0% year-over-year in September. Current conditions suggest Duluth employers are competing hard for transactional finance talent even as headline metro unemployment sits at 4.5%.
Controller pay has stalled locally while the national market moves.
Metro Controller advertised pay is flat at $99,704 against a national median of $113,754 that is rising at a moderate pace, widening an already substantial gap. Flat local demand may reflect fewer senior finance openings as Minnesota's Financial Activities sector sheds jobs, but it also raises retention risk if controllers benchmark against national mobility.
Labor force exits may matter more than job counts this quarter.
Minnesota's labor-force participation rate has declined every month in 2026, partly tied to immigration enforcement effects cited by DEED's commissioner, shrinking the pool of available finance talent independent of posted job volume. Close timeline staffing and interim coverage plans should account for a tighter candidate pool even where open requisitions are limited.
Median advertised pay by role — Duluth, MN-WI MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $77,500 | $99,704 | $112,000 | Stable | $113,754 |
| Senior Accountant | $74,715 | $81,822 | $81,822 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $71,567 | $80,056 | $91,023 | Moderate increase | $94,782 |
| Billing Specialist | $46,093 | $55,120 | $56,023 | Significant increase | $49,512 |
| Tax Specialist | $42,919 | $67,550 | $70,412 | Significant increase | $65,842 |
| Credit Analyst | $72,500 | $72,500 | $72,500 | Stable | $71,758 |
| FP&A Manager * | $103,431 | $127,828 | $137,800 | Stable | $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
Duluth MSA employment slipped from 132.5 thousand in April to 131.9 thousand preliminary in June, with unemployment at 4.5% even as statewide Financial Activities payrolls contracted 3.3% year-over-year, a sharper decline than the national sector's loss of 129,000 jobs since May 2025. Labor supply pressure compounds the softness: Minnesota's labor-force participation has fallen every month in 2026, down to 66.9% from 68.1% a year ago, narrowing the finance and accounting candidate pool even as headline job counts shrink.
What it means
Sector contraction alongside shrinking labor supply produces a confusing signal for headcount planning — fewer open Financial Activities roles statewide does not mean easier hiring, since fewer workers are available or looking. Close timeline and audit readiness risk rises if finance teams run lean through Q4 while national F&A leaders report a 2026 Talent Shortage Index of 77% and 74% planning to add permanent headcount, suggesting competition for remaining Duluth-area talent could intensify even as local job counts fall. Consider reviewing critical-path roles in month-end close and budget cycle functions now, before Q4 reporting demands collide with a thinner regional bench.
Looking ahead
Expected: BLS will release September Duluth MSA employment data in late October; watch whether the April-to-June decline from 132.5 to 131.9 thousand employed extends into Q3, which would further validate caution on 2027 headcount budgets.
Emerging pressure point: Minnesota Financial Activities employment fell 2,500 jobs (-1.3%) statewide; track whether Duluth-area finance functions see comparable contraction or remain insulated, since metro-level sector detail has lagged state releases.
Worth watching: National F&A hiring intentions (74% planning headcount increases) have not yet shown up in Duluth advertised pay data outside Tax and Billing Specialist roles — a divergence that may resolve as national hiring plans filter into regional postings over Q4.
Potential inflection point: Minnesota WARN filings remain down 69% year-over-year statewide, but national WARN activity includes major employers like Amazon, Meta and Verizon; monitor whether any Duluth-adjacent corporate restructuring releases finance talent into the regional pool.
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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