Labor Market Pulse · Finance · October 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Logan, UT-ID MSA — October 2026
Logan Controller pay falls as the talent pool stays tight.
Metro Controller advertised pay dropped to $122,797 even as Cache County unemployment held at 3.2%, well below the national 4.1% rate, signaling employers are capping senior finance offers in a market with little slack left.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Cache County unemployment: 3.2% — vs 3.5% Utah, 4.1% national (July 2026)
- Controller advertised pay, Logan: $122,797 — Down significantly vs $115,420 national (up)
- CFO turnover rate, national: 18.3% — Highest since pandemic, Crist|Kolder 2026
- Logan civilian labor force: ~83,400 — ~81,000 employed, limited pipeline depth
Key takeaways
Controller pay is falling even as the role gets scarcer.
Logan's Controller median advertised pay dropped significantly to $122,797 while national Controller pay rose moderately to $115,420 — a reversal of the usual premium logic in a 3.2% unemployment market. This may signal employers capping senior finance offers, which could slow time-to-fill for replacement controllers during Q1 close planning.
Tax Specialist pay signals a compliance-driven hiring shift.
Metro Tax Specialist advertised pay rose significantly to $84,376, well above the $69,556 national median, pointing to local employers competing hard for compliance and reporting expertise. Treasury and controllership teams planning 2027 tax provision work should benchmark this role against current demand.
Billing Specialist pay drop points to a local demand pullback.
Metro Billing Specialist pay fell significantly to $35,657, well under the $49,000 national median, even as overall labor supply stays tight. Likely reflects softer demand for transactional finance roles locally — a distinction that matters for shared-services staffing decisions.
FP&A Manager pay parity masks a thinning candidate pool.
Metro FP&A Manager pay held stable at $123,750, nearly matching the $130,000 national figure, despite Cache Valley's small labor force of roughly 81,000 employed. Stability in pay alongside scarcity in supply suggests employers are holding the line on budget — a posture that may not survive an unplanned FP&A vacancy mid-cycle.
Median advertised pay by role — Logan, UT-ID MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $94,035 | $122,797 | $136,250 | Significant decline | $115,420 |
| Senior Accountant | $77,751 | $89,001 | $95,875 | Significant increase | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $74,251 | $82,585 | $86,346 | Moderate decline | $94,646 |
| Billing Specialist | $30,924 | $35,657 | $45,080 | Significant decline | $49,000 |
| Tax Specialist | $70,720 | $84,376 | $85,461 | Significant increase | $69,556 |
| Credit Analyst * | $52,500 | $69,010 | $72,023 | Stable | $71,397 |
| FP&A Manager * | $103,040 | $123,750 | $133,944 | 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
Cache County's 3.2% unemployment rate and roughly 81,000 employed against an 83,400-person labor force confirm Logan remains one of the tightest finance talent markets in the Mountain West, well below Utah's 3.5% and the national 4.1%. Structural scarcity is compounding with Utah's statewide shift toward selective hiring and rising housing costs, limiting the metro's ability to pull in finance talent from outside Cache Valley.
What it means
Controller advertised pay in Logan sits at $122,797 — above the $115,420 national median — yet is trending down significantly month over month, a pattern consistent with employers pulling back on senior finance postings in a market this thin. With CFO turnover nationally projected at 18.3% for 2026 and 70% of finance leaders expanding contract talent use, Logan's small labor pool raises real risk that backfilling senior finance roles during close and audit cycles takes materially longer than budgeted. Consider stress-testing headcount plans against a 60-90 day extended fill time for controller and FP&A-level roles given the metro's sub-3.5% unemployment and limited bench strength.
Looking ahead
Expected: BLS will release the delayed Logan MSA October unemployment figure in mid-November; expect continued divergence from the 4.1% national rate given Cache County's 3.2% July reading and historically tighter local labor conditions.
Emerging pressure point: National CFO turnover at 18.3% and a 37.5% external hire rate raise the odds that a Logan-based controller or FP&A leader departure forces a search in a labor pool too small to absorb it quickly — worth scenario-planning before year-end close.
Worth watching: Utah's shift toward selective hiring statewide, paired with Logan Controller pay trending down, may indicate employers are testing whether current candidates will accept flat or lower offers — watch advertised pay for reversal if fill times lengthen.
Early indicator: Contract staffing use is rising nationally (70% of finance leaders per recent survey); monitor whether Logan employers turn to interim controllers or fractional CFOs to bridge audit-season gaps given thin local FTE supply.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (via Data Commons) — Cache County unemployment at 3.2% in July 2026
- Utah Department of Workforce Services — Logan MSA labor force of 83,400 with ~81,000 employed
- Crist|Kolder Associates — CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic
- Robert Half / AFP FP&A Forum — 70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National unemployment stable at 4.1% in October 2026
- BLS FRED data — Logan MSA unemployment at 3.1% in July 2026, latest available
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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