Labor Market Pulse · Finance · August 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Niles-Benton Harbor, MI MSA — August 2026
Niles finance pay splits: Controllers fall, Credit Analysts climb.
Metro Controller advertised pay dropped to $91,375 against a stable $112,500 national median, while Credit Analyst pay rose significantly to $68,781 amid a broader metro payroll contraction.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of August 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro Controller advertised pay: $91,375 — Down significantly vs stable $112,500 national
- Niles MSA employment trend: Contracted — August 2026, breaking recent Michigan job gains
- Michigan unemployment rate: 5.0% — Up 0.1pt; 0.9pt above 4.1% national rate
- Benton Harbor city unemployment: 21.6% — Vs ~4.9% Berrien County-wide (Feb 2026)
Key takeaways
Controller pay is falling locally while national demand holds firm.
Metro Controller advertised pay dropped significantly to $91,375, versus a stable $112,500 national median — a gap wide enough to complicate retention if local employers try to hold the line on comp while national competitors don't.
Tax Specialist pay collapse looks like a local market breakdown, not a trend.
Metro Tax Specialist pay fell significantly to $33,130 while the national median rose significantly to $66,725, a divergence too large to reflect skill differences alone and worth investigating before benchmarking against it.
Credit Analyst and Senior Accountant pay gains suggest selective tightness.
Both roles posted moderate-to-significant local increases even as broader metro payrolls contracted, indicating employers are still competing hard for specific finance functions tied to receivables and reporting cycles.
Shrinking professional services capacity raises audit and close risk.
Michigan's professional and business services sector lost 6,000 jobs year-over-year, thinning the bench of outsourced accounting and audit support finance teams may lean on during peak close or audit periods.
Median advertised pay by role — Niles-Benton Harbor, MI MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $80,000 | $91,375 | $103,534 | Significant decline | $112,500 |
| Senior Accountant | $75,196 | $81,555 | $95,000 | Moderate increase | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst * | $68,731 | $79,929 | $88,266 | Moderate increase | $82,905 |
| Billing Specialist | $38,541 | $45,760 | $45,760 | Moderate increase | $49,700 |
| Tax Specialist | $33,026 | $33,130 | $61,140 | Significant decline | $66,725 |
| Credit Analyst * | $56,787 | $68,781 | $74,556 | Significant increase | $72,000 |
| FP&A Manager * | $97,905 | $123,258 | $134,500 | Stable | $127,341 |
* 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
Niles MSA nonfarm employment contracted in August even as Berrien County unemployment held near historically moderate levels, a divergence that appears to reflect softening manufacturing and professional-services demand layered on top of long-standing concentrated distress in Benton Harbor, where unemployment runs above 21%. Michigan's broader payroll pullback (-2,000 in August, first decline in five months) and a statewide labor force contraction of 6.8% year-over-year compound the picture, suggesting the metro's finance talent pool is shrinking even as headline joblessness stays contained.
What it means
Contracting metro payrolls alongside a shrinking regional labor force mean Finance leaders should expect longer requisition timelines for controller, FP&A, and senior accountant openings even without a spike in local unemployment — availability, not just cost, is the binding constraint. Falling advertised pay for Controller (-significant) and Tax Specialist (-significant) roles locally, against national medians holding stable or rising, points to a metro-specific repricing that could reflect thinner competition for talent or weaker local demand rather than a national trend finance leaders can rely on. Consider reviewing headcount and vendor-support contingency plans now, given that Michigan's professional and business services sector has lost 6,000 jobs year-over-year, tightening the pool of outsourced accounting and audit capacity available to backstop internal teams.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Whether Niles MSA nonfarm employment stabilizes in September's release or extends August's contraction, which would sharpen recruiting difficulty for finance roles requiring local presence.
Emerging pressure point: Metro Controller and Tax Specialist advertised pay are falling sharply against stable-to-rising national medians; sustained divergence could force a compensation strategy reset if local employers start losing candidates to remote national postings.
Early indicator: Benton Harbor's concentrated unemployment (21.6%) against moderate county-wide rates suggests untapped labor supply that could ease entry-level finance hiring if workforce development or transportation barriers are addressed.
Potential inflection point: Michigan's statewide labor force decline (-6.8% YoY) and Berrien County's tightening trend could combine to push audit and close-season staffing costs higher even if headline unemployment stays flat.
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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