Labor Market Pulse · Finance · October 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Ogden-Clearfield, UT MSA — October 2026
Ogden Finance pay diverges sharply by role as hiring cools.
Metro Financial Analyst pay ($94,927) now outpaces the national median while Controller pay slipped to $110,354, even as metro job growth decelerated from roughly 297 to a net monthly loss of 250 jobs in 2025.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.5% — Held since April 2026, vs 4.1% national
- Metro job growth pace: -250/month (2025) — Down from +297/month five-year average
- Financial Analyst advertised pay: $94,927 metro — Above $94,646 national median
- CFO turnover rate: 18.3% — Highest since pandemic, per Crist|Kolder
Key takeaways
Financial Analyst pay is outrunning the national market.
Metro median advertised pay of $94,927 now exceeds the national median of $94,646, a reversal worth flagging given Ogden's historically lower cost-of-labor position. This suggests local demand for analytical finance talent has tightened faster than peer markets, with direct implications for FP&A budget planning and backfill cost assumptions.
Tax Specialist advertised pay is climbing faster than almost any other finance role.
Metro median of $83,791 sits well above the national figure of $69,556, both tagged as significant increases. Compressed timelines around close and compliance cycles appear to be pushing employers to pay a premium for scarce tax expertise in a labor pool DWS describes as selective.
Controller pay softened locally while the national market firmed.
Metro median Controller pay fell to $110,354 even as the national median rose to $115,420 — a divergence that may reflect metro-specific supply dynamics or a shift in the mix of postings. Worth testing against internal Controller vacancy data before assuming market softening is structural.
Billing Specialist pay decline signals a role losing leverage.
Metro median dropped to $43,835 against a stable national median of $49,000, a meaningful metro-specific gap. Lower-skill transactional finance roles appear more exposed to the broader slowdown in metro job creation than analytical or compliance-adjacent positions.
Median advertised pay by role — Ogden-Clearfield, UT MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $80,330 | $110,354 | $119,027 | Moderate decline | $115,420 |
| Senior Accountant | $70,658 | $82,274 | $87,779 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $69,295 | $94,927 | $102,577 | Significant increase | $94,646 |
| Billing Specialist | $36,975 | $43,835 | $49,160 | Moderate decline | $49,000 |
| Tax Specialist | $42,887 | $83,791 | $90,799 | Significant increase | $69,556 |
| Credit Analyst | $52,500 | $67,346 | $78,804 | Significant increase | $71,397 |
| FP&A Manager | $107,519 | $126,238 | $137,613 | Moderate increase | $130,000 |
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
Ogden-Clearfield's unemployment rate held at 3.5% through mid-2026, but job growth has decelerated sharply from a five-year average of roughly 297 jobs added monthly to a 2025 pattern of net monthly losses averaging 250 jobs, before stabilizing with 1,000-job gains in both July and August. Manufacturing continues to anchor the metro's wage structure at $1,453 average weekly wages, while the statewide shift toward a Department of Workforce Services-described 'low hire, low fire' posture signals employers are retaining staff even as new requisitions slow.
What it means
Deceleration in metro job growth alongside flat 3.5% unemployment suggests Finance functions face candidate scarcity for mid-level roles even as overall headcount expansion cools — a combination that complicates budget cycle planning when backfills take longer but volume growth doesn't justify aggressive hiring. Metro-specific pay movements in Financial Analyst (+significant) and Tax Specialist (+significant) roles point to where retention risk is concentrated during close and audit-heavy periods, while national CFO turnover near 18.3% raises succession-planning stakes locally. Consider reviewing contingency staffing plans for audit and close cycles given tightening candidate availability in analytical finance roles.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether Weber County's September employment forecast of 125,461 materializes; a miss would confirm the 2025 pattern of net job losses is reasserting itself, raising questions about the durability of the July-August rebound.
Emerging pressure point: National CFO turnover at 18.3% and an external hiring rate of 37.5% raise the probability of leadership transitions touching Ogden-based Finance teams; succession and interim-coverage planning deserves attention before year-end close cycles begin.
Worth watching: Utah's statewide shift to selective hiring alongside 13 WARN notices affecting 1,861 workers in 2026 suggests a thin but real possibility of experienced finance talent entering the local market mid-cycle — a potential opening for opportunistic backfills.
Potential inflection point: National data showing 70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026 may extend to Ogden employers facing scarce analytical and tax talent; monitor whether contingent staffing requests rise ahead of Q1 audit prep.
Sources
- Utah Department of Workforce Services — Ogden-Clearfield MSA unemployment at 3.5% and job growth deceleration
- Utah Department of Workforce Services — Manufacturing average weekly wage of $1,453 in metro
- Crist|Kolder Associates — CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026
- AFP FP&A Forum — 70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026
- Utah WARN Act Tracker — 13 WARN notices filed in Utah in 2026 affecting 1,861 workers
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National unemployment rate at 4.1% in October 2026
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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