Labor Market Pulse · Finance · September 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Utica-Rome, NY MSA — September 2026
Utica finance jobs shrink as senior-role pay climbs sharply.
Metro financial activities employment fell again even as Controller pay rose to $106,583 and Tax Specialist pay climbed to $76,513, both outpacing national wage growth of just 3.0% year-over-year.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.3% — Up from 4.2% a year earlier (Aug 2025)
- Metro financial activities jobs: -100 — Latest monthly change, part of flat 122,700 total
- National wage growth: 3.0% y/y — September reading, below 3.2% consensus estimate
- Metro avg weekly wage: $1,218 — vs $1,654 national average, Q1 2026
Key takeaways
Metro finance jobs are shrinking while finance pay is rising.
Financial activities lost 100 jobs locally in the latest month even as Controller and Tax Specialist advertised pay both moved up significantly in the metro. Contraction in headcount paired with rising pay for senior roles suggests employers are trimming transactional positions while bidding harder for scarce technical talent.
National CPA shortage is landing differently than past cycles.
National F&A leaders report a 2026 Talent Shortage Index of 77%, a sharp reversal from a 2025 surplus reading of 108%, with 74% planning to increase permanent headcount. Utica's below-national wage base ($1,218 vs $1,654 weekly average) could make the metro a relative bargain for remote-capable finance hiring, but only if local employers move quickly on competitive offers.
Wage cooling nationally buys budget room, not local certainty.
National average hourly earnings growth decelerated to 3.0% year-over-year in September, below consensus and easing salary planning assumptions broadly. Metro-specific pay for Controller and Tax Specialist moving up significantly despite this national cooling indicates Utica compensation pressure is running counter to the broader deceleration — a gap worth reconciling before finalizing 2027 merit budgets.
Credit Analyst and Senior Accountant pay signal a stable middle tier.
Both roles show stable metro and national advertised pay, with Credit Analyst at $83,776 locally against a lower $71,758 national median — an inversion suggesting metro employers value this function more than national peers. Stability here, bracketed by volatility in Controller and Tax Specialist pay, points to selective scarcity rather than broad-based finance wage inflation.
Median advertised pay by role — Utica-Rome, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $52,174 | $106,583 | $119,736 | Significant increase | $113,754 |
| Senior Accountant | $82,710 | $87,731 | $93,600 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $72,761 | $95,595 | $104,967 | Moderate increase | $94,782 |
| Billing Specialist | $39,520 | $49,266 | $60,068 | Significant increase | $49,512 |
| Tax Specialist | $54,079 | $76,513 | $93,900 | Significant increase | $65,842 |
| Credit Analyst | $66,855 | $83,776 | $100,000 | Stable | $71,758 |
| FP&A Manager | $107,782 | $130,390 | $136,530 | Stable | $128,139 |
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
Utica-Rome's financial activities sector shed 100 jobs in the latest monthly reading even as the metro's broader nonfarm count held flat at 122,700 for the year ending August 2026, with the unemployment rate drifting up to 4.3% from 4.2% a year earlier. Local softness tracks the national pattern — financial activities nationally has lost 129,000 jobs since May 2025, concentrated in insurance carriers — while metro average weekly wages of $1,218 remain roughly 26% below the national average of $1,654, keeping this a cost-favorable but thin talent market.
What it means
Local finance headcount contraction alongside national Talent Shortage Index readings (77% in 2026, up from 108% surplus in 2025) suggests Controllers and FP&A leaders face a bifurcated market: shrinking transactional roles but intensifying competition for technical finance and accounting talent, particularly CPA-track positions. Metro advertised pay for Tax Specialist ($76,513, up significantly) and Controller ($106,583, up significantly) outpacing national Controller growth signals Utica employers are already bidding for scarce senior finance talent despite a shrinking job base. Consider reviewing headcount plans for finance support functions against automation and shared-services alternatives before backfilling roles lost to the sector's national contraction.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Metro financial activities losses (-100 in the latest month) have not yet shown up as WARN filings; confirm whether Q4 brings formal notices or if losses remain attrition-driven, which affects severance and backfill budget timing.
Emerging pressure point: National finance and accounting hiring plans (74% expecting headcount increases) could pull remote-eligible Utica talent toward higher-paying metros. Monitor whether Controller and FP&A Manager advertised pay gaps to national medians widen further, forcing retention counteroffers.
Expected: New York's statewide wage growth (6.5% year-over-year through Q1 2026) and NYC financial services stability may keep downward pressure off Utica's own finance wage floor even as local headcount softens. Track whether metro Controller pay growth continues outpacing national trend into Q4.
Potential inflection point: Automation and shared-services adoption cited nationally as an offset to F&A hiring could reach Utica's back-office finance functions given the metro's lower wage base makes offshoring or automation ROI calculations different than in NYC. Watch for RFPs or vendor activity signaling this shift locally.
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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