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Labor Market Pulse
Binghamton, NY Metro Edition
Focus: FINANCE
Binghamton finance pay splits from national trend as private jobs shrink.
4.4%
Metro unemployment rate
Unchanged from July and August 2025
-600 jobs
Metro private payroll change
YoY, while total payrolls flat at 99,300
$45,390 vs $66,725
Tax Specialist pay gap
Metro vs national median, national up significantly
0% growth
NY financial activities employment
Statewide in 2025 despite wage growth elsewhere
This Month's Takeaways
Local finance pay is falling while national pay climbs.
Tax Specialist advertised pay in the metro sits at $45,390 against a national median of $66,725 — a 32% gap that did not exist a year ago given the national figure is up significantly. Budgeting to national survey data for this role risks systematically underpricing offers relative to what candidates can find elsewhere.
FP&A Manager pay is the outlier moving with the market.
Metro FP&A Manager pay rose moderately to $126,936, nearly matching the national median of $127,341 — a signal that strategic finance roles remain competitively priced even as transactional roles lag. This bifurcation suggests employers are protecting budget for planning and analysis talent while cutting posted pay elsewhere.
Flat payrolls mask a private-sector pullback.
Metro payroll jobs held at 99,300 year-over-year, but private employers cut 600 positions, meaning public-sector and government gains are offsetting private contraction. Finance leaders in privately held or publicly traded local employers should not read metro-wide stability as evidence their own hiring environment is loosening.
Credit Analyst and Billing Specialist roles show the steepest local softening.
Both roles posted significant declines locally while national medians moved up moderately, a divergence that may reflect reduced local demand for transactional finance support as private employers trim headcount. Worth revisiting job architecture for these roles before assuming current advertised levels reflect market equilibrium.
Local Labor Conditions
Binghamton metro unemployment held steady at 4.4% in August, with payroll jobs flat year-over-year at 99,300 even as private employers shed 600 positions — a labor market that is stable in aggregate but structurally soft beneath the surface. Advertised pay for finance and accounting roles across the metro is moving in the opposite direction from national trends, with Financial Analyst, Credit Analyst, Tax Specialist and Billing Specialist postings all down significantly, suggesting employers are pulling back on posted pay even as national F&A hiring managers report intensifying competition for talent.
Leadership & Talent Implications
Flat payroll counts alongside declining local advertised pay for several finance roles points to employers holding headcount steady while compressing budgeted starting offers, a pattern inconsistent with the national narrative of 74% of F&A leaders planning permanent headcount increases. Controllers and FP&A leaders in this metro may be operating with more pricing power on non-manager roles than national compensation surveys would suggest, but the divergence also raises retention risk if candidates benchmark against national postings showing Tax Specialist pay up sharply and Credit Analyst pay up moderately elsewhere. Consider reviewing offer ranges for mid-level finance roles against current local advertised data rather than national medians, since the metro-national gap has widened meaningfully this cycle.
