{"schema_version": 1, "id": "boise-city-nampa-id-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 118, "label": "Boise City-Nampa, ID MSA", "slug": "boise-city-nampa-id-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:05:33.055212+00:00", "headline": "Boise finance headcount grows faster than sector output.", "headline_summary": "Idaho Finance & Insurance employment rose 2.9% in 2026 while sector GDP growth stayed flat at 0.1%, as metro Credit Analyst pay jumped to $70,667 and time-to-fill stretched to 31 days.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Southwestern Idaho unemployment", "value": "3.5%", "context": "Below Sept. 2025 level, labor force fell 0.1%"}, {"label": "Finance & Insurance GDP growth", "value": "0.1%", "context": "vs 2.9% employment growth in same sector"}, {"label": "Credit Analyst advertised pay", "value": "$70,667", "context": "Up significantly, near $71,397 national median"}, {"label": "Time-to-fill, Southeastern Idaho", "value": "31 days", "context": "Up from 27 days a year earlier"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Finance headcount growth is outpacing sector productivity.", "body": "Idaho Finance & Insurance employment grew 2.9% in 2026 while sector GDP growth was flat at 0.1%, with five-year annualized GDP declining 1.1%. Headcount budgets built on prior productivity assumptions may need revisiting."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay is moving up locally while lagging the nation.", "body": "Metro advertised median sits at $64,730, up moderately, against a national median of $69,556 climbing significantly. Compensation benchmarking for tax roles should track the national trajectory alongside local postings to avoid falling behind during the next hiring cycle."}, {"headline": "Credit Analyst pay signals tightening in a less-watched role.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay for Credit Analyst rose significantly to $70,667, outpacing the stable national figure of $71,397 and nearly closing the gap. Treasury and FP&A functions relying on credit analysis talent should expect retention pressure building quietly."}, {"headline": "Longer time-to-fill is a close-cycle risk as well as a recruiting metric.", "body": "Southeastern Idaho posting duration extended to 31 days from 27, and state workforce data flags Financial Specialists as especially hard to fill and retain. Extended vacancies during quarter-end or audit windows raise control risk alongside direct cost."}], "local_conditions": "Southwestern Idaho's unemployment rate held at 3.5% in September with the civilian labor force contracting slightly to 489,138, pointing to a metro economy constrained by labor supply. Ada County wages continue rising roughly twice the national pace even as Idaho's Finance & Insurance sector GDP growth flattened at 0.1%, signaling headcount costs are outrunning sector output.", "implications": "Flat sector GDP against 2.9% employment growth in Idaho's Finance & Insurance sector suggests headcount additions aren't translating into proportional output, a pattern Controllers and FP&A leaders should interrogate before approving further finance headcount requests. National CFO turnover at 18.3% and 85% of CFOs reporting talent shortages compound local recruitment friction evident in Southeastern Idaho's posting duration, now 31 days versus 27 a year ago. Consider stress-testing close and audit staffing plans against a scenario where a key finance hire takes a month or more to fill.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether Idaho's Finance & Insurance sector GDP growth turns positive in Q4 reporting. Continued flat or negative output against rising headcount would strengthen the case for freezing discretionary finance hires."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "The November 5 Idaho Department of Labor hiring event in Boise draws employers including Boise State and St. Luke's; monitor whether finance and accounting roles appear on employer rosters as a read on local demand intensity."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National contract-staffing trends show 70% of finance leaders increasing contractor use in H2 2026. Watch for similar shifts locally as a lever against Boise's extended time-to-fill, while weighing the audit documentation gaps contractor models can introduce."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Idaho's labor force contracted 0.1% in September even as job openings growth ranked highest in the US at 21%. A widening gap between openings and available workers would sharpen wage pressure on hard-to-fill finance roles like Credit Analyst and Tax Specialist."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 88820.0, "metro_p50": 116612.0, "metro_p75": 120000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 71966.5, "metro_p50": 82129.2, "metro_p75": 85213.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 77437.0, "metro_p50": 95577.0, "metro_p75": 99885.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 36690.0, "metro_p50": 45760.0, "metro_p75": 50960.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 41444.0, "metro_p50": 64730.0, "metro_p75": 75019.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 69556.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 52568.0, "metro_p50": 70667.2, "metro_p75": 73133.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 71397.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 104294.0, "metro_p50": 131704.6, "metro_p75": 145505.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Idaho Department of Labor", "source_url": null, "statement": "Southwestern Idaho unemployment rate and labor force figures for September 2026"}, {"source_name": "Idaho Department of Labor / state GDP data", "source_url": null, "statement": "Idaho Finance & Insurance employment growth vs. sector GDP growth"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover rate of 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "MAVI", "source_url": null, "statement": "85% of CFOs report finance talent shortages affecting operations"}, {"source_name": "Industry survey (AFP FP&A Forum / Robert Half)", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026"}, {"source_name": "Idaho Department of Labor", "source_url": "https://www.idahoatwork.com", "statement": "November 5 hiring event at Idaho Chinden Campus in Boise"}], "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.", "edition_label": "November 2026", "files": {"html": "boise-city-nampa-id-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "boise-city-nampa-id-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:18:58.506531+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/boise-city-nampa-id-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/boise-city-nampa-id-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}