{"schema_version": 1, "id": "cedar-rapids-ia-msa/finance/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 126, "label": "Cedar Rapids, IA MSA", "slug": "cedar-rapids-ia-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:26:13.849518+00:00", "headline": "Cedar Rapids finance pay splits: FP&A climbs, Controllers and billing soften.", "headline_summary": "FP&A Manager advertised pay hit $131,049 locally against a softening $104,855 Controller median, while Billing Specialist pay fell to $41,829 even as the national figure rose to $49,512.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Cedar Rapids unemployment", "value": "3.7%", "context": "July 2026, down from 4.1% in June"}, {"label": "Iowa finance & insurance GDP", "value": "-1.3%", "context": "2026, despite 0.8% employment growth"}, {"label": "FP&A Manager advertised pay", "value": "$131,049", "context": "Metro exceeds $128,139 national median"}, {"label": "Iowa finance/insurance job growth", "value": "+1,200 jobs YoY", "context": "Across ~95,000 workers, 7,000 firms statewide"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "FP&A talent is pulling away from the Controller track.", "body": "FP&A Manager advertised pay rose to $131,049 locally, above the $128,139 national median, while Controller pay softened to $104,855 \u2014 a reversal of typical seniority-based pay hierarchies. Budget planning roles tied to forecasting and scenario modeling appear to be commanding scarcity premiums that traditional close-and-control roles are not."}, {"headline": "Tax and credit analyst pay signals a narrow, real skills shortage.", "body": "Tax Specialist advertised pay rose significantly both locally ($65,620) and nationally ($65,842), with Credit Analyst pay up moderately in both markets. These are specialized compliance and risk functions \u2014 worth flagging for retention planning given Iowa's 2026 Talent Shortage Index of 77%, a sharp reversal from last year's talent surplus."}, {"headline": "Billing Specialist pay decline may reflect automation substitution.", "body": "Metro Billing Specialist pay fell significantly to $41,829 even as the national median climbed to $49,512 \u2014 a local divergence worth investigating. National commentary pointing to automation and shared-services absorption in transactional finance roles may be landing earlier in Cedar Rapids than elsewhere."}, {"headline": "Statewide finance GDP contraction complicates headcount cost planning.", "body": "Iowa's finance and insurance sector GDP declined 1.3% in 2026 despite 0.8% employment growth, meaning headcount costs are rising faster than the output they support. Finance leaders modeling 2027 budgets should stress-test labor cost assumptions against this productivity gap rather than historical growth trends."}], "local_conditions": "Cedar Rapids unemployment held near 3.7% in July with total employment at 140.5 thousand, but data center construction and rising rents are pulling against a finance and insurance sector that grew GDP at just -1.3% statewide despite modest job gains. NFI Interactive Logistics' 49-worker closure and continued professional and business services softness statewide (-1,000 jobs since July) signal a labor market that is tight for talent but uneven in demand across industries feeding finance functions.", "implications": "Statewide finance and insurance employment grew only 1,200 jobs year-over-year even as 95,000 Iowans work across 7,000 finance and insurance firms, suggesting headcount growth locally will be incremental rather than broad-based \u2014 consistent with national F&A hiring intentions (74% planning increases) outpacing actual sector job creation. Controller pay softening locally while FP&A Manager advertised pay climbs to $131,049 points to a bifurcated market where strategic finance talent commands a premium even as generalist accounting roles see less upward pressure. Consider reviewing headcount plans role-by-role rather than department-wide, given this divergence between strategic finance and transactional finance compensation trajectories.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected", "body": "NFI Interactive Logistics' 49-worker layoff completes by September 30, adding to a thin but real local WARN pipeline. Watch whether logistics and operations talent displaced locally begins appearing in finance-adjacent candidate pools, particularly for billing and accounting support roles."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Data center construction continues driving rent increases across Linn County, a cost-of-living pressure that could complicate recruitment and retention economics for mid-career finance hires relocating into the metro. Factor housing cost trajectory into offer competitiveness for out-of-market candidates."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National average hourly earnings growth decelerated to 3.0% year-over-year in September, below forecast \u2014 a signal that broad wage pressure may be easing even as specialized finance roles like Tax Specialist and FP&A Manager continue climbing. Watch whether this divergence widens into Q4 budget cycles."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Iowa's labor force contraction, driven by workers aged 45-54 exiting employment, could tighten the pipeline for mid-career Controller and FP&A succession planning over the next two fiscal years. Consider whether internal promotion pipelines can absorb this attrition before external market pressure forces reactive hiring."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 67656.0, "metro_p50": 104855.0, "metro_p75": 115444.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 113754.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 69776.0, "metro_p50": 79294.0, "metro_p75": 85000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 71250.0, "metro_p50": 89486.4, "metro_p75": 95178.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 94782.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 38979.0, "metro_p50": 41829.0, "metro_p75": 46375.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 49512.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 43568.5, "metro_p50": 65620.0, "metro_p75": 67900.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 65842.4, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 55509.0, "metro_p50": 63135.0, "metro_p75": 63537.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 71758.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 103563.5, "metro_p50": 131049.4, "metro_p75": 136259.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 128139.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "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": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "cedar-rapids-ia-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "pdf": "cedar-rapids-ia-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T13:49:10.436257+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/cedar-rapids-ia-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/cedar-rapids-ia-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}