{"schema_version": 1, "id": "cedar-rapids-ia-msa/finance/2026-10", "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": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:11:00.256538+00:00", "headline": "Controller pay slips locally as national finance wages climb.", "headline_summary": "Cedar Rapids Controller advertised pay fell to $104,855 against a national median climbing to $115,420, even as metro unemployment held near 3.9%-4.0%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Cedar Rapids MSA unemployment", "value": "3.9%", "context": "Aug 2026; Linn Co. at 4.0%, up from 3.8% in July"}, {"label": "Controller advertised pay gap", "value": "$104,855 vs $115,420", "context": "Metro down/moderate vs national up/moderate"}, {"label": "CFO turnover rate, national", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic; Crist|Kolder, 2026"}, {"label": "Iowa financial activities weekly wage", "value": "$1,534", "context": "Highest of any Iowa sector, Sept. 2026"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Controller pay is drifting backward while the national market climbs.", "body": "Metro Controller advertised pay fell to $104,855 even as the national median rose to $115,420 \u2014 a widening gap of over $10,000. Left unaddressed, this spread increases the odds that strong internal candidates get poached or counteroffers escalate during a vacancy."}, {"headline": "Billing Specialist pay decline may reflect frontline hiring softness.", "body": "A significant drop in metro Billing Specialist advertised pay to $43,028, against a stable national median near $49,000, stands out against an otherwise tight local labor market. Worth distinguishing whether this reflects demand softening or recalibration after the casino's large-scale frontline hiring push, measured by job ads, which track demand and often cover several openings each, absorbed other hourly labor."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist demand is strengthening on both sides of the comparison.", "body": "Metro Tax Specialist advertised pay rose moderately to $70,720, now above the nationally surging median of $69,556. Convergence with outsized national wage pressure (+5.6% electrical engineering, +4.7% IT, per Indeed) suggests tax and compliance expertise is being bid up alongside technical specialties."}, {"headline": "Finance talent shortages nationally raise local retention stakes.", "body": "With 85% of CFOs reporting finance talent shortages and 70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026, Cedar Rapids employers competing for a comparatively small local finance labor pool should expect retention to be the harder problem compared with sourcing."}], "local_conditions": "Cedar Rapids' metro labor market remains tight by national standards, with August unemployment at 3.9% even as Linn County's rate crept up to 4.0% from 3.8% in July, suggesting modest softening at the margins. Hiring momentum is bifurcated \u2014 Cedar Crossing Casino's push to fill 350-370 roles ahead of November opening and a data-center-driven construction boom are absorbing labor supply, while NFI Interactive Logistics' 49-worker closure and scattered manufacturing WARN activity signal selective contraction in goods-movement and production roles.", "implications": "Tight headline unemployment masks uneven conditions across finance-adjacent sectors \u2014 Iowa's financial activities workers already command the state's highest average weekly earnings at $1,534, and local Controller advertised pay softening to $104,855 against a rising national median of $115,420 suggests Cedar Rapids employers may be under-pricing senior finance talent relative to where the market is heading. With CFO turnover nationally projected at 18.3% for 2026 and 85% of CFOs reporting finance talent shortages, headcount cost planning should assume elevated flight risk for senior finance roles even in a metro with comparatively favorable labor supply. Consider reviewing Controller and FP&A Manager compensation against the national trajectory now, before a vacancy forces a reactive, above-market counteroffer during close or audit season.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Linn County unemployment ticked up two consecutive months (3.8% to 4.0%); confirm whether this reflects manufacturing softness (54 Iowa WARN filings, 4,255 employees year-to-date) spilling into finance support roles like billing and AP."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Data-center construction driving Cedar Rapids rent growth above the state average could pressure total rewards expectations for relocating or early-career finance hires, even without a corresponding local wage signal yet."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National Controller and FP&A Manager pay is rising while local Controller pay softens \u2014 a gap that typically closes through either local wage catch-up or accelerated turnover as professionals benchmark against remote and out-of-metro offers."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "Cedar Crossing Casino's November opening will test local frontline labor absorption; watch whether it pulls administrative and finance-support talent (AP, billing) from existing employers, consistent with the Billing Specialist pay softness already observed."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 73280.5, "metro_p50": 104855.0, "metro_p75": 115444.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 70000.0, "metro_p50": 79373.2, "metro_p75": 83998.5, "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": 68077.5, "metro_p50": 89182.0, "metro_p75": 96537.0, "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": 38979.0, "metro_p50": 43027.8, "metro_p75": 46375.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 45043.75, "metro_p50": 70720.0, "metro_p75": 83034.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 57069.0, "metro_p50": 63135.0, "metro_p75": 63522.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 71397.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 103775.0, "metro_p50": 125992.6, "metro_p75": 136259.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)", "source_url": null, "statement": "Cedar Rapids MSA unemployment at 3.9% in August 2026"}, {"source_name": "Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)", "source_url": null, "statement": "Linn County unemployment rose to 4.0% from 3.8% in July"}, {"source_name": "Iowa Starting Line", "source_url": null, "statement": "NFI Interactive Logistics closing, laying off 49 workers"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 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": "Iowa Workforce Development / BLS", "source_url": null, "statement": "Iowa financial activities sector weekly wage of $1,534, highest statewide"}], "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": "cedar-rapids-ia-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "cedar-rapids-ia-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:19:36.929817+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/cedar-rapids-ia-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/cedar-rapids-ia-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}