{"schema_version": 1, "id": "cleveland-elyria-mentor-oh-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 134, "label": "Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH MSA", "slug": "cleveland-elyria-mentor-oh-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:10:18.288461+00:00", "headline": "Cleveland finance pay splits: FP&A up, Financial Analyst down.", "headline_summary": "Metro FP&A Manager pay climbed to $136,590 against a $130,000 national median, while Financial Analyst pay fell to $85,935 versus a stable $94,646 nationally \u2014 a divergence finance leaders should price into 2027 headcount budgets.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Cleveland metro nonfarm employment", "value": "1.104M", "context": "Highest since June 2019 (June 2026 data)"}, {"label": "Cuyahoga County wage growth", "value": "4.8% YoY", "context": "vs 4.1% national hourly earnings growth"}, {"label": "CFO turnover rate", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic (Crist|Kolder, 2026)"}, {"label": "Ohio job losses, September", "value": "-5,000", "context": "State unemployment rose to 3.4% from 3.3%"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "FP&A talent is pricing above the national market here.", "body": "Cleveland's FP&A Manager advertised median of $136,590 sits roughly 5% above the $130,000 national figure, consistent with a broader pattern of employers paying up for forecasting and planning talent during a period of CFO turnover near pandemic-era highs. Budget cycles built on prior-year FP&A comp assumptions likely understate current market cost."}, {"headline": "Financial Analyst pay is softening against a flat national trend.", "body": "Metro advertised pay for Financial Analyst roles has moved down to $85,935, a meaningful gap against the stable $94,646 national median. That gap may reflect local supply conditions easing for this role specifically, and warrants a role-level pay check before assuming parity with national postings."}, {"headline": "Contract staffing shift adds audit-readiness risk alongside cost flexibility.", "body": "70% of finance and accounting leaders report increasing contract talent use in H2 2026, a move that helps manage fixed headcount cost but can create documentation and control gaps during close and audit cycles. Finance leaders layering contractors into core accounting functions should weigh audit trail exposure alongside the cost savings."}, {"headline": "Metro wage strength may not extend evenly to every finance role.", "body": "Cuyahoga County's 4.8% year-over-year weekly wage growth outpaces the national 4.1% average hourly earnings gain, but Controller and Senior Accountant advertised pay locally are both flat this month. Aggregate wage strength at the county level can mask stagnation in specific finance job families used for headcount budgeting."}], "local_conditions": "Cleveland metro employment held near a seven-year high in June at 1.104 million nonfarm jobs, with Cuyahoga County average weekly wages up 4.8% year-over-year in Q1 \u2014 outpacing the state's 3.4% employment cost growth and suggesting the metro's labor market has absorbed cost pressure better than Ohio overall. Statewide softening is visible at the edges, however: Ohio shed 5,000 jobs in September and labor force participation sits at 61.2% versus 61.8% nationally, a tighter talent pool that compounds hiring friction even where local demand remains firm.", "implications": "Finance function headcount planning now has to reconcile two signals at once: a metro labor market that looks resilient on topline employment and wages, against a national finance talent market where CFO turnover is projected at 18.3% for 2026 and 61% of hiring managers report skilled finance professionals harder to find than a year ago. Locally, FP&A Manager advertised pay rose to a metro median of $136,590 \u2014 above the $130,000 national figure \u2014 while Financial Analyst pay slipped to $85,935 against a $94,646 national median, a divergence that complicates flat-rate budget assumptions across finance job families. Consider reviewing headcount cost models at the role level, since metro pay movement is clearly uneven across the finance function this cycle.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Ohio's September job loss of 5,000 and the uptick in state unemployment to 3.4% warrant watching for spillover into Cleveland's otherwise stronger metro numbers when October metro data releases November 24."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "CFO external hiring rate climbed to 37.5% nationally; if that pattern holds locally, finance leadership vacancies during Q4 close and year-end audit planning become a real continuity risk worth scenario-planning now."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Tax Specialist and Credit Analyst advertised pay both posted up moves this month (metro medians of $74,886 and $64,597 respectively); sustained movement in these roles may signal where compensation budgets need reallocation heading into 2027 planning."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Manufacturing led Ohio's WARN filings in 2026 with 23 notices and 3,159 affected workers; any acceleration in Cuyahoga-area filings could loosen finance support-role talent pools (billing, AP/AR) that serve manufacturing clients."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 95000.0, "metro_p50": 115259.0, "metro_p75": 124565.0, "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": 75588.0, "metro_p50": 85000.0, "metro_p75": 89299.0, "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": 70000.0, "metro_p50": 85935.0, "metro_p75": 95980.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 37864.0, "metro_p50": 50449.4, "metro_p75": 60609.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 43035.0, "metro_p50": 74885.6, "metro_p75": 89754.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 69556.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 49449.0, "metro_p50": 64597.0, "metro_p75": 72065.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 105795.0, "metro_p50": 136590.0, "metro_p75": 143969.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Cleveland metro nonfarm employment reached 1.104 million in June 2026"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW", "source_url": null, "statement": "Cuyahoga County average weekly wages up 4.8% YoY in Q1 2026"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "Robert Half", "source_url": null, "statement": "61% of finance hiring managers report skilled talent harder to find"}, {"source_name": "AFP FP&A Forum", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026"}, {"source_name": "Ohio Capital Journal / ODJFS", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ohio shed 5,000 jobs in September 2026, unemployment rose to 3.4%"}], "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": "cleveland-elyria-mentor-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "cleveland-elyria-mentor-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:20:04.844891+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/cleveland-elyria-mentor-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/cleveland-elyria-mentor-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}