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Labor Market Pulse
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL Metro Edition
Focus: FINANCE
Quad Cities finance pay splits: entry roles up, leadership down.
3.0%
Scott County unemployment
vs 4.1% national, 4.7% Illinois
$107,898
Controller advertised pay, metro
Down significantly vs stable $112,500 national
-15,800
Illinois financial activities jobs, YoY
Statewide loss despite 15,000 net job growth
69%
F&A leaders offering above-range pay
National figure, business-critical roles
This Month's Takeaways
Controller and FP&A Manager pay are falling locally while national rates hold firm.
Metro Controller advertised pay dropped to $107,898 and FP&A Manager to $119,364, both significant declines against stable national medians of $112,500 and $127,341. That widening gap may reflect softer local demand for senior finance leadership roles rather than a true cost-of-labor shift, and warrants caution before assuming national comp trends apply locally.
Senior Accountant and Financial Analyst pay are rising against a national plateau.
Metro Senior Accountant pay climbed to $79,174 and Financial Analyst to $88,250 — both significant local increases while national medians stayed flat. This divergence is consistent with employers competing harder for mid-level technical talent locally even as senior-role demand appears to soften, suggesting budget pressure is concentrating in specific bands rather than across the finance function broadly.
Billing Specialist pay decline may not signal genuine market softening.
Metro Billing Specialist advertised pay fell sharply to $41,232 against a national figure of $49,700 that is itself rising moderately. Before treating this as a benchmark shift, consider whether local postings reflect a narrower mix of employers or job requirements this month rather than a durable repricing of the role.
Illinois' financial-activities job losses could ease pressure on Rock Island-side sourcing.
Illinois lost 15,800 financial services jobs over the past year and 1,700 in August alone, even as statewide unemployment fell. Displaced finance talent from larger Illinois markets may filter into the Quad Cities candidate pool, offering Rock Island-side employers a modest supply cushion Scott County employers currently lack.
Local Labor Conditions
Scott County's unemployment rate sits at a tight 3.0% and Rock Island County has improved to 3.7%, well below the national 4.1% and Illinois' 4.7% rates, even as statewide financial activities employment continues to contract — Illinois shed 1,700 finance jobs in August and 15,800 over the past year. Metro Finance and accounting hiring is unfolding against this bifurcated backdrop: Iowa-side tightness constrains candidate supply while Illinois-side sector softness signals uneven demand across the bi-state labor pool Davenport employers draw from.
Leadership & Talent Implications
Divergent Iowa/Illinois labor conditions mean headcount cost planning can no longer treat the metro as a single labor market — Scott County's 3.0% unemployment implies genuine recruiting friction for Finance roles, while Illinois' financial-activities job losses may be loosening supply just across the river. Controllers and FP&A leaders building FY2027 headcount budgets should also account for national F&A hiring dynamics, where 69% of hiring managers report offering above-range salaries and 82% pay premiums for AI-adjacent skills, both of which raise the effective cost of filling technical accounting seats even in a smaller metro. Consider reviewing county-level sourcing strategy separately for Scott and Rock Island rather than treating the MSA as homogeneous when budgeting for open Finance requisitions.
