{"schema_version": 1, "id": "dayton-oh-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 158, "label": "Dayton, OH MSA", "slug": "dayton-oh-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:14:05.831144+00:00", "headline": "Dayton finance pay softens as hiring run stalls.", "headline_summary": "Senior Accountant and Financial Analyst advertised pay fell moderately in Dayton even as national medians held stable, while the metro's historic 400,000-job milestone gave way to an August loss of 1,000 jobs.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Dayton metro job change, August", "value": "-1,000", "context": "Reversed July's +700 gain"}, {"label": "Dayton unemployment rate", "value": "3.7%", "context": "Aug 2026, down 1.0pt year-over-year"}, {"label": "Ohio labor force participation", "value": "61.2%", "context": "vs 61.8% national rate"}, {"label": "CFO turnover rate, national", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic (Crist|Kolder)"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Dayton finance pay is softening while national pay holds firm.", "body": "Senior Accountant, Financial Analyst, and Credit Analyst advertised pay all declined moderately in the metro this month while national medians stayed stable, a gap that suggests local demand cooled faster than the broader market. Organizations benchmarking against national data risk overpaying relative to what the local market is actually clearing."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay is diverging from every other role tracked.", "body": "Metro Tax Specialist pay rose significantly even as five of seven tracked finance roles moved down or flat locally, pointing to a narrow but acute scarcity likely tied to year-end tax planning and compliance workload. This looks like a role-specific signal worth isolating in 2027 budget conversations, kept separate from a broader finance pay adjustment."}, {"headline": "August's job loss interrupts a historic hiring run.", "body": "Dayton's 1,000-job decline in August followed a 700-job gain in July and came right after the metro broke 400,000 jobs for the first time since 2005. A single month doesn't confirm a turn, but it's reason to watch whether finance and accounting hiring plans built on the earlier growth narrative need revisiting."}, {"headline": "CFO turnover risk compounds a shrinking local labor pool.", "body": "National CFO turnover is running at 18.3%, the highest since the pandemic, while Dayton's labor force participation rate sits below the national average. A finance leadership departure in this market may take longer to backfill than national hiring-rate data would suggest."}], "local_conditions": "Dayton's metro economy crossed 400,000 nonfarm jobs in June for the first time in over two decades, but momentum reversed sharply in August with a 1,000-job loss that erased July's gain and marked the third-weakest month in five years. Defense and aerospace spending continues to anchor growth, with private education and health services (+3.3%) and construction (+3.2%) leading year-over-year gains even as statewide softness \u2014 Ohio shed 5,000 jobs in September and labor force participation trails the national rate (61.2% vs. 61.8%) \u2014 signals a tightening, less elastic local talent pool for finance functions.", "implications": "Metro-level finance and accounting pay is softening even as talent remains hard to find: Senior Accountant, Financial Analyst, and Credit Analyst advertised pay are all down moderately locally while national figures hold stable, a divergence that complicates headcount cost forecasting for multi-site organizations benchmarking against national survey data. With CFO turnover projected at 18.3% nationally and 70% of finance leaders expanding contract talent use, Dayton organizations face a dual risk \u2014 losing senior finance staff during close and audit cycles while backfilling at advertised rates that may not reflect true local scarcity. Consider reviewing whether current FTE-to-contractor ratios in accounting and FP&A functions account for Dayton's below-national participation rate, which constrains the bench available for rapid backfill.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Whether Dayton's August job loss extends into a second consecutive down month when September/October metro data releases, which would suggest the growth run through June was closer to a peak than a new baseline."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Statewide softening \u2014 Ohio's 5,000-job loss in September and rising unemployment to 3.4% \u2014 has not yet shown up distinctly in Dayton's finance and accounting advertised pay, but a lag effect is plausible given the metro's exposure to broader Ohio labor trends."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Tax Specialist pay's significant local increase warrants tracking into Q1 2027 to see whether it holds post-tax-season or reverts, which would clarify whether this is a durable repricing or a seasonal spike."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Continued CFO and senior finance turnover nationally, paired with Dayton's tighter labor force participation, may extend time-to-fill for finance leadership roles during Q4 close and year-end audit preparation."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 110000.0, "metro_p50": 114400.0, "metro_p75": 130000.0, "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": 75460.0, "metro_p50": 82938.8, "metro_p75": 85140.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 74345.0, "metro_p50": 86800.0, "metro_p75": 94041.5, "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": 36048.0, "metro_p50": 40560.0, "metro_p75": 48880.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 33535.0, "metro_p50": 49654.6, "metro_p75": 70720.0, "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": 51599.0, "metro_p50": 58841.0, "metro_p75": 67290.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": 102055.5, "metro_p50": 125000.0, "metro_p75": 133797.0, "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": "Dayton Daily News", "source_url": null, "statement": "Dayton metro reached 400,800 jobs in June 2026, first time above 400K in two decades"}, {"source_name": "USA Facts", "source_url": null, "statement": "Dayton metro lost 1,000 jobs in August 2026 after July gain of 700"}, {"source_name": "Buckeye Institute", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ohio labor force participation rate at 61.2% vs 61.8% national"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "Robert Half / AFP FP&A Forum", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance and accounting leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Dayton unemployment rate 3.7% in August 2026, down 1.0pt year-over-year"}], "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": "dayton-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "dayton-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:20:48.723771+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/dayton-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/dayton-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}