{"schema_version": 1, "id": "dayton-oh-msa/life-sciences/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 158, "label": "Dayton, OH MSA", "slug": "dayton-oh-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "life_sciences", "slug": "life-sciences", "label": "Life Sciences"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T04:01:57.956988+00:00", "headline": "Dayton's scientist pay premium masks a thinning specialist bench.", "headline_summary": "Dayton Research Scientist pay hit $171,495, a 32% premium over the $130,339 national median, while local Clinical Research Associate pay trails the national figure by 23%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "3.7%", "context": "vs 4.1% national, Aug 2026"}, {"label": "Metro nonfarm employment change", "value": "-1,000 jobs", "context": "August 2026, reversing July's +700"}, {"label": "Research Scientist pay premium", "value": "+32%", "context": "$171,495 metro vs $130,339 national"}, {"label": "CRA pay gap vs national", "value": "-23%", "context": "$68,984 metro vs $90,065 national"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Research Scientist pay gap signals a thin talent pool.", "body": "Metro median pay of $171,495 against a national figure of $130,339 is a 32% premium that likely reflects a thin local talent pool. Treating this figure as a market benchmark for broader R&D hiring risks overpaying for roles with deeper regional supply."}, {"headline": "CRA compensation lags the national market by a wide margin.", "body": "Dayton's Clinical Research Associate median of $68,984 trails the national figure of $90,065 by 23%, even as national CRA demand stays candidate-driven and experienced talent remains the bottleneck. Retention of experienced CRAs locally may depend on total rewards beyond base pay, since remote-eligible national roles offer a substantial pay gap to close."}, {"headline": "Validation Engineer pay gains point to CDMO-adjacent competition.", "body": "Metro Validation Engineer pay is up moderately even as the national figure holds stable, consistent with intensifying local competition for bioprocess and manufacturing credentials described in national CDMO hiring trends. Headcount plans tied to biomanufacturing expansion should assume continued upward pressure on this role."}, {"headline": "Regulatory Affairs pay moves against the national grain.", "body": "Dayton's Regulatory Affairs Specialist median rose moderately to $98,062 while the national figure declined moderately to $103,780, narrowing a gap that typically favors coastal hubs. Given regulatory talent ranks among the hardest national roles to fill in 2026, this local uptick may reflect employers front-running a tightening specialist market."}], "local_conditions": "Dayton's metro economy crossed 400,000 nonfarm jobs in June before shedding 1,000 in August, a reversal that signals fragile momentum even as unemployment holds near 3.7%, well below the national 4.1% rate. Aerospace, defense, and manufacturing-adjacent hiring continue to anchor the region, but skilled labor shortages persist, pulling life sciences employers into direct wage competition with defense contractors and advanced manufacturing for the same pool of technically credentialed workers.", "implications": "Research Scientist pay in Dayton sits well above the national median ($171,495 vs. $130,339), a divergence that appears to reflect a thin local bench for advanced scientific talent, since Regulatory Affairs and Validation Engineer roles trail national figures and point to a role-specific gap rather than a broad regional pay premium. Build-vs-outsource decisions for clinical operations and CMC functions deserve scrutiny given Dayton's Clinical Research Associate pay sits 23% below the national median \u2014 a gap that may widen candidate flight risk toward remote or coastal CRO roles offering national-scale compensation. Organizations should evaluate whether Research Scientist compensation reflects a scarcity premium or a mispriced job family before using it as a benchmark anchor for adjacent R&D roles.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "August's 1,000-job metro loss reversed July's gain; watch whether September-October BLS releases confirm a stalling pattern or a one-month blip, since sustained contraction would ease some of the wage pressure driving Research Scientist and Validation Engineer pay higher."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Ohio's pharmaceutical manufacturing employment grew 24% from 2015-2024, and the Ohio Life Science Training Center opens early 2027 with simulated clean-room capacity. Dayton employers planning biomanufacturing headcount should track whether this pipeline reduces reliance on premium-priced outside hires over the next two quarters."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Ohio's labor force participation rate (61.2%) trails the national rate (61.8%), a gap that compounds recruiting difficulty for credential-heavy roles. Monitor whether participation narrows as statewide training programs like Columbus State's biotech bootcamp scale placements."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National biopharma quit rates sit near 1.9%, signaling experienced professionals are staying put despite rising employer demand. Dayton organizations competing for regulatory and CMC talent should watch whether this national stickiness extends locally, limiting the effectiveness of pay-led poaching strategies."}], "roles": [{"role": "Research Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 95977.0, "metro_p50": 171495.0, "metro_p75": 171495.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 130339.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Clinical Research Associate", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 55497.0, "metro_p50": 68983.8, "metro_p75": 70454.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 90065.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Lab Technician", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 38480.0, "metro_p50": 44939.0, "metro_p75": 45183.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 47840.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Regulatory Affairs Specialist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 69886.0, "metro_p50": 98062.4, "metro_p75": 118000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 103779.6, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Clinical Data Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 96453.0, "metro_p50": 126243.8, "metro_p75": 140324.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 123653.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Biostatistician", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 103363.5, "metro_p50": 129034.0, "metro_p75": 137195.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 131958.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Validation Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 83836.0, "metro_p50": 98409.0, "metro_p75": 98409.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 106478.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Dayton Daily News", "source_url": null, "statement": "Dayton metro surpassed 400,000 jobs in June 2026, first time 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": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek unemployment rate at 3.7% in August 2026"}, {"source_name": "Life sciences industry workforce research", "source_url": null, "statement": "National CRA talent remains candidate-driven with experienced-level bottleneck"}, {"source_name": "Ohio Life Sciences Association", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ohio pharmaceutical manufacturing employment grew 24% from 2015-2024"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ohio labor force participation rate of 61.2% vs 61.8% national"}], "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/life-sciences/2026-10.html", "pdf": "dayton-oh-msa/life-sciences/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:20:49.981523+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/dayton-oh-msa/life-sciences/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/dayton-oh-msa/life-sciences/2026-10.pdf"}