{"schema_version": 1, "id": "dubuque-ia-msa/finance/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 122, "label": "Dubuque, IA MSA", "slug": "dubuque-ia-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:27:05.776477+00:00", "headline": "Dubuque Controller pay surges past national median as talent thins.", "headline_summary": "Dubuque's advertised Controller pay hit $118,342 \u2014 above the $113,754 national median \u2014 even as local Tax Specialist pay fell to $43,182 against a rising $65,842 national figure.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Dubuque MSA unemployment", "value": "3.3%", "context": "vs 3.2% Iowa, 4.1% U.S. (July/Aug 2026)"}, {"label": "Controller advertised pay, metro", "value": "$118,342", "context": "vs $113,754 national median, up significantly"}, {"label": "Iowa finance/insurance sector GDP", "value": "-1.3%", "context": "vs +0.8% employment growth, 2026"}, {"label": "Tax Specialist advertised pay, metro", "value": "$43,182", "context": "vs $65,842 national, down significantly locally"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Controller pay is pulling away from the national median.", "body": "Metro Controller advertised pay at $118,342 now exceeds the national median of $113,754, a reversal from typical metro discounting. This likely reflects thin local bench strength for senior finance leadership roles rather than a broad-based cost-of-labor shift."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay collapse signals a local market, not a national one.", "body": "Advertised Tax Specialist pay fell significantly to $43,182 locally while the national median rose significantly to $65,842 \u2014 a 35% gap that did not exist at this scale previously. Treat this role's local figures with caution; benchmarking against national data alone risks overpaying or misreading retention risk."}, {"headline": "Finance sector job growth is outpacing sector output in Iowa.", "body": "Finance and insurance employment grew 0.8% statewide in 2026 while sector GDP contracted 1.3%, an unusual combination suggesting employers are holding or adding headcount through a soft patch rather than cutting \u2014 a posture consistent with national data showing 74% of F&A leaders planning headcount increases despite sector contraction."}, {"headline": "Automation is quietly reshaping the transactional finance headcount math.", "body": "National data shows F&A, administrative, and HR functions relying more on automation and shared services to scale without proportional headcount growth. Flat-to-declining advertised pay for Billing Specialist and Senior Accountant locally may reflect this substitution effect more than weak demand."}], "local_conditions": "Dubuque MSA unemployment sat at 3.3% in July 2026 against a statewide 3.2% rate, with non-farm employment at 58,700 \u2014 tight by national standards but shadowed by Iowa's finance and insurance sector GDP contracting 1.3% even as employment in the sector inched up 0.8%, a divergence that points to margin pressure rather than growth-driven hiring.  John Deere Dubuque Works layoffs and statewide professional and business services losses (-1,000 jobs since July) suggest manufacturing-adjacent finance roles face more churn than the headline unemployment rate implies.", "implications": "Local advertised pay for Controller ($118,342) and Financial Analyst ($77,500) is up significantly against flat-to-moderate national movement, consistent with national data showing finance and accounting leaders aggressively building permanent headcount despite sector-wide job losses in financial activities \u2014 Dubuque employers appear to be competing hard for a shrinking pool of senior finance talent even as transactional roles like Tax Specialist ($43,182, down significantly locally) soften. This bifurcation complicates headcount cost planning: budget models built on uniform finance-function wage growth will understate Controller and Analyst-tier cost increases while overstating pressure on administrative and transactional roles. Consider reviewing compensation bands by finance sub-function rather than applying a blanket finance-sector wage assumption to FY27 budget cycles.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether Iowa's 45-54 age cohort labor force exits (the largest demographic decline in August) begin hitting senior finance and controller-level roles locally, which could tighten an already-thin Controller candidate pool further."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National average hourly earnings growth decelerated to 3.0% y/y in September, below expectations \u2014 if this persists, it could ease the aggressive local Controller and Analyst pay escalation seen this month."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Professional and business services shed 1,000 jobs statewide since July; track whether released talent includes finance/accounting professionals entering the Dubuque candidate pool and softening the Analyst/Controller squeeze."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "John Deere Dubuque Works layoffs and broader manufacturing WARN activity (46% of Iowa's affected workers) warrant monitoring for second-order effects on finance support roles tied to manufacturing clients and suppliers."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 106474.5, "metro_p50": 118342.0, "metro_p75": 130000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 113754.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 73310.0, "metro_p50": 84965.0, "metro_p75": 87500.0, "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": 69709.0, "metro_p50": 77500.0, "metro_p75": 83044.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 94782.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 35111.25, "metro_p50": 40075.6, "metro_p75": 40558.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 49512.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 38332.5, "metro_p50": 43182.0, "metro_p75": 59972.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 65842.4, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 55509.0, "metro_p50": 63135.0, "metro_p75": 63537.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 71758.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 103563.5, "metro_p50": 131049.4, "metro_p75": 136259.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 128139.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "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": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "dubuque-ia-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "pdf": "dubuque-ia-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T13:50:11.804755+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/dubuque-ia-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/dubuque-ia-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}