{"schema_version": 1, "id": "evansville-in-ky-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 154, "label": "Evansville, IN-KY MSA", "slug": "evansville-in-ky-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:15:58.794745+00:00", "headline": "Evansville finance pay splits: analysts rise, controllers fall behind.", "headline_summary": "Financial Analyst advertised pay climbed to $88,915 in Evansville even as Controller pay slipped to $105,000, against a national Controller median of $115,420 and a statewide unemployment rate of 3.4%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Evansville unemployment rate", "value": "3.6%", "context": "Up from 3.4% in August; Indiana at 3.4%, US at 4.1%"}, {"label": "Vanderburgh County wage growth", "value": "2.9%", "context": "YoY to $1,188/week, despite 0.5% employment decline"}, {"label": "CFO turnover rate", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic; external hire rate up to 37.5%"}, {"label": "Indiana open job postings", "value": "106,223", "context": "As of Sept. 30, 2026, statewide"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Local Financial Analyst pay is outrunning the national market.", "body": "Metro advertised median hit $88,915 against a stable national figure of $94,646 \u2014 a significant local gain that narrows the historical gap. Finance leaders benchmarking this role against prior-year data risk underpricing it going into 2027 planning."}, {"headline": "Controller and FP&A Manager pay softened while national rates climbed.", "body": "Metro Controller pay fell to $105,000 against a national median of $115,420, and FP&A Manager dropped to $112,269 versus $130,000 nationally. Divergence this wide may reflect local demand softness, but it also raises retention risk if managers benchmark themselves against national postings."}, {"headline": "Labor force contraction explains Indiana's low unemployment.", "body": "Indiana's labor force shrank roughly 18,900 over the past year while employed residents fell about 8,800, pushing the jobless rate down for the wrong reasons. Finance leaders should treat a low headline unemployment rate as a supply constraint signal in the local labor pool."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay compression could widen the skills gap during close cycles.", "body": "Metro advertised pay fell significantly to $43,702, far below the national median of $69,556, which is itself rising. With accountant/auditor unemployment near 1.0% statewide, this spread may make it harder to backfill tax and close-cycle roles through 2027 budget season."}], "local_conditions": "Evansville's unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6% in September from 3.4% in August, tracking a pattern seen statewide where labor force contraction appears to be driving the shift. Vanderburgh County wages rose 2.9% year-over-year to $1,188 weekly even as employment contracted 0.5% \u2014 a combination consistent with employers retaining fewer workers at higher pay.", "implications": "Finance organizations in Evansville face a talent market where advertised pay for Financial Analyst roles climbed to $88,915, a significant local increase that outpaces national stability at $94,646 \u2014 suggesting local employers are competing harder for analytical capacity even as Controller and FP&A Manager pay drifted down. That divergence complicates headcount cost planning heading into Q4 budget cycles, particularly where close-cycle and audit-readiness roles sit below replacement cost relative to national benchmarks. Consider reviewing Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst compensation positioning now, before Q1 budget lock, given both roles show upward local pressure against a national CFO turnover rate of 18.3%.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether Vanderburgh County's Q1 2027 wage data confirms the current 2.9% growth trend or reflects the employment contraction seen in Q1 2026. A continued mismatch between falling headcount and rising wages would reinforce a tightening local talent market."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National CFO turnover at 18.3% and a 37.5% external hire rate suggest finance leadership vacancies carry real continuity risk during close and audit periods. Evansville employers without a documented succession plan for senior finance roles face elevated exposure given local Controller pay has drifted below national levels."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Statewide finance and insurance sector employment grew just 0.6% in 2026, well below Indiana's broader job growth, while contract staffing use rises nationally to 70% among finance leaders. Monitor whether Evansville employers shift toward contract finance talent in a way that complicates audit documentation and internal control testing."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Indiana's next regional labor data release, expected late October through early November, will show whether the September uptick in metro unemployment persists or reverses. A continued rise alongside stable wages would strengthen the case that local labor supply is the binding constraint on finance hiring."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 78389.0, "metro_p50": 105000.0, "metro_p75": 116000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 67805.5, "metro_p50": 80732.0, "metro_p75": 83460.5, "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": 67466.0, "metro_p50": 88915.2, "metro_p75": 96934.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 33169.5, "metro_p50": 35864.0, "metro_p75": 44755.75, "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": 33280.0, "metro_p50": 43702.2, "metro_p75": 70720.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 69556.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 49597.5, "metro_p50": 62364.0, "metro_p75": 65776.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 91024.0, "metro_p50": 112268.8, "metro_p75": 124994.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics / Indiana DWD", "source_url": null, "statement": "Evansville MSA unemployment rate at 3.6% in September 2026"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW", "source_url": null, "statement": "Vanderburgh County wage growth 2.9% YoY to $1,188 weekly"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026"}, {"source_name": "Indiana Department of Workforce Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Indiana finance and insurance sector employment grew 0.6% in 2026"}, {"source_name": "Robert Half", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026"}, {"source_name": "Indiana Department of Workforce Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Indiana had 106,223 open job postings as of Sept. 30, 2026"}], "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": "evansville-in-ky-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "evansville-in-ky-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:21:36.060221+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/evansville-in-ky-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/evansville-in-ky-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}