{"schema_version": 1, "id": "greeley-co-msa/finance/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 222, "label": "Greeley, CO MSA", "slug": "greeley-co-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:27:30.466803+00:00", "headline": "Greeley Controller pay surges as mid-level Finance roles soften.", "headline_summary": "Controller advertised pay in Greeley hit a $133,255 median \u2014 17% above the $113,754 national figure \u2014 even as Senior Accountant and FP&A Manager pay drifted lower and Colorado unemployment climbed to 4.0%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Controller advertised pay premium", "value": "+17%", "context": "Metro $133,255 vs national $113,754"}, {"label": "Colorado unemployment rate", "value": "4.0%", "context": "Up from 3.8% in July 2026"}, {"label": "State financial activities payrolls", "value": "-4,300 jobs", "context": "July\u2013August 2026 month-over-month decline"}, {"label": "National wage growth deceleration", "value": "3.0% y/y", "context": "Below 3.2% consensus, September 2026"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Controller pay is pulling away from the national median.", "body": "Greeley's Controller advertised median of $133,255 sits nearly 17% above the national figure of $113,754, a gap that likely reflects scarcity in senior accounting leadership against Colorado's 0.6% projected job growth and tightening labor force. Budget cycles planned around national benchmarks risk understating true local cost for this role."}, {"headline": "Senior Accountant pay is softening locally while national rates hold firm.", "body": "Metro Senior Accountant pay moved down moderately to $88,046, tracking roughly in line with the flat national median of $87,731 but reversing prior local premiums. This may signal easing competition for mid-level accounting talent even as leadership roles tighten \u2014 a split worth factoring into layered hiring plans."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay gap with national rates has widened sharply.", "body": "Metro Tax Specialist advertised pay sits at $52,500 against a national median of $65,842 \u2014 a wide and growing spread even as both move upward. Finance leaders recruiting tax talent locally may need to weigh remote or hybrid sourcing against the cost of closing that gap through pay alone."}, {"headline": "Financial-sector contraction has not yet reached Greeley's hiring posture.", "body": "Statewide financial activities payrolls fell roughly 5,300 jobs since July 2025, yet Greeley Controller and Financial Analyst pay both moved up, consistent with national F&A leaders' reported 74% intent to grow permanent headcount. Local conditions suggest this metro's Finance hiring is better insulated than state-level sector data implies."}], "local_conditions": "Weld County's finance labor pool is tightening against a backdrop of statewide softening \u2014 Colorado unemployment rose to 4.0% in August while financial activities payrolls statewide contracted roughly 4,300 jobs month-over-month, a pattern that appears to reflect insurance and banking consolidation rather than broad-based metro distress. Greeley's manufacturing and logistics-heavy employment base, where average weekly wages trail the national figure, means Finance functions here compete for accounting and FP&A talent against both Front Range employers and a shrinking regional labor force, constrained by slower population growth statewide.", "implications": "Controller and FP&A Manager compensation in Greeley is diverging \u2014 Controller advertised pay is up significantly to a $133,255 metro median, well above the $113,754 national figure, while FP&A Manager pay has drifted down moderately to $127,918, nearly matching the national median. That gap suggests employers are paying a premium for leadership accountable for close, audit, and cost control amid statewide financial-sector contraction, while mid-level planning roles face less urgency and more candidate availability. Consider reviewing whether Controller-level offers reflect true scarcity pricing versus FP&A roles where current conditions may allow more measured, benchmark-anchored offers.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Colorado's third straight month of job losses through August, paired with a rising unemployment rate, could begin pressuring candidate supply for mid-level Finance roles in Greeley over the next quarter. Watch whether Senior Accountant and Credit Analyst applicant volume increases as statewide softening spreads."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Statewide financial activities payrolls have now contracted for multiple consecutive months; if that trend reaches Weld County's smaller finance employer base, it may loosen competition for Controller and FP&A talent currently commanding premium pay."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "National F&A hiring indices point to a CPA and accountant shortage (2026 Talent Shortage Index of 77%, up from a 2025 surplus reading), a dynamic that could reach Greeley's accounting pipeline given its reliance on Front Range commuting talent. Monitor whether Senior Accountant advertised pay reverses its current local softening."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National wage growth decelerated to 3.0% year-over-year in September, below economist expectations, which may ease salary budget pressure for Finance teams building 2027 headcount cost plans even as Greeley's Controller pay continues to run hot."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 114139.0, "metro_p50": 133255.0, "metro_p75": 135000.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 81210.0, "metro_p50": 88046.4, "metro_p75": 90660.75, "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": 75320.25, "metro_p50": 94457.4, "metro_p75": 97282.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 94782.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 34900.0, "metro_p50": 40560.0, "metro_p75": 44720.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 49512.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 39520.0, "metro_p50": 52500.0, "metro_p75": 72825.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 65842.4, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 52000.0, "metro_p50": 66500.0, "metro_p75": 66500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": 105408.75, "metro_p50": 127918.0, "metro_p75": 138500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": "greeley-co-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "pdf": "greeley-co-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T13:51:03.646951+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/greeley-co-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/greeley-co-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}