{"schema_version": 1, "id": "green-bay-wi-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 187, "label": "Green Bay, WI MSA", "slug": "green-bay-wi-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:24:17.234369+00:00", "headline": "Green Bay finance pay splits: analysts up, credit analysts down.", "headline_summary": "Financial Analyst pay in Green Bay rose to $82,175 while Credit Analyst pay fell to $59,249, against a backdrop of 3.2% Wisconsin unemployment and the nation's steepest real wage decline at -5.1%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Green Bay MSA unemployment", "value": "2.9%-3.4%", "context": "vs 4.1% national rate (2026)"}, {"label": "Wisconsin real wage growth", "value": "-5.1%", "context": "Steepest decline of all 50 states, YoY"}, {"label": "CFO turnover rate, national", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic (Crist|Kolder)"}, {"label": "Finance leaders increasing contract talent use", "value": "70%", "context": "H2 2026, shifting from FTE models"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "FP&A and analyst pay is pulling away from core accounting roles.", "body": "Financial Analyst pay is up significantly locally ($82,175) while Senior Accountant and Controller postings sit flat. Budget allocation for finance headcount appears to be shifting toward forecasting and analysis capacity, a pattern worth tracking against your own open requisitions."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay is climbing faster than almost any other finance role.", "body": "Metro Tax Specialist pay is up significantly to $67,500, tracking a matching national trend (also up significantly, $69,556). Compressed timelines around compliance work and a thin specialist pool locally may be driving employers to bid aggressively for this skill set ahead of year-end filing season."}, {"headline": "Credit Analyst pay is softening against a stable national market.", "body": "Metro Credit Analyst advertised pay is down moderately to $59,249 while the national median holds at $71,397 \u2014 a widening gap that may reflect reduced local demand for credit risk functions as manufacturing-adjacent lending activity cools. Worth checking whether this reflects fewer postings overall or an actual pay reset."}, {"headline": "CFO turnover risk is a national story with local teeth.", "body": "CFO turnover is projected at 18.3% in 2026, the highest since the pandemic, with external hiring rates climbing to 37.5%. A Green Bay finance leader departure during close season now carries higher replacement risk than in prior years, given how thin the regional executive-level bench runs."}], "local_conditions": "Green Bay MSA unemployment sat near 2.9%-3.4% through mid-2026, well below the 4.1% national rate, reflecting a labor pool still tight by any historical measure despite WARN notices at Ryder (151 workers, June) and Green Bay Converting (32 workers, April) signaling pockets of manufacturing softening. Wisconsin's -5.1% year-over-year real wage decline \u2014 the steepest of any state \u2014 suggests Green Bay employers are holding nominal pay steady while inflation erodes purchasing power, a dynamic distinct from the slack showing up in national white-collar layoff data.", "implications": "Finance function hiring in Green Bay sits at the intersection of two pressures: a metro labor market still too tight for easy backfills, and a national CFO/controller talent shortage (85% of CFOs report finance talent shortages per MAVI) that makes replacing departures during close and audit cycles materially harder than a year ago. Advertised pay for Financial Analyst ($82,175, up significantly) and FP&A Manager ($116,859, up moderately) locally is outpacing Controller and Senior Accountant postings, which have gone flat \u2014 a sign budget dollars are being redirected toward forecasting and analysis capacity, with traditional accounting headcount receiving a smaller share. Consider reviewing whether flat Controller and Senior Accountant advertised pay reflects retention strength or simply fewer postings masking turnover risk ahead of year-end close.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether Brown County's unemployment uptick (2.7% in December to 3.4% in August) continues into Q4 data \u2014 a sustained rise would suggest manufacturing-linked WARN activity (Ryder, Green Bay Converting) is starting to loosen the broader labor pool, easing backfill pressure for finance roles."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Wisconsin's real wage decline of -5.1% year-over-year is the steepest in the nation; if that persists through Q4, expect retention pressure to intensify on lower- and mid-level finance staff whose pay has not kept pace with local cost-of-living increases."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "National shift toward contract finance talent (70% of leaders increasing contractor use in H2 2026) may show up locally as fewer permanent postings and more project-based engagements \u2014 a signal worth tracking when budgeting headcount for 2027 close cycles."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Tax Specialist and Financial Analyst pay are both climbing significantly in Green Bay; sustained movement into Q1 2027 would mark a structural repricing of analytical and compliance talent tied to longer-term demand shifts, beyond the seasonal blip around filing deadlines."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 95484.0, "metro_p50": 103320.2, "metro_p75": 110158.25, "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": 70006.25, "metro_p50": 76382.0, "metro_p75": 77500.0, "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": 65735.5, "metro_p50": 82175.0, "metro_p75": 83449.5, "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": 36585.0, "metro_p50": 45765.0, "metro_p75": 47840.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 44188.0, "metro_p50": 67500.0, "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": 55625.0, "metro_p50": 59249.0, "metro_p75": 63648.0, "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": 100074.0, "metro_p50": 116859.0, "metro_p75": 126976.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "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 / Wisconsin DWD", "source_url": null, "statement": "Green Bay MSA unemployment rate trend through mid-2026"}, {"source_name": "BLS / Wisconsin Examiner", "source_url": null, "statement": "Wisconsin real wage decline of -5.1% year-over-year, steepest among states"}, {"source_name": "WARN Act Tracker", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ryder and Green Bay Converting WARN Act filings"}, {"source_name": "MAVI", "source_url": null, "statement": "85% of CFOs report finance talent shortages affecting operations"}, {"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 leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 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": "green-bay-wi-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "green-bay-wi-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:22:37.262936+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/green-bay-wi-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/green-bay-wi-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}