{"schema_version": 1, "id": "lewiston-auburn-me-msa/finance/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 236, "label": "Lewiston-Auburn, ME MSA", "slug": "lewiston-auburn-me-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:28:03.345163+00:00", "headline": "Lewiston wages rise locally while Finance jobs shrink nationally.", "headline_summary": "Lewiston-Auburn average hourly earnings hit $31.94, up 4.5% year-over-year, even as national Financial Activities payrolls shed 129,000 jobs since May 2025.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Lewiston-Auburn unemployment rate", "value": "3.2%", "context": "vs 4.1% U.S., 3.2% Maine average"}, {"label": "Metro avg hourly earnings growth", "value": "4.5% YoY", "context": "vs 3.5% statewide private-sector growth"}, {"label": "National Financial Activities jobs lost", "value": "129,000", "context": "Since May 2025, led by insurance carriers"}, {"label": "F&A hiring intent (national)", "value": "74%", "context": "Finance leaders planning headcount increases, H2 2026"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Financial Analyst pay is surging locally against a flat national trend.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay for Financial Analyst roles climbed significantly to $87,823 while the national figure held stable near $94,782, narrowing the metro-national gap. This is consistent with localized scarcity in analytical finance talent rather than a broader national repricing \u2014 a signal worth testing against actual offer acceptance rates."}, {"headline": "FP&A Manager pay is softening even as the role grows more strategic.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay for FP&A Manager fell moderately to $115,732 against a stable national median of $128,139, widening the gap to roughly $12,400. Declining advertised pay alongside persistent low unemployment may suggest fewer open requisitions rather than reduced demand \u2014 a distinction that matters for how aggressively Finance leaders benchmark against national figures."}, {"headline": "Tax and Credit Analyst roles are quietly diverging from national pay direction.", "body": "Both Tax Specialist and Credit Analyst advertised pay moved down locally while national medians for the same roles moved up, a split not explained by Maine's broader wage gains. Current conditions suggest employers may be filling these roles through internal promotion or automation rather than external hiring, softening posted-rate pressure."}, {"headline": "Minimum wage increase will compress entry-level finance pay bands.", "body": "Maine's minimum wage rises to $15.70 in 2027, and Billing Specialist advertised pay already moved up moderately to $50,783 locally \u2014 evidence the compression is underway ahead of the formal increase. Organizations should evaluate whether current pay differentials between entry-level finance support roles and the new wage floor still support intended role hierarchies."}], "local_conditions": "Lewiston-Auburn's unemployment rate held at 3.2% in August, consistent with 24 months of tight labor conditions, while average hourly earnings rose 4.5% year-over-year to $31.94 \u2014 outpacing the statewide wage gain of 4.2%. Androscoggin County's population growth of over 9,300 residents without matching job creation points to a workforce increasingly commuting in from outside the MSA, a structural dynamic that keeps local labor supply tighter than headline population figures suggest.", "implications": "Local wage acceleration is running counter to the national Finance sector's contraction \u2014 a disconnect that complicates headcount cost modeling for FP&A teams relying on national benchmarks to project Maine-based compensation costs. Scarce accounting and finance talent locally, paired with Maine's minimum wage climbing to $15.70 in 2027, compresses the pay band between entry-level and mid-career roles and warrants a fresh look at internal equity ahead of Q1 close cycles. Consider reviewing whether current compensation bands for finance and accounting roles still reflect Lewiston-specific wage growth rather than national or Portland-metro assumptions.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected", "body": "Maine Department of Labor publishes September 2026 workforce estimates on October 20 \u2014 the first clean read on whether Lewiston-Auburn's wage acceleration held through early fall or began cooling alongside national Financial Activities job losses."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National Financial Activities payrolls have lost 129,000 jobs since May 2025, concentrated in insurance carriers. Watch whether any of that national contraction shows up as increased candidate flow into Lewiston-Auburn's tight finance and accounting labor pool over the next two months."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Maine's September 29 public hearing on Paid Family and Medical Leave program rules will shape employer-side cost projections for benefit administration \u2014 relevant for Treasury teams finalizing 2027 benefits budgets before year-end close."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Androscoggin County's unemployment insurance work-search waiver change, effective September 24, shifts how temporary layoffs with recall dates are treated. This affects how Finance leaders model short-term headcount reductions and recall-driven labor cost timing into Q4."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 96514.0, "metro_p50": 105916.0, "metro_p75": 107828.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 113754.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 67320.0, "metro_p50": 77780.0, "metro_p75": 80210.0, "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": 74966.0, "metro_p50": 87823.4, "metro_p75": 93152.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 42132.75, "metro_p50": 50783.0, "metro_p75": 58064.25, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 49512.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 39977.5, "metro_p50": 60771.0, "metro_p75": 65076.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 65842.4, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 67327.5, "metro_p50": 72945.0, "metro_p75": 79578.25, "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": 96266.5, "metro_p50": 115732.2, "metro_p75": 132644.0, "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": "lewiston-auburn-me-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "pdf": "lewiston-auburn-me-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T14:32:09.564818+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/lewiston-auburn-me-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/lewiston-auburn-me-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}