{"schema_version": 1, "id": "lima-oh-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 344, "label": "Lima, OH MSA", "slug": "lima-oh-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:32:23.066769+00:00", "headline": "Lima Controller pay jumps past the national median.", "headline_summary": "Lima's advertised Controller pay climbed to $121,982, now ahead of the $115,420 national figure, even as Senior Accountant and Financial Analyst pay held flat against 3.7% statewide inflation.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Controller advertised pay, Lima MSA", "value": "$121,982", "context": "vs. $115,420 national median"}, {"label": "Allen County unemployment", "value": "3.0%-3.3%", "context": "vs. 3.4% statewide, 4.1% national"}, {"label": "Ohio inflation rate", "value": "3.7%", "context": "up from 3.4% in August 2026"}, {"label": "Manufacturing WARN notices, Ohio YTD", "value": "23 notices / 3,159 workers", "context": "largest sector share of 2026 layoffs"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Controller pay in Lima has pulled ahead of the national median.", "body": "Advertised Controller pay rose to $121,982 locally versus $115,420 nationally \u2014 a reversal of the typical metro discount seen in administrative and analyst roles. This points to acute local scarcity for senior finance oversight talent as the primary driver, distinct from a broad regional wage lift."}, {"headline": "Mid-level finance roles show no pay movement despite a tight labor pool.", "body": "Senior Accountant and Financial Analyst advertised pay are flat both locally and nationally, even as Allen County unemployment holds near 3%. Flat postings alongside a tight labor market may indicate employers are holding the line on base pay and relying on non-cash levers to retain mid-level finance staff."}, {"headline": "Manufacturing-linked WARN activity bears watching for finance-adjacent fallout.", "body": "Ohio's 2026 WARN filings are concentrated in manufacturing (23 notices, 3,159 workers), a sector central to Lima's employment base including the Ford Engine Plant. Plant-level disruption historically spills into local finance and accounting support roles tied to manufacturing operations and supply-chain reporting."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist and Credit Analyst pay gains outpace the metro's broader wage stagnation.", "body": "Both roles show moderate upward movement locally (Tax Specialist to $62,781, Credit Analyst to $65,947) against a backdrop of otherwise stable advertised pay across the finance function. Consider evaluating whether this reflects compliance-driven demand or early repositioning ahead of 2027 regulatory or credit-cycle pressures."}], "local_conditions": "Allen County unemployment sits near 3.0%-3.3% through mid-2026, tighter than Ohio's statewide 3.4%, even as manufacturing-led WARN activity across Ohio (23 notices, 3,159 workers) signals pockets of contraction in the production-heavy base that underpins the Lima MSA economy. Local average hourly wages remain roughly 15% below the national average ($28.41 vs. $33.54), a gap that persists even as statewide inflation has climbed to 3.7% and outpaced wage growth, compressing real purchasing power for finance and accounting staff in the metro.", "implications": "Lima's low-wage-dominant occupational base, combined with a persistent regional pay gap and 1,909 open jobs listed within 20 miles of downtown as of late May, suggests finance leaders are competing for accounting and analyst talent against a backdrop where candidates have real local alternatives despite a small labor pool. Controller pay in the metro rose to a median $121,982 \u2014 now exceeding the national figure of $115,420 \u2014 which appears to reflect scarcity pricing for senior finance oversight roles, a signal distinct from broad-based wage inflation across the function. Consider reviewing controller and FP&A compensation bands against current advertised rates before the next budget cycle, since a local premium on senior finance talent may already be baked into the market ahead of 2027 headcount planning.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Ohio shed 5,000 jobs statewide in September against rising inflation (3.7%) \u2014 watch whether Allen County's relatively tight 3.0-3.3% unemployment holds or converges toward the state's softer trend over the next two reporting cycles."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Manufacturing WARN notices remain the dominant layoff category statewide; any additional filings tied to Lima-area plants would test whether displaced production and plant-finance staff enter the local candidate pool in meaningful numbers."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "National CFO turnover is tracking 18.3% for 2026, the highest since the pandemic, with external CFO hiring up to 37.5%. Smaller metros like Lima often feel this pressure with a lag as regional firms lose controllers and FP&A talent to larger markets offering the premium pay now showing up in Controller postings."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Statewide inflation outpacing wage growth (3.7% vs. flat local pay for mid-level finance roles) could accelerate turnover risk in Senior Accountant and Financial Analyst positions if real wages continue eroding into year-end budget cycles."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 108304.75, "metro_p50": 121981.6, "metro_p75": 125554.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 75684.0, "metro_p50": 85580.0, "metro_p75": 89299.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 70743.0, "metro_p50": 88389.6, "metro_p75": 97940.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 36977.0, "metro_p50": 44720.0, "metro_p75": 51000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 35360.0, "metro_p50": 62781.0, "metro_p75": 77500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 69556.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 52042.0, "metro_p50": 65946.8, "metro_p75": 75166.25, "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": 102055.5, "metro_p50": 125000.0, "metro_p75": 133797.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "LimaOhio.com / BLS Occupational Employment Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Allen County unemployment and Lima MSA average hourly wage vs. national"}, {"source_name": "layoffdata.com", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ohio manufacturing WARN notice activity in 2026"}, {"source_name": "OhioMeansJobs.com via LimaOhio.com", "source_url": null, "statement": "Job listings within 20 miles of downtown Lima, May 2026"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover and external hiring rate for 2026"}, {"source_name": "Ohio Capital Journal", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ohio statewide inflation rate increase, August to September 2026"}, {"source_name": "Ohio Department of Job and Family Services", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ohio unemployment rate change, August to September 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": "lima-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "lima-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:25:06.345992+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/lima-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/lima-oh-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}