{"schema_version": 1, "id": "parkersburg-marietta-vienna-wv-oh-msa/finance/2026-08", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 391, "label": "Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, WV-OH MSA", "slug": "parkersburg-marietta-vienna-wv-oh-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-08", "public_after": "2026-08-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T16:26:31.365462+00:00", "headline": "Parkersburg finance pay diverges sharply by role as state jobs shrink.", "headline_summary": "Metro Financial Analyst pay jumped to $88,576, above the $82,905 national median, even as West Virginia shed 1,200 payroll jobs in August and Credit Analyst pay fell to $59,873 locally.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Wood County unemployment", "value": "3.9%", "context": "Down from 4.1% a year earlier (July 2026)"}, {"label": "WV net payroll change", "value": "-1,200 jobs", "context": "August 2026, private sector down 1,500"}, {"label": "Financial Analyst pay, metro vs national", "value": "$88,576 vs $82,905", "context": "Metro now exceeds national median"}, {"label": "WV labor force participation", "value": "53.8%", "context": "51st nationally, down 0.7pt year-over-year"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Local Financial Analyst pay has flipped above the national rate.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay of $88,576 now exceeds the $82,905 national figure, a significant reversal for a small MSA. This likely reflects genuine scarcity in FP&A-adjacent talent rather than a broad-based metro wage trend, given Credit Analyst pay moved sharply in the opposite direction."}, {"headline": "Credit Analyst pay is dropping locally while rising nationally.", "body": "Metro median fell significantly to $59,873 against a national climb to $72,000, a divergence worth investigating before benchmarking new hires. Falling local demand or a thinner posting sample could both explain the gap, and either has different implications for offer strategy."}, {"headline": "State job losses are concentrated outside finance functions.", "body": "West Virginia's -1,200 net payroll change in August was driven by Professional & Business Services (-800) and Trade, Transportation, Utilities (-500), while Financial Activities gained 200 jobs. Finance headcount planning may face less external pressure from displaced talent than other departments assume."}, {"headline": "Tax and billing roles are repricing upward despite a shrinking state labor force.", "body": "Tax Specialist metro median rose significantly to $56,232 and Billing Specialist climbed moderately to $40,749, both up even as statewide participation fell to 53.8%. Wage pressure in these transactional roles may reflect fewer available candidates chasing a stable volume of postings, a dynamic worth tracking into Q4 close planning."}], "local_conditions": "Wood County unemployment held at 3.9% in July, down from 4.1% a year earlier, even as West Virginia shed 1,200 net payroll jobs statewide in August and labor force participation slipped to 51st nationally. Parkersburg's finance-adjacent hiring is playing out against a state backdrop where financial activities added jobs while professional and business services contracted sharply, suggesting finance headcount is holding steadier than the broader white-collar labor pool.", "implications": "Statewide contraction in professional and business services combined with a tight 3.9% county unemployment rate points to a shrinking, not expanding, local talent pipeline for finance roles \u2014 a dynamic that complicates both close-cycle staffing and succession planning for Controllers managing lean teams. Metro Financial Analyst pay is up significantly to a $88,576 median, now exceeding the $82,905 national figure, which is consistent with employers competing harder for scarce FP&A and analytical talent even as broader state employment contracts. Consider reviewing whether current Financial Analyst and FP&A Manager compensation bands reflect this local premium before budget cycles lock in next year's headcount cost assumptions.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected data release", "body": "BLS releases August MSA-level employment figures for Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna on September 30. Finance leaders modeling Q4 headcount costs should treat current county-level figures as directional until that release confirms metro-wide trends."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "West Virginia's 12-month labor force participation decline (down 0.7 points, now 51st nationally) suggests the local candidate pool for skilled finance roles will keep tightening. Expect longer time-to-fill for Financial Analyst and FP&A Manager searches through year-end."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "National F&A hiring data shows 74% of leaders planning permanent headcount increases and 69% offering above-range salaries for business-critical roles. Watch whether that national competitive pressure spills into Parkersburg postings for FP&A Manager, where local pay is already up moderately to $124,039."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "No major WARN notices or plant announcements have surfaced locally this month, but ECM Energy Services' 200-worker WARN filing in the state on August 19 warrants monitoring for downstream effects on regional finance and back-office staffing."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 84357.0, "metro_p50": 106215.0, "metro_p75": 106215.75, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 112500.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 45084.0, "metro_p50": 74788.0, "metro_p75": 75174.0, "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": 67652.0, "metro_p50": 88576.2, "metro_p75": 93285.25, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 82905.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 35360.0, "metro_p50": 40748.8, "metro_p75": 41568.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 49700.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 30898.0, "metro_p50": 56232.0, "metro_p75": 57824.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 66725.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 57723.0, "metro_p50": 59873.0, "metro_p75": 69150.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 72000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 107424.0, "metro_p50": 124038.6, "metro_p75": 127934.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 127341.0, "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": "September 2026", "files": {"html": "parkersburg-marietta-vienna-wv-oh-msa/finance/2026-08.html", "pdf": "parkersburg-marietta-vienna-wv-oh-msa/finance/2026-08.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T16:35:22.013788+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/parkersburg-marietta-vienna-wv-oh-msa/finance/2026-08.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/parkersburg-marietta-vienna-wv-oh-msa/finance/2026-08.pdf"}