{"schema_version": 1, "id": "rochester-mn-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 448, "label": "Rochester, MN MSA", "slug": "rochester-mn-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:51:38.747516+00:00", "headline": "Rochester Controller pay falls as statewide finance jobs shrink.", "headline_summary": "Rochester Controller advertised pay dropped to $97,286 against a rising $115,420 national median, while Minnesota Financial Activities employment fell 2.8% over the year and Olmsted County unemployment held above year-ago levels.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Rochester MSA job growth", "value": "-730 jobs", "context": "Year-over-year through September 2026, -0.6%"}, {"label": "Olmsted County unemployment", "value": "3.6%", "context": "July 2026, up 0.5 pt vs. July 2025"}, {"label": "MN Financial Activities employment", "value": "-2.8% YoY", "context": "5,146 jobs lost statewide despite Sept. uptick"}, {"label": "CFO turnover, national", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic; 37.5% filled externally"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Controller pay in Rochester is diverging sharply from the national line.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay for Controllers sits at $97,286 against a national median of $115,420 and rising \u2014 an $18,000 gap that widens budget risk if Rochester employers compete for candidates who can work remotely for out-of-metro firms."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist and Billing Specialist pay are climbing while core Finance roles stall.", "body": "Tax Specialist advertised pay rose to $78,775 locally (up significantly, and ahead of the $69,556 national median) and Billing Specialist pay hit $64,656, well above the $49,000 national figure \u2014 a signal that compliance and transactional finance skills are tightening faster than analytical roles in this metro."}, {"headline": "Statewide Finance/Insurance contraction is a headwind for local hiring plans.", "body": "Minnesota Financial Activities employment is down 2.8% year-over-year even as September posted its first seasonally adjusted gain since April, suggesting the sector's labor demand remains fragile and any Rochester hiring plans should build in longer time-to-fill assumptions."}, {"headline": "CFO turnover nationally is colliding with a local talent pool that's already thinning.", "body": "National CFO turnover is projected at 18.3% for 2026 with 37.5% filled externally \u2014 against a backdrop where Olmsted County's labor force participation and job growth are both softening, succession and interim-coverage planning deserve earlier attention than in past cycles."}], "local_conditions": "Rochester MSA payrolls contracted by more than 730 jobs year-over-year in September, and Olmsted County's jobless rate ran half a point above its July 2025 level even as it ticked down to 3.6% month over month, pointing to a labor market cooling after 2024's standout 5.5% annual growth. Minnesota's statewide Financial Activities sector lost 5,146 jobs over the year despite a modest 300-job September uptick, a pattern that appears to reflect broader margin pressure moving through finance and insurance employers that touch the Rochester market.", "implications": "Controller and Financial Analyst advertised pay in Rochester have both pulled back significantly against rising national medians, a gap that complicates budget cycle planning when Finance leaders need to calibrate local offers against a national talent pool recruiters increasingly draw from. Combined with Minnesota's statewide Finance/Insurance contraction and flat wage growth against 3.7% inflation, headcount cost models built on last year's local pay curves risk understating what it now takes to retain FP&A and tax talent specifically. Consider reviewing Controller and Financial Analyst compensation bands against national medians before year-end planning locks in rates that may no longer clear the market.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Olmsted County's unemployment rate has run above year-ago levels every month since spring; watch whether the mid-November DEED release for October shows continued divergence from the 3.6% July reading."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "3M filed a Minnesota WARN notice in October; Finance leaders in Rochester should watch whether any released finance, accounting, or shared-services talent enters the local candidate pool given 3M's regional footprint."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Statewide Financial Activities posted its first monthly job gain since April; a second consecutive gain in the October state release would suggest the sector's contraction is bottoming, with implications for how aggressively to compete on open finance requisitions."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "National contract/interim finance staffing usage is rising (70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent per H2 2026 surveys); track whether Rochester-area staffing agencies report similar demand shifts that could ease permanent headcount cost pressure ahead of close cycles."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 72250.0, "metro_p50": 97286.2, "metro_p75": 115616.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": 81822.0, "metro_p50": 89722.4, "metro_p75": 95000.0, "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": 69315.0, "metro_p50": 90638.8, "metro_p75": 105426.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 47840.0, "metro_p50": 64655.6, "metro_p75": 75389.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 51237.0, "metro_p50": 78774.8, "metro_p75": 80000.0, "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": 69546.0, "metro_p50": 69546.0, "metro_p75": 72500.0, "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": 104362.75, "metro_p50": 130878.4, "metro_p75": 139250.0, "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": "KROC-AM News/KRFOFM", "source_url": null, "statement": "Rochester MSA lost 730+ jobs year-over-year in September 2026"}, {"source_name": "Minnesota DEED", "source_url": null, "statement": "Olmsted County unemployment at 3.6% in July 2026, up from July 2025"}, {"source_name": "Minnesota DEED", "source_url": null, "statement": "Minnesota Financial Activities sector lost 5,146 jobs year-over-year"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "Robert Half", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance and accounting leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026"}, {"source_name": "Minnesota DEED", "source_url": null, "statement": "Minnesota Financial Activities employment declined 2.8% year-over-year"}], "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": "rochester-mn-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "rochester-mn-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:29:07.331139+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/rochester-mn-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/rochester-mn-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}