{"schema_version": 1, "id": "scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 480, "label": "Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA", "slug": "scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:52:52.090972+00:00", "headline": "Scranton finance pay splits: analysts rise, Controllers fall behind.", "headline_summary": "Scranton Controller pay is slipping below the $115,420 national median even as Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst advertised pay climb sharply, against a metro unemployment rate of 4.7% that remains well above Pennsylvania's 3.6%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "4.7%", "context": "vs 3.6% PA, 4.1% national (July 2026)"}, {"label": "Controller pay gap vs national", "value": "-$8,761", "context": "Metro $106,659 vs national $115,420"}, {"label": "PA finance/accounting postings", "value": "-1.7% YoY", "context": "Despite 2.0% YoY employment growth"}, {"label": "CFO turnover rate, national", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic, Crist|Kolder"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Scranton Controller pay is drifting below the national trend.", "body": "Local Controller advertised medians moved down while the national median climbed toward $115,420, widening the metro discount. Flight risk among incumbent controllers rises if succession candidates benchmark against national postings during a year of record CFO turnover."}, {"headline": "Analyst-tier roles are where the real wage pressure sits.", "body": "Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst advertised pay both moved up significantly in the metro, outpacing stable national medians and in Credit Analyst's case exceeding the national figure by over $21,000. This looks like targeted competition for reporting and underwriting talent, concentrated in these roles rather than spread evenly across the finance function."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay gap signals a local sourcing problem.", "body": "Metro Tax Specialist advertised pay fell significantly to $42,781 against a national median of $69,556 that moved up. A gap this wide likely reflects thin local candidate depth or mis-leveled postings, worth checking job descriptions against scope before assuming low demand."}, {"headline": "Contract staffing shift adds audit-readiness risk during close season.", "body": "Nationally, 70% of finance and accounting leaders report increasing contract talent use in H2 2026, and 61% of hiring managers call skilled finance hiring harder than a year ago. Metro-level postings softness suggests Scranton employers may be leaning on the same lever, which raises documentation and controls questions heading into year-end audits."}], "local_conditions": "Scranton-Wilkes-Barre's labor market remains looser than the state and national picture, with the metro's July unemployment rate at 4.7% against Pennsylvania's 3.6% and a national rate of 4.1%, reflecting elevated joblessness in Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton specifically. Statewide finance and accounting postings fell 1.7% year over year even as finance employment grew 2.0%, consistent with employers filling roles selectively heading into Q4 budget cycles.", "implications": "Metro-level softness alongside advertised pay gains in Financial Analyst (+significant) and Credit Analyst (+significant) roles suggests employers are competing hard for mid-level analytical talent even as overall labor demand cools \u2014 a bifurcation that complicates flat-rate headcount freezes. Controller pay moving down locally while rising nationally (+$8,761 gap to national median) signals Scranton employers may be under-leveling or under-pricing oversight roles just as CFO turnover nationally hits 18.3%, raising succession risk. Consider reviewing Controller and FP&A Manager compensation bands against national trajectories before year-end budget lock, given the national external-hire premium for finance leadership.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Comcast Technology Center's WARN filing for 634 workers effective December 31 sits just outside the immediate metro but may feed regional finance and shared-services candidate pools in northeastern Pennsylvania. Track whether displaced finance-adjacent talent appears in local applicant flow."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Metro unemployment at 4.7% against the state's 3.6% suggests Scranton's labor slack is closing more slowly than Pennsylvania broadly. Finance leaders budgeting on state-level tightness assumptions may be overpricing talent risk for this specific metro."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National CFO external-hire rates climbing to 37.5% alongside 18.3% projected CFO turnover could pull senior finance talent out of smaller metros like Scranton toward larger markets. Watch whether local Controller and FP&A Manager postings start showing retention-driven pay adjustments in November and December."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Statewide finance and accounting postings down 1.7% year over year despite employment growth points to more selective requisition approval. If that pattern persists into Q1 budget planning, expect longer time-to-fill on specialized roles like tax and credit analysis."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 90966.0, "metro_p50": 106659.0, "metro_p75": 113397.75, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 67554.25, "metro_p50": 76376.8, "metro_p75": 80015.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 75000.0, "metro_p50": 96469.0, "metro_p75": 120000.0, "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": 36400.0, "metro_p50": 41733.8, "metro_p75": 50000.0, "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": 33341.0, "metro_p50": 42781.0, "metro_p75": 71613.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 69556.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 60206.0, "metro_p50": 92500.0, "metro_p75": 92500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 71397.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 105500.0, "metro_p50": 126090.0, "metro_p75": 141867.0, "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", "source_url": null, "statement": "Scranton-Wilkes-Barre MSA unemployment rate at 4.7% in July 2026"}, {"source_name": "Lightcast / PA Dept. of Labor & Industry", "source_url": null, "statement": "Pennsylvania finance/accounting postings down 1.7% YoY despite 2.0% employment growth"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "AFP FP&A Forum", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026"}, {"source_name": "Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry WARN Notices", "source_url": null, "statement": "Comcast Technology Center WARN notice for 634 workers effective Dec. 31, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry", "source_url": null, "statement": "Pennsylvania unemployment rate at 3.6% in September 2026, lowest since 2023"}], "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": "scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:30:03.184704+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}