{"schema_version": 1, "id": "south-bend-mishawaka-in-mi-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 471, "label": "South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI MSA", "slug": "south-bend-mishawaka-in-mi-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:53:14.110076+00:00", "headline": "South Bend wages surge 9.3% while finance management pay slips.", "headline_summary": "South Bend-Mishawaka average weekly earnings rose 9.3% year-over-year to $1,023.74 even as metro FP&A Manager advertised pay fell to $112,269, a divergence Finance leaders should factor into 2027 headcount cost models.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro average weekly earnings growth", "value": "9.3%", "context": "vs 4.1% national hourly earnings growth"}, {"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "4.2%", "context": "Unchanged since July; above Indiana's 3.4%"}, {"label": "Statewide accountant/auditor unemployment", "value": "1.0%", "context": "May 2026, signals audit talent scarcity"}, {"label": "FP&A Manager advertised pay (metro)", "value": "$112,269", "context": "Down moderately vs $130,000 national median"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "FP&A management pay is falling while analyst pay climbs.", "body": "FP&A Manager advertised pay dropped to a metro median of $112,269 even as national FP&A Manager pay rose to $130,000, while Financial Analyst pay locally jumped to $91,800. Compressing the analyst-to-manager pay gap may complicate internal promotion economics during budget cycle planning."}, {"headline": "Metro wage growth is outpacing the nation by a wide margin.", "body": "Average weekly earnings in South Bend-Mishawaka rose 9.3% year-over-year versus 4.1% national hourly earnings growth, a divergence large enough to warrant scrutiny of underlying mix effects. Finance leaders modeling headcount costs for 2027 should treat this as a signal to stress-test local comp assumptions against national trend lines."}, {"headline": "Audit and close talent scarcity looks structural.", "body": "Indiana's accountant/auditor unemployment sits at 1.0% statewide, consistent with the 61% of national finance hiring managers who say skilled talent is harder to find than a year ago. Vacancies opening during Q4 close or year-end audit prep may take longer to fill than budget timelines assume."}, {"headline": "Billing and tax specialist pay softness may reflect a demand shift.", "body": "Billing Specialist pay fell significantly to a metro median of $38,759 and Tax Specialist pay dropped moderately to $64,084, both diverging from stable-to-rising national figures. Falling local advertised pay in roles tied to transaction processing is consistent with employers consolidating these functions into shared services or automating routine work."}], "local_conditions": "South Bend-Mishawaka's unemployment rate held at 4.2% in August against a tightening statewide labor force, while construction activity tied to the GM-Samsung SDI battery facilities and the Amazon data center continues to draw skilled labor into capital projects, with office-based roles seeing less of this pull. Metro average weekly earnings rose 9.3% year-over-year to $1,023.74, a pace well ahead of national wage growth of 4.1%, suggesting employers across sectors are paying up to retain workers even as overall job growth remains modest \u2014 the metro added just 100 payroll jobs in August and gained jobs in only 33 of the last 60 months.", "implications": "Finance function hiring in this metro is exposed to the national CFO turnover spike (18.3% projected for 2026) and the 85% of CFOs reporting talent shortages, and local advertised pay data shows the strain concentrating unevenly \u2014 Financial Analyst pay is up significantly to a metro median of $91,800 while FP&A Manager pay has fallen to $112,269, a gap that complicates succession planning into management-track roles ahead of year-end close and audit cycles. Indiana's accountant/auditor unemployment rate of 1.0% statewide signals close-support talent will remain hard to backfill through Q1, raising the practical cost of any vacancy that opens during budget season. Consider reviewing contract-to-permanent staffing ratios for close and audit functions now, before January close exposes any gaps.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Watch whether the metro's modest job growth (33 gaining months out of the last 60) continues into year-end, since slower overall hiring alongside 9.3% wage growth suggests employers are paying more for fewer net additions \u2014 a dynamic that raises the cost of any Finance headcount expansion planned for 2027."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Indiana's labor force shrank roughly 18,900 over the past year even as the unemployment rate fell, meaning fewer available workers alongside a flat hiring pace. Finance leaders should monitor whether this trend tightens competition for close and audit support staff through Q1 budget season."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "GM-Samsung SDI and Amazon data center construction remain active local demand drivers for skilled trades; monitor whether wage pressure in these projects spills into adjacent finance and operations support hiring as employers compete across sectors for the same shrinking labor pool."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "National contract-talent adoption in finance functions (70% of leaders increasing use in H2 2026) is likely to show up locally as audit and close support gaps emerge. Expect more Indiana employers to test interim FP&A and accounting coverage models before committing to permanent headcount."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 95566.5, "metro_p50": 123375.0, "metro_p75": 136250.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 73335.0, "metro_p50": 73336.0, "metro_p75": 73336.0, "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": 66523.0, "metro_p50": 91800.0, "metro_p75": 98750.0, "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": 35224.0, "metro_p50": 38759.0, "metro_p75": 44460.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 40864.75, "metro_p50": 64084.2, "metro_p75": 75000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": 49767.0, "metro_p50": 62267.2, "metro_p75": 68275.75, "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": 91024.0, "metro_p50": 112268.8, "metro_p75": 124994.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Specialized Staffing Michigan/Indiana Labor Market Review", "source_url": null, "statement": "Metro average weekly earnings rose 9.3% to $1,023.74"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "South Bend-Mishawaka MSA unemployment rate at 4.2% in August"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "Indiana Department of Workforce Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Indiana accountant/auditor unemployment at 1.0% in May 2026"}, {"source_name": "Indiana Department of Workforce Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Indiana labor force shrank approximately 18,900 over past year"}, {"source_name": "AFP FP&A Forum", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance leaders increasing use of contract talent in H2 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": "south-bend-mishawaka-in-mi-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "south-bend-mishawaka-in-mi-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:30:39.867448+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/south-bend-mishawaka-in-mi-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/south-bend-mishawaka-in-mi-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}