{"schema_version": 1, "id": "springfield-il-msa/finance/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 403, "label": "Springfield, IL MSA", "slug": "springfield-il-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:30:16.142159+00:00", "headline": "Springfield senior finance pay climbs as sector sheds jobs statewide.", "headline_summary": "Illinois financial activities employment fell 15,800 year-over-year, yet Springfield's advertised Controller pay rose to $105,913 and FP&A Manager pay to $126,621 \u2014 both up significantly.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Illinois financial activities jobs", "value": "-15,800", "context": "Year-over-year decline through August 2026"}, {"label": "Sangamon County avg weekly wage", "value": "$1,447", "context": "Up 3.2% YoY, Q1 2026"}, {"label": "National wage growth deceleration", "value": "3.0%", "context": "September avg hourly earnings YoY, below 3.2% forecast"}, {"label": "Illinois WARN notices YTD", "value": "16,782 workers", "context": "91 filings across 2026 year-to-date"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Senior finance pay is rising while the sector sheds jobs statewide.", "body": "Illinois financial activities employment fell 15,800 year-over-year, yet Springfield Controller and FP&A Manager advertised pay both moved up significantly. Aggregate sector contraction is masking acquisition pressure for roles finance leaders can't easily automate or outsource."}, {"headline": "Financial Analyst pay in Springfield now outpaces the national figure.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay for Financial Analyst sits at $102,785 against a national median of $94,782 \u2014 a reversal of the usual metro discount pattern. Worth testing whether this reflects local talent scarcity or a narrow, thin sample of postings before resetting budget ranges."}, {"headline": "Billing Specialist pay is falling locally while rising nationally.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay for Billing Specialist dropped moderately to $41,600 even as the national median climbed to $49,512 \u2014 a widening gap that may reflect softer local demand for transactional finance roles as automation absorbs routine billing work."}, {"headline": "Statewide income growth lagging the region complicates retention math.", "body": "Illinois personal income growth is forecast at 3.6% for Q2 2026, trailing both the regional 3.8% and national 4.5% pace. Slower income growth statewide may narrow the gap Finance leaders can offer above current pay before losing candidates to faster-growing neighboring labor markets."}], "local_conditions": "Springfield MSA finance hiring plays out against a statewide contraction, with Illinois financial activities employment down 15,800 jobs year-over-year even as Sangamon County's broader labor market holds relatively firm \u2014 131,100 employed in March 2026 and average weekly wages up 3.2% to $1,447. State government's outsized footprint in Springfield insulates the metro from some of the private-sector finance shedding visible in Chicago, but local Controller and FP&A Manager advertised pay rising significantly suggests employers are still competing hard for scarce senior finance talent despite sector-wide headcount pressure elsewhere.", "implications": "Statewide financial activities losses and national information-sector contraction are consistent with employers consolidating finance functions and leaning on automation rather than broad-based rebranding of headcount \u2014 yet Springfield's advertised pay for Controller ($105,913) and FP&A Manager ($126,621) climbing sharply signals that senior, judgment-heavy roles are the exception, not shedding. Budget cycles built around flat or declining finance headcount may understate what it costs to retain or backfill a Controller or FP&A Manager this cycle, since competition for that tier looks structurally tighter than aggregate sector data implies. Consider reviewing year-end compensation budgets for senior finance roles separately from broader departmental headcount assumptions, given the divergence between sector-level contraction and role-level pay acceleration.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Illinois WARN filings have reached 91 notices and 16,782 affected workers year-to-date, with September activity including Uber, GoHealth, and T-Mobile. Track whether any releases finance, accounting, or back-office talent into the Springfield candidate pool."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National finance and accounting leaders report 74% plan to increase permanent headcount in the second half of 2026, with a 2026 Talent Shortage Index of 77% replacing last year's surplus. Local hiring plans built on 2025 talent availability assumptions may need revisiting."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National average hourly earnings growth decelerated to 3.0% year-over-year in September, below the 3.2% consensus forecast. Should this moderation persist into Q4, it may ease pressure on fiscal-year salary budget assumptions set earlier in 2026."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Sangamon County unemployment moved from 5.2% in March to 4.30% in May 2026, a meaningful swing within a single quarter. Confirm whether the next IDES release stabilizes this trend before adjusting hiring timelines tied to local labor supply."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 103876.0, "metro_p50": 105913.0, "metro_p75": 105913.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 113754.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 78083.0, "metro_p50": 84851.2, "metro_p75": 89043.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 81960.0, "metro_p50": 102785.0, "metro_p75": 119606.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 94782.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 37426.0, "metro_p50": 41600.0, "metro_p75": 48682.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 49512.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 61370.0, "metro_p50": 68082.0, "metro_p75": 80000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 65842.4, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 62400.0, "metro_p50": 71686.4, "metro_p75": 75000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 71758.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 98899.0, "metro_p50": 126620.8, "metro_p75": 128153.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 128139.0, "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": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "springfield-il-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "pdf": "springfield-il-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T14:36:34.706060+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/springfield-il-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/springfield-il-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}