{"schema_version": 1, "id": "vt-nonmetropolitan-area/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 519, "label": "VT NONMETROPOLITAN AREA", "slug": "vt-nonmetropolitan-area"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T06:04:49.505816+00:00", "headline": "Vermont's shrinking workforce is pushing finance pay up selectively.", "headline_summary": "FP&A Manager pay climbed to $125,021 and Controller pay to $118,963 even as Vermont's labor force shed nearly 10,000 workers and commercial banking headcount fell 1.8% annually.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Vermont labor force attrition", "value": "-10,000 workers", "context": "Nearly 3% decline over past year, VT Dept. of Labor"}, {"label": "Jobs-to-unemployed ratio", "value": "1.6 to 1", "context": "Statewide, among tightest in U.S."}, {"label": "Vermont finance sector wage gap", "value": "$102,897 avg", "context": "16.8% below national $123,705 average"}, {"label": "Nonmetro county unemployment range", "value": "3.1%\u20133.3%", "context": "Bennington 3.1%, Orleans 3.3%, Sept-Oct 2026"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "FP&A Manager pay is moving because the talent pool is shrinking.", "body": "Metro advertised pay for FP&A Manager rose significantly to $125,021, approaching the $130,000 national median, consistent with a nonmetro labor force that lost nearly 10,000 workers over the past year. Organizations competing for FP&A talent may need to benchmark against national figures going forward."}, {"headline": "Credit Analyst pay is softening against a national gap.", "body": "Metro advertised pay for Credit Analyst fell to $64,803, moderately down and now $6,594 below the national median of $71,397. Declining commercial banking headcount statewide (-1.8% annually) may be easing pressure on this role even as broader finance hiring tightens elsewhere."}, {"headline": "Controller demand is outpacing the national benchmark.", "body": "Metro Controller pay rose moderately to $118,963, now above the $115,420 national median \u2014 an unusual local premium given Vermont's finance sector wages trail the U.S. average by 16.8% overall. Rising close-cycle complexity and CFO turnover nationally (18.3% in 2026) may be pushing Controller compensation up as a succession hedge."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay signals a widening national-local disconnect.", "body": "Metro Tax Specialist pay held stable at $55,202, a full $14,354 below the national median of $69,556, which is rising significantly. Nonmetro Vermont employers may be underpricing this role relative to where national demand is heading, risking turnover into remote or out-of-state opportunities."}], "local_conditions": "Vermont's nonmetropolitan labor supply continues contracting \u2014 nearly 10,000 workers left the labor force statewide over the past year, with Bennington County unemployment at 3.1% and Orleans County at 3.3%, reflecting demographic attrition. Finance sector employment in Vermont grew just 0.4% in 2026 while commercial banking headcount declined 1.8% annually, a structural contraction colliding with a workforce that has 1.6 open jobs for every unemployed worker statewide.", "implications": "Shrinking labor supply combined with declining finance-sector headcount creates a paradox for Finance leaders: fewer roles are opening, but the candidates to fill them are also disappearing, lengthening time-to-fill for Controller and FP&A Manager vacancies even as overall demand softens. Vermont finance wages sit 16.8% below the national average ($102,897 vs. $123,705), a gap that may widen retention risk as remote-capable roles like Financial Analyst and FP&A Manager face out-of-state competition. Consider evaluating whether current compensation bands for finance leadership and analyst roles reflect the premium needed to retain talent against a labor force shrinking for structural reasons tied to demographics.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "UI claims for the week ending October 24 ran 27 higher than the prior week and above 2025 levels, a trend worth tracking against UVM Health Network's 179 layoffs and Vermont Information Processing's 66-person reduction for signs of broader spillover into finance support roles."}, {"category": "Structural pressure point", "body": "Labor force attrition of nearly 3% statewide shows no sign of reversing, with demographic headwinds expected to constrain labor supply through 2027 \u2014 budget cycles built on historical headcount assumptions may need recalibration."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Beta Technologies' plan to double its Vermont workforce could pull finance and accounting talent from the same shallow nonmetro labor pool, intensifying competition for Financial Analyst and Controller candidates."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "CFO turnover nationally sits at an 18.3% high with 37.5% filled externally \u2014 Vermont's below-national finance wages ($102,897 vs. $123,705) may make external recruitment into nonmetro roles harder to close without compensation adjustment."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 89273.0, "metro_p50": 118962.8, "metro_p75": 130000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 69911.5, "metro_p50": 78125.0, "metro_p75": 85079.5, "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": 74439.25, "metro_p50": 94064.0, "metro_p75": 107526.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 40324.0, "metro_p50": 48927.8, "metro_p75": 50687.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 33748.0, "metro_p50": 55202.0, "metro_p75": 64480.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 69556.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 62500.0, "metro_p50": 64803.0, "metro_p75": 67500.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 87472.0, "metro_p50": 125021.0, "metro_p75": 136753.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Vermont Public", "source_url": null, "statement": "Nearly 10,000 Vermonters left the labor force in the past year"}, {"source_name": "Manchester Journal", "source_url": null, "statement": "Bennington County unemployment at 3.1%, Orleans at 3.3%"}, {"source_name": "Vermont Department of Labor / industry wage analysis", "source_url": null, "statement": "Vermont finance sector wages average $102,897, 16.8% below national average"}, {"source_name": "Vermont Department of Labor", "source_url": null, "statement": "Vermont has 1.6 open jobs for every unemployed worker"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "CT Public", "source_url": null, "statement": "Beta Technologies plans to double Vermont workforce"}], "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": "vt-nonmetropolitan-area/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "vt-nonmetropolitan-area/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:31:58.861844+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/vt-nonmetropolitan-area/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/vt-nonmetropolitan-area/finance/2026-10.pdf"}