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Labor Market Pulse
Jacksonville, FL Metro Edition
Focus: FINANCE
Jacksonville finance pay splits: FP&A surges, Controllers soften.
4.9%
Duval County unemployment
Up from 4.2% year-ago; highest among metro's five counties
0.1%
Metro nonfarm job growth
500 jobs added in 12 months through August 2026
-4,000
Local Financial Activities jobs
Year-over-year decline through June 2026
3.0% y/y
National avg hourly earnings growth
Below 3.2% forecast; easing broad wage pressure
This Month's Takeaways
FP&A Manager pay is pulling away from the national market.
Metro advertised pay for FP&A Manager sits at $143,396 against a national median of $128,139 — a gap that has widened significantly this cycle. This is consistent with national reporting that finance leaders are paying premiums for forecasting, modeling and ERP expertise amid a documented CPA and analyst shortage; budget cycles built on last year's FP&A comp data likely understate current market cost.
Controller pay is softening even as the role stays hard to fill.
Metro Controller advertised pay slipped to $111,490, down from the national median of $113,754 and moving against the broader national trend of rising senior finance compensation. This divergence may reflect Jacksonville's Financial Activities job losses (down 4,000 positions over the year) compressing local demand for senior oversight roles even as skills scarcity persists nationally — a signal worth testing against actual time-to-fill data before assuming softer pay is sustainable.
Credit Analyst compensation is outrunning the national market.
Local advertised pay for Credit Analyst reached $77,406, up significantly and now exceeding the national median of $71,758. Rising consumer and commercial credit scrutiny in a 4.8%-unemployment environment appears to be driving demand for underwriting and risk expertise faster locally than nationally, a candidate for upward budget revision ahead of 2027 planning cycles.
Flat headcount doesn't mean flat cost.
Jacksonville's net nonfarm job growth of just 0.1% masks significant internal reallocation — Education and Health Services expanding 4.8% while Financial Activities and Government contract. Finance leaders modeling flat headcount costs into FY2027 budgets should separate volume assumptions from rate assumptions, since several finance roles are seeing real pay movement despite the metro's overall hiring freeze-like conditions.
Local Labor Conditions
Jacksonville's unemployment rate held near 4.8% in August, with Duval County at 4.9% and nonfarm job growth nearly flat at 0.1% over the trailing twelve months — one of the softest readings among major Florida metros. Financial Activities locally shed 4,000 jobs over the year even as national finance and accounting leaders report a sharpening CPA and specialized-skills shortage, a divergence that points to local headcount consolidation layered on top of a structurally tightening finance talent pipeline.
Leadership & Talent Implications
Soft net job growth and a shrinking local Financial Activities base suggest Jacksonville Finance functions are consolidating roles rather than expanding broadly, even as national data shows 74% of finance leaders planning permanent headcount increases and 87% paying premiums for specialized skills. That tension — local contraction against national scarcity-driven wage pressure — means standard headcount budgets may understate true cost-to-hire for technical roles like FP&A and credit analysis. Consider reviewing budget assumptions role-by-role rather than applying a flat market adjustment, since Controller pay is softening locally while FP&A Manager and Credit Analyst pay are climbing well above national rates.
