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Labor Market Pulse
Joplin, MO Metro Edition
Focus: FINANCE
Joplin finance pay splits: analysts down, managers up sharply.
$87,172
Financial Analyst pay trend
Down significantly, still above $82,905 national
$123,951
FP&A Manager pay
Up moderately, near $127,341 national median
3.5%
Missouri unemployment rate
Vs 4.1% national, down from 4.0% a year ago
29 notices, 2,935 workers
Missouri WARN notices
Affected workers down 43% from 2025
This Month's Takeaways
Financial Analyst pay is falling locally while demand stays real.
Metro median advertised pay for Financial Analyst sits at $87,172, above the $82,905 national median, yet trending down significantly month over month. Controllers should treat this as a signal to re-benchmark before assuming national wage inflation applies locally to FP&A support roles.
FP&A Manager pay strength points to forecasting skills scarcity.
Metro FP&A Manager pay is up moderately to $123,951, nearly matching the national median of $127,341, even as the broader Missouri labor market shows only modest 2,100-job monthly growth. This suggests employers are paying up specifically for planning and analysis capability rather than headcount generally.
Credit Analyst wage growth outpaces the metro's overall wage story.
Local Credit Analyst pay rose significantly to $61,437, even though it remains well below the $72,000 national median — a gap that could pressure retention if candidates benchmark against national postings. Treasury and credit functions may need faster-than-usual pay reviews to hold talent locally.
Manufacturing softness hasn't loosened finance talent supply.
Missouri manufacturing shed 1,000 jobs in August while mining, logging, and construction gained 2,200 — a sectoral reshuffling, not a labor surplus. Finance leaders should not expect manufacturing-adjacent layoffs to ease hiring difficulty for accounting or FP&A roles in the metro.
Local Labor Conditions
Joplin's labor market remains structurally tight, with regional unemployment tracking near 3.1-4.4% depending on county and month, well below the pre-pandemic norm, while manufacturing softness statewide (-1,000 jobs in August) and mixed WARN activity in Transportation & Logistics and Healthcare create localized pockets of churn without loosening the broader talent pool. Advertised general wages of $15.63/hour average alongside a Financial Analyst pay decline of significant magnitude locally — a divergence suggesting employers are recalibrating specific finance roles even as overall labor scarcity persists.
Leadership & Talent Implications
Finance leaders in Joplin face a bifurcated cost picture: broad labor tightness keeps hourly and support-role wage floors firm, while white-collar finance roles show inconsistent signals — Financial Analyst pay down significantly and Tax Specialist pay down moderately, even as FP&A Manager and Credit Analyst pay rise. This divergence complicates standard headcount cost models for FY27 budget cycles, since assuming uniform wage inflation across the finance function risks over- or under-provisioning specific roles. Consider reviewing role-level pay trends rather than blended department averages when building headcount cost assumptions for the next budget cycle.
