{"schema_version": 1, "id": "joplin-mo-msa/finance/2026-08", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 194, "label": "Joplin, MO MSA", "slug": "joplin-mo-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-08", "public_after": "2026-08-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T16:25:20.890479+00:00", "headline": "Joplin finance pay splits: analysts down, managers up sharply.", "headline_summary": "Financial Analyst advertised pay in Joplin fell significantly to $87,172 even as FP&A Manager pay climbed to $123,951, nearly matching the $127,341 national median.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Financial Analyst pay trend", "value": "$87,172", "context": "Down significantly, still above $82,905 national"}, {"label": "FP&A Manager pay", "value": "$123,951", "context": "Up moderately, near $127,341 national median"}, {"label": "Missouri unemployment rate", "value": "3.5%", "context": "Vs 4.1% national, down from 4.0% a year ago"}, {"label": "Missouri WARN notices", "value": "29 notices, 2,935 workers", "context": "Affected workers down 43% from 2025"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Financial Analyst pay is falling locally while demand stays real.", "body": "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."}, {"headline": "FP&A Manager pay strength points to forecasting skills scarcity.", "body": "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."}, {"headline": "Credit Analyst wage growth outpaces the metro's overall wage story.", "body": "Local Credit Analyst pay rose significantly to $61,437, even though it remains well below the $72,000 national median \u2014 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."}, {"headline": "Manufacturing softness hasn't loosened finance talent supply.", "body": "Missouri manufacturing shed 1,000 jobs in August while mining, logging, and construction gained 2,200 \u2014 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_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 \u2014 a divergence suggesting employers are recalibrating specific finance roles even as overall labor scarcity persists.", "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 \u2014 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.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Missouri's 29 WARN notices in 2026 are concentrated in Transportation & Logistics, Manufacturing, and Healthcare \u2014 sectors with a presence in the Joplin metro. Watch whether any regional filings emerge that could add finance and accounting talent to the local candidate pool."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Tax Specialist pay is down moderately in the metro ($62,316) while trending up significantly nationally ($66,725), a widening gap that may prompt local talent to consider remote national roles. Retention risk for this role may build over the next quarter if the spread persists."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "BLS has not yet released official August 2026 unemployment figures for the Joplin MSA; expect a data catch-up in coming weeks that may revise the tight labor market narrative. Finance leaders should treat current metro-level unemployment estimates as directional, not final."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National F&A hiring surveys show 74% of leaders planning permanent headcount increases and 69% making above-range offers for critical roles. If that pattern reaches Joplin employers competing for scarce FP&A and credit talent, local pay compression against national medians could narrow faster than budgeted."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 99402.5, "metro_p50": 119844.0, "metro_p75": 120329.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 112500.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 74703.5, "metro_p50": 79950.0, "metro_p75": 85000.0, "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": 67119.0, "metro_p50": 87172.0, "metro_p75": 100804.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 82905.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 35880.0, "metro_p50": 41351.6, "metro_p75": 46727.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 49700.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 43030.25, "metro_p50": 62316.4, "metro_p75": 67550.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 66725.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 60000.0, "metro_p50": 61437.0, "metro_p75": 64122.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 72000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 103414.5, "metro_p50": 123951.2, "metro_p75": 129806.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 127341.0, "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": "September 2026", "files": {"html": "joplin-mo-msa/finance/2026-08.html", "pdf": "joplin-mo-msa/finance/2026-08.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T16:34:24.769407+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/joplin-mo-msa/finance/2026-08.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/joplin-mo-msa/finance/2026-08.pdf"}