{"schema_version": 1, "id": "morristown-tn-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 315, "label": "Morristown, TN MSA", "slug": "morristown-tn-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:39:54.230749+00:00", "headline": "FP&A pay slides locally while Controller demand firms up.", "headline_summary": "Morristown FP&A Manager pay fell to $102,239 against a rising $130,000 national median, even as Controller pay climbed to $116,353 and Tennessee's financial activities sector shed 4,100 jobs statewide.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Hamblen County unemployment", "value": "3.7%", "context": "vs 3.4% statewide, 4.1% national"}, {"label": "FP&A Manager pay gap", "value": "$102,239 vs $130,000", "context": "Metro down significantly, national up moderate"}, {"label": "TN financial activities jobs", "value": "-4,100", "context": "Statewide loss over past year"}, {"label": "National CFO turnover rate", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic, Crist|Kolder 2026"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "FP&A pay is falling locally while rising nationally.", "body": "Metro FP&A Manager pay dropped significantly to $102,239 even as the national median climbed to $130,000, a $28,000 gap that did not exist at this scale a year ago. That divergence may signal local employers are deprioritizing planning and analysis investment relative to peer metros, a decision worth revisiting before the next budget cycle."}, {"headline": "Controller demand is the one bright spot in local finance pay.", "body": "Controller advertised pay rose to $116,353, slightly ahead of the national median and moving in the opposite direction from FP&A and Credit Analyst roles. Consider whether this reflects real scarcity of close and audit-ready talent in a market where manufacturing accounting needs remain high, or a shift of responsibility onto fewer senior hires."}, {"headline": "Tennessee's financial activities sector is shrinking against a tight labor market.", "body": "Statewide financial activities employment fell by 4,100 jobs over the past year even as overall unemployment held at 3.4%, meaning finance talent is being displaced into a labor market with little slack elsewhere. Released finance professionals may be harder to re-absorb locally than in Nashville or other metros with deeper financial-services employment bases."}, {"headline": "Contract staffing shift adds audit-readiness risk during close cycles.", "body": "National data shows 70% of finance and accounting leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026, a trend consistent with soft FP&A Manager demand locally. Morristown's smaller finance talent pool may make contract-to-FTE transitions harder to manage cleanly through audit documentation requirements."}], "local_conditions": "Hamblen County unemployment held near 3.7% through mid-2026, consistent with a manufacturing base that still accounts for roughly a quarter of the county workforce even as statewide manufacturing employment slipped 1.7% over the past year. Tennessee's financial activities sector shed 4,100 jobs statewide this year, a contraction that is consistent with the soft local demand showing up in FP&A Manager and Credit Analyst advertised pay, both down this month while Controller pay continues to climb.", "implications": "Divergence between rising Controller pay ($116,353 metro median) and falling FP&A Manager pay ($102,239, down significantly against a national figure of $130,000) suggests employers are consolidating strategic finance work into fewer, more senior roles, leaving planning and analysis layers thinner than before. That pattern, paired with a national CFO turnover rate projected at 18.3% for 2026, raises succession and bench-depth risk for finance organizations that have been thinning mid-level analytical headcount. Consider reviewing whether FP&A capacity has been cut faster locally than workload has, since a $28,000 metro-to-national pay gap in that role may reflect under-leveling instead of a true drop in demand.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether Controller pay growth continues into Q4 as a sign of lasting scarcity versus a one-quarter spike tied to a specific employer search. A sustained climb above the national median would justify revisiting compensation bands ahead of FY2027 planning."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Tennessee's financial activities sector lost jobs statewide this year; track whether any of that displacement surfaces in Morristown-area postings or candidate flow, particularly from Knoxville-adjacent employers restructuring finance functions."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National CFO turnover at 18.3% and a 37.5% external hire rate raise succession exposure heading into year-end close. Finance leaders overseeing thin FP&A benches should map internal readiness before a departure forces an external search in a market already short on senior analytical talent."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "No October WARN filings have surfaced yet for Hamblen County manufacturers, but statewide filings reached 49 notices affecting 6,603 workers through October 20. A single large local filing would materially shift available finance and accounting talent given the county's concentration in manufacturing support roles."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 94417.0, "metro_p50": 116353.0, "metro_p75": 126408.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 72887.5, "metro_p50": 82332.0, "metro_p75": 85906.0, "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": 100600.0, "metro_p50": 107909.0, "metro_p75": 111154.5, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 35890.5, "metro_p50": 43077.0, "metro_p75": 50680.25, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 31773.25, "metro_p50": 42068.0, "metro_p75": 45764.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 69556.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 52826.0, "metro_p50": 60770.4, "metro_p75": 65537.25, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 83283.0, "metro_p50": 102239.0, "metro_p75": 125210.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Hamblen County unemployment rate near 3.7% in mid-2026"}, {"source_name": "Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tennessee manufacturing employment fell 1.7% over past year"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics / TDLWD", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tennessee financial activities sector lost 4,100 jobs over past year"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "Robert Half / AFP FP&A Forum", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance and accounting leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026"}, {"source_name": "Tennessee WARN Act Notices", "source_url": null, "statement": "49 WARN notices affected 6,603 Tennessee workers through October 20, 2026"}], "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": "morristown-tn-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "morristown-tn-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:26:32.341218+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/morristown-tn-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/morristown-tn-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}