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Labor Market Pulse
Racine, WI Metro Edition
Focus: FINANCE
Racine's finance hiring cools as national FP&A talent war intensifies.
5.2% (Feb.)
Racine MSA unemployment
Eased to 3.3% by May 2026
$80,750
Financial Analyst advertised pay
Down vs. stable $94,782 national median
-0.6%
Wisconsin Financial Activities forecast
Projected employment decline through 2026
74%
National F&A hiring plans
Of finance leaders plan headcount increases, H2 2026
This Month's Takeaways
Local analyst pay is falling while national demand rises.
Financial Analyst advertised pay in Racine dropped to $80,750, a moderate decline, while the national median held stable at $94,782. A roughly $14,000 gap suggests local employers may be pricing against a thinner, less competitive candidate pool rather than true market softness.
Tax Specialist pay is breaking out locally and nationally.
Metro Tax Specialist pay rose significantly to $62,370, tracking a comparable national increase to $65,842. Coordinated movement across both geographies is consistent with a genuine skills shortage rather than a local anomaly, and warrants closer benchmarking ahead of tax-season staffing decisions.
Manufacturing disruption may be loosening the local talent pool.
UNFI's Sturtevant closure and Cree Lighting's 172-person layoff, both finalized by August, have pushed displaced workers into a county labor market where unemployment has already fallen back to 3.3%. Finance leaders in adjacent sectors may find modestly improved sourcing conditions for administrative and operations-finance hybrid roles over the next quarter.
Controller and FP&A Manager pay signal stable senior-level demand.
Controller pay held steady at $118,770 locally against a moderately rising $113,754 nationally, while FP&A Manager pay rose moderately to $112,155 even as the national figure stayed flat. Senior finance leadership roles appear insulated from the volatility hitting analyst-tier positions, suggesting budget pressure is concentrated at mid-career levels.
Local Labor Conditions
Racine-Mount Pleasant MSA labor conditions remain unsettled following a 5.2% unemployment spike in February that has since eased toward 3.3% by May, with manufacturing and logistics disruptions — including the UNFI Sturtevant closure and Cree Lighting's 172-person layoff — still working through the local labor pool. Wisconsin's broader Financial Activities sector is contracting, with state forecasts showing a projected -0.6% employment decline into 2026, even as statewide unemployment holds near a historically tight 2.7%.
Leadership & Talent Implications
Local finance and accounting pay is diverging sharply from the national story: Racine's Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst advertised pay are both down against stable-to-rising national figures, suggesting metro employers are either underpricing scarce analytical talent or losing bidding power to remote and regional competitors. With national F&A hiring demand rebounding to a 134% Hiring Index and nearly half of organizations planning 4%+ direct labor rate increases, Racine finance departments risk falling behind on roles tied to forecasting, credit risk, and margin analysis precisely when that expertise is becoming scarcer nationally. Consider reviewing Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst advertised pay against national trendlines before the next budget cycle, rather than assuming metro softness reflects genuine local demand weakness.
