{"schema_version": 1, "id": "topeka-ks-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 502, "label": "Topeka, KS MSA", "slug": "topeka-ks-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T06:01:31.155630+00:00", "headline": "Topeka Controller pay surges as finance talent gap widens.", "headline_summary": "Metro Controller pay rose to a $104,555 median while Kansas finance wages still run 32.7% below the $123,705 national average, widening the gap Finance leaders must close to retain senior talent.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro Controller advertised pay", "value": "$104,555", "context": "vs $115,420 national median, up significantly"}, {"label": "Kansas finance sector wage gap", "value": "32.7% below national", "context": "$83,306 KS avg vs $123,705 national avg"}, {"label": "Topeka MSA unemployment", "value": "4.1%", "context": "Up from 3.4% in April 2026 (July data)"}, {"label": "National CFO turnover", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic, per Crist|Kolder"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Controller pay is repricing faster than the broader market.", "body": "Metro Controller advertised pay rose significantly to $104,555, closing ground on the $115,420 national median. Organizations benchmarking against last year's local data are likely underpricing this role for current conditions."}, {"headline": "Billing Specialist wages jumped while national pay held flat.", "body": "Metro Billing Specialist pay rose significantly to $41,600 even as the national median sat stable at $49,000, a local-specific tightening signal distinct from broader entry-level trends. This may reflect intensified competition for transactional finance talent in a metro with limited bench depth."}, {"headline": "Credit Analyst pay is moving against the grain.", "body": "Metro Credit Analyst advertised pay fell moderately to $58,706, a notable decline against a stable national median of $71,397. Declining advertised pay for this role alongside rising unemployment may suggest softening demand for credit function hires locally, worth confirming before setting next-cycle budgets."}, {"headline": "Finance wage gap with national pay remains a retention liability.", "body": "Kansas finance sector wages run 32.7% below the national average, a structural gap that predates this month's data and shows no sign of closing. Pair this with 18.3% national CFO turnover and the metro's senior finance talent becomes a flight risk toward higher-paying markets."}], "local_conditions": "Shawnee County's 5.3% average weekly wage gain in Q4 2025 \u2014 the largest among Kansas' four major counties \u2014 continues to reverberate through metro compensation structures, even as July 2026 unemployment ticked up to 4.1% from 3.4% in April, suggesting the labor supply is loosening slightly even as wage pressure lingers from prior tightness. Statewide finance sector wages averaging $83,306, 32.7% below the national finance average of $123,705, create a structural retention gap that Topeka employers compete against when Kansas City and remote-eligible roles pull talent north and east.", "implications": "Controller pay in the metro has climbed to a $104,555 median \u2014 a significant year-over-year move that narrows, but does not close, the gap with the $115,420 national figure, signaling that Topeka employers are being forced to pay up for scarce senior finance talent as historical geographic discounts erode. With CFO turnover nationally projected at 18.3% for 2026 and 85% of CFOs reporting finance talent shortages, Topeka finance leaders face compounding risk: a thin local senior-talent bench layered on a national vacancy problem during close and audit cycles. Consider reviewing succession depth for Controller and FP&A Manager roles now, before Q4 close season tests whether current staffing can absorb a departure.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected release", "body": "KDOL publishes October 2026 Kansas labor data on November 20, later than typical monthly cadence and landing mid-way through many Finance teams' year-end planning cycles. Delayed data may force budget decisions to rely on September figures for longer than usual."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Shawnee County's outsized wage growth (5.3% in Q4 2025) combined with rising metro unemployment (3.4% to 4.1% since April) presents a mixed signal \u2014 watch whether wage growth decelerates as labor supply loosens, which would ease upward pressure on Controller and Senior Accountant budgets."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "70% of finance and accounting leaders nationally are increasing contract talent use in H2 2026. Monitor whether Topeka's contract/interim finance market deepens enough to support this shift, given the metro's comparatively thin talent pool."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "No major WARN notices have hit the Topeka MSA in 2026, unlike Edgerton, Emporia, and Andover. Continued metro-level stability would support current retention-focused strategies, but a shift would quickly tighten (or loosen) the local candidate pool."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 74057.0, "metro_p50": 104555.0, "metro_p75": 108269.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 71499.5, "metro_p50": 78512.0, "metro_p75": 86072.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 72450.0, "metro_p50": 100638.0, "metro_p75": 109810.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 36633.0, "metro_p50": 41600.0, "metro_p75": 48472.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 39091.0, "metro_p50": 70720.0, "metro_p75": 74859.0, "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": 55046.0, "metro_p50": 58706.0, "metro_p75": 62500.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 92856.0, "metro_p50": 116050.4, "metro_p75": 122638.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "U.S. BLS Mountain-Plains Information Office", "source_url": null, "statement": "Shawnee County wage gain of 5.3% in Q4 2025, largest among major KS counties"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Topeka MSA unemployment at 4.1% in July 2026, up from 3.4% in April"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "MAVI", "source_url": null, "statement": "85% of CFOs report finance talent shortages affecting operations"}, {"source_name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Kansas finance sector wages average $83,306 vs $123,705 national average"}, {"source_name": "Robert Half / AFP FP&A Forum", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance/accounting leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 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": "topeka-ks-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "topeka-ks-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:31:24.689300+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/topeka-ks-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/topeka-ks-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}