{"schema_version": 1, "id": "tulsa-ok-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 378, "label": "Tulsa, OK MSA", "slug": "tulsa-ok-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:59:08.214518+00:00", "headline": "Tulsa finance pay diverges from national market as jobless rate climbs.", "headline_summary": "Tulsa unemployment rose to 4.3% from 3.4% a year ago while FP&A Manager pay fell locally to $101,754 against a rising $130,000 national median.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Tulsa unemployment rate", "value": "4.3%", "context": "vs 3.4% a year ago (Q3 2026)"}, {"label": "Tulsa nonfarm employment growth", "value": "+0.4%", "context": "484,450 jobs, up from 482,433 a year ago"}, {"label": "FP&A Manager advertised pay", "value": "$101,754 metro", "context": "down moderate vs $130,000 national, up moderate"}, {"label": "CFO turnover rate", "value": "18.3%", "context": "National 2026 projection, highest since pandemic"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "FP&A Manager pay is falling locally while climbing nationally.", "body": "Metro median sits at $101,754, down moderately, against a national median of $130,000 that is rising. Tulsa employers recruiting for this role against remote or relocating national competitors may be working from a stale reference point."}, {"headline": "Unemployment is rising faster than payrolls are shrinking.", "body": "Tulsa's jobless rate jumped 0.9 points year-over-year to 4.3% even as nonfarm employment grew 0.4%. Pattern points to labor force growth outpacing job creation, which argues against layoff-driven headcount relief for finance functions."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay is rising locally and surging nationally.", "body": "Metro median climbed to $59,813 while the national figure jumped to $69,556, a significant increase. Compressed in-house tax bandwidth combined with national wage pressure on this skill set may justify earlier budget conversations ahead of 2027 tax season staffing."}, {"headline": "Credit Analyst pay is softening against a stable national market.", "body": "Metro median fell to $67,575 even as the national median held at $71,397. Divergence may reflect reduced local lending activity or hiring caution tied to the broader Oklahoma employer sentiment of deferred headcount growth."}], "local_conditions": "Tulsa metro unemployment climbed to 4.3% in Q3 2026 from 3.4% a year earlier, even as nonfarm employment edged up 0.4% to 484,450 jobs \u2014 a combination consistent with a labor market where headcount growth has stalled faster than labor supply has tightened. Statewide, employers report little appetite to add headcount in 2026 amid cyclical slowdown concerns, a posture that appears to be filtering into Tulsa's finance and professional services hiring alongside national softening in financial activities employment (-7,000 in September).", "implications": "Rising unemployment paired with flat-to-declining advertised pay for roles like FP&A Manager (down moderate, metro median $101,754 against a national $130,000) suggests Tulsa finance teams face a widening gap between local compensation benchmarks and the national market for analytical talent \u2014 a risk during close cycles and system implementations that require specialized skill sets regardless of geography. With CFO turnover nationally projected at 18.3% and 85% of finance leaders citing talent shortages, Tulsa organizations may be underpricing roles that compete in a national remote-capable labor pool even as local headcount budgets tighten. Consider reviewing whether FP&A and analyst-level compensation bands reflect national competition for scarce analytical skill sets as metro-level softening continues.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Oklahoma firms broadly report no plans to add headcount in 2026, and the OKC MSA forecast points to slow nonfarm growth through Q3. Watch whether Tulsa finance hiring freezes extend into Q1 2027 budget cycles or thaw with year-end close demand."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National CFO turnover at 18.3% and an external hiring rate of 37.5% raise vacancy risk during audit and close periods. Tulsa finance leaders should track whether local succession pipelines can absorb a controller or FP&A departure without resorting to costly national searches."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "70% of finance and accounting leaders nationally are increasing contract talent use in H2 2026. Monitor whether Tulsa staffing agencies report similar upticks, which would signal fixed-cost headcount models giving way to variable cost structures ahead of 2027 budgets."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "The $1 billion east Tulsa industrial park under construction could pull finance and accounting talent toward manufacturing and logistics support roles as the project advances. Track whether this draws candidates away from traditional corporate finance openings over the next two quarters."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 85926.0, "metro_p50": 112755.0, "metro_p75": 113241.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 74023.5, "metro_p50": 78739.0, "metro_p75": 81715.5, "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": 71095.0, "metro_p50": 83234.0, "metro_p75": 88560.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 33736.75, "metro_p50": 41600.0, "metro_p75": 46357.0, "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": 33280.0, "metro_p50": 59813.0, "metro_p75": 70000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 69556.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 59414.0, "metro_p50": 67575.0, "metro_p75": 67875.0, "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": 95151.25, "metro_p50": 101753.6, "metro_p75": 140409.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Cushman & Wakefield", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tulsa unemployment reached 4.3% in Q3 2026, up from 3.4% a year earlier"}, {"source_name": "Cushman & Wakefield", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tulsa nonfarm employment averaged 484,450 in Q3 2026, up 0.4% year-over-year"}, {"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 surveyed CFOs report finance talent shortages"}, {"source_name": "Kansas City Federal Reserve", "source_url": null, "statement": "Oklahoma firms report no plans to increase employment in 2026"}, {"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"}], "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": "tulsa-ok-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "tulsa-ok-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:31:31.374628+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/tulsa-ok-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/tulsa-ok-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}