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Labor Market Pulse
Waco, TX Metro Edition
Focus: FINANCE
Waco Finance pay splits: analysts surge, managers retreat.
4.2%
Waco unemployment rate
vs 4.1% national, 4.4% Texas
$1,213
Waco avg weekly wage
down $49 QoQ, Q1 2026
$81,358
Financial Analyst advertised pay
up significantly, metro vs $94,782 national
-5.8% YoY
Manufacturing employment change
Waco, sharper than state trend
This Month's Takeaways
Financial Analyst pay is running hot while the sector cools nationally.
Metro advertised pay for Financial Analyst roles rose significantly to $81,358, nearly closing the gap with the $94,782 national median even as national Finance payrolls contracted. This divergence suggests Waco employers are competing hard for analytical talent despite broader sector softness, a signal worth isolating from aggregate Finance hiring data.
FP&A Manager pay softened locally against a stable national trend.
Metro FP&A Manager advertised pay fell moderately to $122,125 while the national figure held flat near $128,139, narrowing what had been a wider gap. Falling local demand for senior FP&A talent may reflect automation and process consolidation trends cited nationally, where F&A functions are scaling without proportional headcount growth.
Tax Specialist and Billing Specialist pay declines look like local anomalies, not market signals.
Both roles fell significantly in Waco (Tax Specialist down to $44,117, Billing Specialist down to $34,000) while rising at the national level, a gap wide enough to suggest thin local posting volume or employer-specific postings rather than a genuine metro wage trend. Treat these figures cautiously until confirmed against a broader sample before adjusting entry-level compensation ranges.
Manufacturing's local contraction may be freeing finance support talent.
Manufacturing employment fell 8.1% quarter-over-quarter and 5.8% year-over-year in Waco, a sharper drop than the state's broader 4.8% wage growth trend would suggest. Controllers and cost accountants tied to manufacturing operations may be entering the local candidate pool, a potential sourcing opportunity for Finance leaders in other sectors.
Local Labor Conditions
Waco's 4.2% unemployment rate and nearly flat 0.8% annual job growth through August reflect a metro economy in holding pattern, with manufacturing contracting 5.8% year-over-year even as Education and Health Services anchors 27% of total employment.Average weekly wages fell $49 quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026 to $1,213, a sharper local pullback than anything visible in state or national wage data, suggesting Waco employers are pulling back on compensation momentum faster than Texas as a whole, where private hourly earnings rose 3.9% year-over-year.
Leadership & Talent Implications
National Finance sector job losses (-129,000 since May 2025, concentrated in insurance) are not translating into local relief for every role — Financial Analyst advertised pay rose significantly in Waco even as Controller and FP&A Manager roles cooled, pointing to uneven, role-specific demand rather than a uniform sector contraction. That divergence complicates headcount cost planning: a blanket assumption of softening Finance labor costs would miss real upward pressure in analytical roles tied to FP&A and data-driven decision support. Consider reviewing role-level advertised pay trends rather than sector averages when building FY2027 compensation budgets, particularly for analyst-level positions showing localized tightness.
