{"schema_version": 1, "id": "waco-tx-msa/finance/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 364, "label": "Waco, TX MSA", "slug": "waco-tx-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:30:50.804192+00:00", "headline": "Waco Finance pay splits: analysts surge, managers retreat.", "headline_summary": "Financial Analyst advertised pay jumped to $81,358 in Waco even as FP&A Manager pay slipped to $122,125, diverging from a metro where overall weekly wages fell $49 quarter-over-quarter.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Waco unemployment rate", "value": "4.2%", "context": "vs 4.1% national, 4.4% Texas"}, {"label": "Waco avg weekly wage", "value": "$1,213", "context": "down $49 QoQ, Q1 2026"}, {"label": "Financial Analyst advertised pay", "value": "$81,358", "context": "up significantly, metro vs $94,782 national"}, {"label": "Manufacturing employment change", "value": "-5.8% YoY", "context": "Waco, sharper than state trend"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Financial Analyst pay is running hot while the sector cools nationally.", "body": "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."}, {"headline": "FP&A Manager pay softened locally against a stable national trend.", "body": "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."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist and Billing Specialist pay declines look like local anomalies, not market signals.", "body": "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."}, {"headline": "Manufacturing's local contraction may be freeing finance support talent.", "body": "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_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.", "implications": "National Finance sector job losses (-129,000 since May 2025, concentrated in insurance) are not translating into local relief for every role \u2014 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.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Waco's average weekly wage dropped $49 quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026 despite a modest year-over-year gain. Watch whether Q2 2026 data (expected in coming weeks from Workforce Solutions for the Heart of Texas) shows this as a one-quarter dip or the start of a trend relevant to merit budget planning."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National Finance and accounting leaders report 74% plan to increase permanent headcount alongside a 2026 Talent Shortage Index of 77%, reversing 2025's talent surplus. If this national tightening reaches Waco's smaller Finance labor pool, expect faster advertised pay movement in Controller and Senior Accountant postings over Q4."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Texas's 2026 job growth forecast was revised upward to 2.0% from 1.1%, driven partly by data center and AI-related activity concentrated in larger metros. Whether that momentum extends to Waco or stays concentrated in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin will shape regional competition for Finance talent."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "National average hourly earnings growth decelerated to 3.0% year-over-year in September, below consensus expectations. A continued national slowdown would ease salary budget pressure heading into 2027 planning cycles, though Waco's own wage pattern has moved independently of national trends this cycle."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 41600.0, "metro_p50": 93762.8, "metro_p75": 110687.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 113754.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 70711.0, "metro_p50": 76122.0, "metro_p75": 79492.0, "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": 67137.5, "metro_p50": 81358.4, "metro_p75": 85090.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 94782.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 29782.0, "metro_p50": 34000.0, "metro_p75": 37417.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 49512.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 39660.0, "metro_p50": 44117.0, "metro_p75": 63025.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 65842.4, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 57384.0, "metro_p50": 70684.0, "metro_p75": 80000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 71758.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 104393.0, "metro_p50": 122125.0, "metro_p75": 132700.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 128139.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "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": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "waco-tx-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "pdf": "waco-tx-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T14:37:40.331783+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/waco-tx-msa/finance/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/waco-tx-msa/finance/2026-09.pdf"}