{"schema_version": 1, "id": "warner-robins-ga-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 518, "label": "Warner Robins, GA MSA", "slug": "warner-robins-ga-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T06:03:02.946636+00:00", "headline": "Warner Robins finance pay splits from national trend as base jobs shrink.", "headline_summary": "Metro FP&A Manager pay fell to $118,411 against a rising $130,000 national figure, even as Warner Robins unemployment held at 3.2% and nonfarm employment contracted 2.5% year-over-year.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "3.2%", "context": "vs 4.1% national, Aug 2026"}, {"label": "Nonfarm employment change", "value": "-2.5% YoY", "context": "Despite tight 3.2% unemployment"}, {"label": "Government share of metro jobs", "value": "33.2%", "context": "vs 10.3% national average"}, {"label": "FP&A Manager pay gap", "value": "$11,589 below national", "context": "$118,411 metro vs $130,000 national"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Metro FP&A pay is diverging sharply from the national market.", "body": "Advertised FP&A Manager pay fell to $118,411 locally while the national figure climbed to $130,000, a gap of roughly $11,600 that did not exist in prior cycles. Benchmarking against national data alone risks under- or over-shooting local offers in a market where candidates increasingly compare both."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay signals a local benchmarking distortion.", "body": "Metro advertised pay for Tax Specialists dropped to $39,712 against a national median of $69,556 \u2014 a near 43% gap that is unusually wide for a role with consistent national demand. This likely reflects a thin sample of local postings; Controllers should treat this figure cautiously when setting offers."}, {"headline": "Government contraction is reshaping the finance talent pipeline.", "body": "Government employment is down 6.6% year-over-year in a metro where it represents a third of all jobs, concentrated around Robins AFB and the Air Logistics Complex. Finance functions that have historically recruited from base-adjacent contractor and government accounting roles may see a shift in candidate availability and salary expectations."}, {"headline": "Controller pay keeps climbing locally despite a shrinking job base.", "body": "Metro Controller advertised pay rose to $109,647, trailing the national $115,420 but moving in the same upward direction even as total nonfarm employment contracts. Current conditions suggest employers are competing harder for a smaller pool of senior accounting talent."}], "local_conditions": "Warner Robins metro unemployment held at 3.2% in August, with Houston County even tighter at 3.1%, even as total nonfarm employment contracted 2.5% year-over-year \u2014 a labor market where headcount is shrinking but talent remains scarce. Government employment, 33.2% of the metro base versus 10.3% nationally, is contracting 6.6% while retail adds jobs, pointing to a base-driven, Robins AFB-anchored economy absorbing federal workforce shifts unevenly across sectors.", "implications": "Headcount contraction alongside sub-4% unemployment means Finance leaders cannot rely on labor slack to control compensation costs during FY planning \u2014 the metro's FP&A Manager advertised pay fell to $118,411 even as national pay for the same role rose to $130,000, a gap that complicates both retention and external benchmarking. Controllers managing close-cycle staffing should expect continued difficulty backfilling technical finance roles given 85% of CFOs nationally report finance talent shortages, compounding the risk of relying on a shrinking local base employment pool. Consider reviewing whether FP&A and Controller compensation bands reflect national data, given the widening divergence between local and national advertised pay for senior finance roles.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Robins AFB and the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex account for roughly 22,000 jobs in a metro labor force of 90,000; any federal budget or contract shift affecting base staffing would ripple quickly into Finance and accounting support roles tied to defense contractors."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Nonfarm employment contracting 2.5% year-over-year alongside 3.2% unemployment points to a market where departing workers are leaving the labor force. Watch whether this tightens candidate pools further for Controller and Senior Accountant searches heading into year-end close."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Georgia's statewide CFO and finance turnover pressure (18.3% CFO turnover projected nationally per Crist|Kolder) has not yet shown a local echo, but Warner Robins' small finance talent base means a single departure can meaningfully affect search timelines. Monitor local WARN filings, which show no Houston County-specific notices in the most recent state data."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Retail trade job growth (+3.2%) against government contraction (-6.6%) suggests Houston County's labor mix is shifting toward lower-wage sectors overall. Finance leaders budgeting total rewards for 2027 should model whether this shift affects local cost-of-labor assumptions used in base-pay structures."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 85495.0, "metro_p50": 109647.0, "metro_p75": 113119.5, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 74650.0, "metro_p50": 83847.0, "metro_p75": 87464.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 66934.75, "metro_p50": 90889.0, "metro_p75": 97590.0, "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": 35000.0, "metro_p50": 39520.0, "metro_p75": 48880.0, "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": 32632.5, "metro_p50": 39712.0, "metro_p75": 39909.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": 53840.0, "metro_p50": 67800.0, "metro_p75": 76165.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 107481.0, "metro_p50": 118411.0, "metro_p75": 130605.5, "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": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Warner Robins MSA unemployment at 3.2%, Houston County at 3.1%"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Nonfarm employment contracted 2.5% year-over-year in the metro"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Government comprises 33.2% of metro employment vs 10.3% nationally"}, {"source_name": "MAVI", "source_url": null, "statement": "85% of CFOs report finance talent shortages affecting operations"}, {"source_name": "Georgia Department of Labor", "source_url": null, "statement": "Robins AFB and Air Logistics Complex employ roughly 22,000 workers"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% nationally in 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": "warner-robins-ga-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "warner-robins-ga-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:32:05.311147+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/warner-robins-ga-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/warner-robins-ga-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}