{"schema_version": 1, "id": "wichita-ks-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 528, "label": "Wichita, KS MSA", "slug": "wichita-ks-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T06:04:30.124027+00:00", "headline": "Wichita finance pay splits: analysts rise, controllers stay flat.", "headline_summary": "Metro Financial Analyst advertised pay jumped to $86,960 while Controller pay held at $102,246, against a Kansas finance sector wage average running 32.7% below the national figure.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Financial Analyst advertised pay (metro)", "value": "$86,960", "context": "Up significantly, nearing national median of $94,646"}, {"label": "Kansas finance sector wage gap", "value": "-32.7%", "context": "$83,306 avg vs. $123,705 national average"}, {"label": "Sedgwick County unemployment range", "value": "3.5%\u20134.7%", "context": "Conflicting recent readings vs. 3.8% KS statewide"}, {"label": "CFO turnover rate, national", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic, per Crist|Kolder"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Financial Analyst pay is outrunning the market.", "body": "Metro advertised pay for Financial Analyst roles rose significantly to $86,960, closing in on the stable national median of $94,646. Local demand for forecasting and modeling talent appears to be compressing a gap that typically favors national employers."}, {"headline": "Controller compensation looks frozen while adjacent roles move.", "body": "Metro Controller pay held stable at $102,246 even as FP&A Manager and Financial Analyst pay climbed, a divergence that may signal employers are reserving increases for execution-layer talent over oversight roles. Flat Controller pay against rising CFO turnover nationally (18.3%, Crist|Kolder) warrants a second look at succession pipelines."}, {"headline": "Wichita's wage floor below national average raises flight risk.", "body": "Kansas finance and insurance wages average 32.7% below the national figure, a gap wide enough to make remote-eligible analyst and FP&A roles vulnerable to out-of-state offers. Current conditions suggest benchmarking retention risk against remote-work-adjusted pay and metro peers alike."}, {"headline": "Conflicting county unemployment readings complicate headcount timing.", "body": "Sedgwick County unemployment data ranged from 3.5% to 4.7% across recent readings, muddying signals on labor supply just as Kansas's October report lags until November 20. Finance leaders planning Q1 headcount budgets may be working with a one-to-two-month data lag on local conditions."}], "local_conditions": "Sedgwick County unemployment data has moved in conflicting directions this year \u2014 4.7% in August versus a 3.5% reading in the most recent snapshot \u2014 against a Kansas statewide rate holding flat at 3.8%, pointing to a metro labor market in transition. Manufacturing's outsized footprint in Wichita (18.12% of metro employment, more than double the national average) means aerospace and durable-goods hiring cycles continue to set the tone for finance and back-office labor demand across the metro.", "implications": "Kansas finance sector wages running 32.7% below the national average ($83,306 vs. $123,705) creates a structural retention gap that compounds national CFO turnover running at 18.3% \u2014 the highest since the pandemic \u2014 making Wichita finance teams more exposed to poaching from remote and hybrid roles paying national rates. Local FP&A Manager and Financial Analyst advertised pay are both rising (up moderate and significant, respectively) while Controller pay sits flat, suggesting employers are repricing analytical and forecasting talent faster than oversight roles. Consider reviewing retention risk by role level, prioritizing the analyst and FP&A tiers where local pay is moving fastest relative to historical norms.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected release", "body": "Kansas Department of Labor publishes October 2026 state labor data on November 20, after most November budget planning cycles begin. Finance leaders should treat current Sedgwick County figures as provisional inputs until that release reconciles the conflicting unemployment readings."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National finance talent shortages (85% of CFOs reporting impact, per MAVI) combined with Wichita's below-average finance wages could accelerate contract and interim staffing use locally, consistent with the 70% of finance leaders nationally increasing contract reliance. Watch whether local accounting and FP&A job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), shift toward contract language over the next two months."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Rising advertised pay for Financial Analyst and FP&A Manager roles locally may reflect employers competing against national remote postings as much as metro peers. Track whether Controller and Senior Accountant postings follow the same upward trajectory in November and December."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Manufacturing's dominant share of Wichita employment means any shift in aerospace production schedules or supplier orders could quickly ripple into finance and accounting hiring demand tied to those firms. Monitor regional manufacturing employment reports alongside finance-specific postings for early signs of spillover."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 82100.0, "metro_p50": 102246.0, "metro_p75": 110000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 72014.0, "metro_p50": 78136.8, "metro_p75": 85000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 72708.25, "metro_p50": 86960.0, "metro_p75": 109375.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 34316.0, "metro_p50": 38601.6, "metro_p75": 44460.0, "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": 40943.0, "metro_p50": 69928.0, "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": 55802.0, "metro_p50": 61743.0, "metro_p75": 63358.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 71397.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 96904.0, "metro_p50": 117123.8, "metro_p75": 129880.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "State labor market research notes (pre-researched context)", "source_url": null, "statement": "Kansas finance sector wages average 32.7% below national average"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics / Sedgwick County data", "source_url": null, "statement": "Sedgwick County unemployment at 4.7% in August, 3.5% in recent snapshot"}, {"source_name": "Metro labor market research notes (pre-researched context)", "source_url": null, "statement": "Manufacturing accounts for 18.12% of Wichita metro employment"}, {"source_name": "MAVI", "source_url": null, "statement": "85% of CFOs report finance talent shortages affecting operations"}, {"source_name": "Kansas Department of Labor", "source_url": null, "statement": "Kansas October 2026 labor report releases November 20"}], "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": "wichita-ks-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "wichita-ks-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:32:25.393510+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/wichita-ks-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/wichita-ks-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}