Labor Market Pulse · Finance · October 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Albany, GA MSA — October 2026
Albany finance pay falls as the metro's labor market contracts.
Dougherty County unemployment sits at 4.8% against Georgia's 3.3%, and Controller advertised pay has fallen to $67,313 locally even as the national median climbs to $115,420.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Dougherty County unemployment: 4.8% — vs 3.3% Georgia, 4.1% national
- Metro nonfarm employment: -1.2% YoY — Albany lost 100 jobs in August 2026
- Government share of metro jobs: 18.5% — 1.8x the national average share
- CFO turnover rate, national: 18.3% — Highest since pandemic (Crist|Kolder)
Key takeaways
Controller and Senior Accountant pay are falling locally while demand rises nationally.
Metro Controller advertised pay dropped significantly to $67,313 against a national median of $115,420 moving up — a gap wide enough to signal Albany employers may struggle to compete for candidates willing to relocate or work remotely. FP&A Manager pay shows the same pattern, down moderately locally to $118,411 while the national figure climbed to $130,000.
Tax Specialist pay is the standout signal in an otherwise soft local market.
Advertised pay for Tax Specialist roles in Albany rose significantly to $83,170, well above the national median of $69,556, pointing to acute local scarcity likely tied to compliance workload or a thin regional talent pool. Finance leaders filling tax roles in this metro should expect to pay a premium relative to historical local norms.
Public-sector dependence is compressing Albany's finance labor market.
Government accounts for 18.5% of metro employment, nearly double the national share, and is contracting alongside retail trade — a structural drag that likely explains why Albany's finance pay trends diverge from Georgia's record statewide labor force growth. Workforce planning for Albany-based finance teams should account for slower local wage inflation than state or national trends would suggest.
CFO turnover nationally raises the stakes for thin local succession benches.
CFO turnover is projected at 18.3% in 2026, the highest since the pandemic, with external hiring filling 37.5% of vacancies — a national pressure that compounds locally given Albany's smaller finance talent pool and falling advertised pay for senior roles like Controller. Succession and interim-coverage planning carries added urgency where local replacement candidates are scarcer.
Median advertised pay by role — Albany, GA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $66,353 | $67,313 | $92,132 | Significant decline | $115,420 |
| Senior Accountant | $65,000 | $65,000 | $72,663 | Significant decline | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst * | $66,935 | $90,889 | $97,590 | Stable | $94,646 |
| Billing Specialist * | $35,887 | $45,202 | $51,565 | Stable | $49,000 |
| Tax Specialist | $39,888 | $83,170 | $84,109 | Significant increase | $69,556 |
| Credit Analyst * | $53,840 | $67,800 | $76,165 | Moderate decline | $71,397 |
| FP&A Manager * | $107,481 | $118,411 | $130,606 | Moderate decline | $130,000 |
* State-level figure shown where metro postings were too few.
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Local market conditions
Albany's labor market is contracting while the state around it sets records — Dougherty County unemployment sits at 4.8%, well above Georgia's 3.3% and the national 4.1%, as nonfarm employment fell 1.2% year-over-year through August. Government, 18.5% of metro employment versus 10% nationally, and retail trade are both shrinking, exposing a metro economy still tethered to public-sector payrolls even as Georgia's statewide labor force hits ninth-consecutive-month highs.
What it means
Falling advertised pay for Controller (-significant to $67,313) and Senior Accountant (-significant to $65,000) roles locally, against rising national medians, signals Albany employers are pulling back on finance compensation even as skilled-talent scarcity intensifies statewide and nationally — a divergence that complicates headcount cost planning for multi-site organizations benchmarking Albany against Atlanta or national peers. Tax Specialist pay moving sharply upward locally ($83,170, outpacing the national $69,556) suggests employers are bidding aggressively for a narrow, high-demand skill set even while broader finance pay softens. Consider reviewing whether Albany-based finance roles are being compared against outdated local benchmarks that no longer reflect the metro's contracting employment base and shifting role-level demand.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Dougherty County unemployment has moved between 4.2% and 4.8% through 2026 without clear direction. Watch whether the rate stabilizes below 4.5% or climbs further as government and retail contraction continues.
Emerging pressure point: Georgia logged 74 WARN notices affecting 10,750 workers statewide in 2026 YTD, with Wellstar Health System's 761-worker filing in late September among the largest. Monitor whether released talent, including finance and accounting staff, begins appearing in the Albany candidate pool.
Early indicator: Tax Specialist pay has moved sharply upward locally while Controller and Senior Accountant pay have fallen — a divergence worth tracking monthly to see whether it reflects a temporary compliance-driven spike or a lasting reallocation of local finance demand.
Potential inflection point: National contract-talent usage in finance and accounting is up, with 70% of F&A leaders increasing contractor reliance in H2 2026. Albany's thinner finance talent base may make this shift more pronounced locally, with implications for fixed-cost forecasting and audit documentation controls.
Sources
- Georgia Department of Labor — Dougherty County unemployment at 4.8% in August 2026
- Georgia Department of Labor — Georgia labor force and employment hit records for ninth straight month
- USA Facts / BLS — Albany government employment share 18.5% vs national average
- Crist|Kolder Associates — CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic
- Georgia Department of Labor WARN tracker — Georgia WARN notices: 74 filings, 10,750 workers affected YTD 2026
- AFP FP&A Forum — 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. WageScape observes 98% of U.S. job openings daily.
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