Labor Market Pulse · Finance · August 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Florence, SC MSA — August 2026
Florence pay jumps while payrolls stall — and roles are repricing unevenly.
Florence MSA average weekly earnings rose 14.8% year-over-year to $885.02 even as nonfarm employment held flat at 96,500, while metro Controller pay climbed to $97,528 and Tax Specialist pay fell to $39,234.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of August 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro weekly earnings growth: +14.8% YoY — To $885.02 in April 2026, SC DEW
- Metro nonfarm employment: 96,500 jobs — Flat year-over-year through April 2026
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.8% — Up from 4.3% June 2025; vs 4.1% US Aug 2026
- SC statewide weekly wage: $1,130 — Down 0.1% YoY, contrasts with metro wage surge
Key takeaways
Flat metro payrolls with double-digit wage growth is a warning sign.
Nonfarm employment held at 96,500 through April while average weekly earnings rose 14.8% year-over-year, suggesting employers are paying more to retain the workforce they already have rather than adding headcount. Budget cycles built on stable prior-year labor costs may understate true retention spend.
Controller and Credit Analyst pay are pulling away from national norms.
Metro Controller pay is up significantly to a $97,528 median while Credit Analyst pay rose to $70,684, both outpacing typically stable national movement in these roles. This divergence suggests localized competition for oversight and credit-risk talent that statewide averages will not surface.
Tax Specialist and Financial Analyst pay drops may signal a supply correction, not weaker demand.
Metro Tax Specialist median pay fell sharply to $39,234 against a national figure of $66,725 moving up, and Financial Analyst pay dropped to $61,809 while the national median held stable. Widening gaps this large are consistent with employers filling these roles at lower experience tiers or with reduced urgency, worth confirming against actual req-level data before assuming market softening.
Statewide flat wages obscure real cost pressure in finance functions.
South Carolina's average weekly wage edged down 0.1% year-over-year even as finance and accounting professionals statewide command higher pay than prior years, per SC DEW commentary. Blended statewide figures likely understate the compensation pressure Finance leaders will feel when benchmarking specific roles.
Median advertised pay by role — Florence, SC MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $90,737 | $97,528 | $114,129 | Significant increase | $112,500 |
| Senior Accountant | $74,674 | $74,954 | $75,742 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $59,395 | $61,809 | $64,367 | Significant decline | $82,905 |
| Billing Specialist | $31,897 | $38,480 | $50,371 | Stable | $49,700 |
| Tax Specialist | $38,978 | $39,234 | $41,704 | Significant decline | $66,725 |
| Credit Analyst * | $52,255 | $70,684 | $73,672 | Significant increase | $72,000 |
| FP&A Manager * | $96,796 | $118,540 | $130,140 | Moderate increase | $127,341 |
* 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
Florence MSA employment sat flat at 96,500 jobs through April 2026 even as average weekly earnings jumped 14.8% year-over-year to $885.02, a divergence that points to wage inflation concentrated in existing roles rather than expansion-driven hiring. Unemployment volatility across the metro — ranging from 4.1% in April to 4.8% in June — suggests a labor pool that is neither loosening meaningfully nor tightening in a straight line, complicating any assumption of stable local hiring conditions for the remainder of the year.
What it means
Flat headcount alongside sharply rising local earnings is consistent with employers retaining existing staff through pay increases rather than absorbing new labor supply, a dynamic that raises the cost of standing still on compensation for finance and accounting functions competing for the same shrinking talent pool. Divergent local advertised pay signals — Controller and Credit Analyst roles up significantly while Financial Analyst and Tax Specialist pay have both fallen sharply — indicate the metro's finance labor market is repricing unevenly by role rather than uniformly, which flat statewide averages can mask. Consider reviewing role-level advertised pay data before applying blanket merit or market adjustments across the finance function this cycle.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Florence MSA unemployment swung from 4.1% to 4.8% across just three months in 2026 without clear seasonal adjustment. A continuation of that volatility into fall will complicate headcount and overtime budget forecasting for finance teams managing close-cycle staffing.
Emerging pressure point: National F&A hiring managers report 69% are offering salaries above planned range and 82% pay premiums for AI-adept accounting talent. Watch whether Florence-area employers begin advertising similar premiums for automation-literate close and FP&A staff, which would push metro pay bands further from current medians.
Early indicator: South Carolina statewide job growth is forecast to slow to 1.8% in FY26 and 1.7% in FY27, below long-term trend. A metro already showing flat nonfarm payrolls may see headcount plans tighten further, shifting Finance's cost focus from hiring to retention spend.
Potential inflection point: Metro Tax Specialist and Financial Analyst advertised pay have both fallen sharply while national medians for these roles are stable or rising. Confirm whether local postings reflect genuine market softening or a data artifact from a small posting sample before adjusting comp ranges.
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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