Labor Market Pulse · Finance · October 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Jackson, MS MSA — October 2026
Jackson finance pay falls as metro wages climb 6.1%.
Jackson MSA weekly earnings rose 6.1% year-over-year to $1,056.44, but Controller ($109,155) and FP&A Manager ($119,209) advertised pay both declined locally while national medians for those roles moved higher.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Jackson MSA unemployment: 3.0% — vs 4.1% national rate, September 2026
- Metro weekly earnings growth: 6.1% — $1,056.44 vs $995.73 a year prior
- MS finance & insurance wages: -1.1% — to $1,019/week, against 6.1% metro-wide gain
- CFO turnover rate, national: 18.3% — Highest since the pandemic, per Crist|Kolder
Key takeaways
Finance pay in Jackson is diverging from the metro's wage story.
Overall metro weekly earnings rose 6.1% year-over-year, but finance and insurance wages statewide fell 1.1% and local Controller and FP&A Manager advertised pay both declined. Teams benchmarking finance roles against the metro's headline wage growth may be underpricing the talent they need to retain.
FP&A Manager pay gap with the national market is widening.
Metro median advertised pay of $119,209 sits well below the $130,000 national figure and is moving down locally while rising nationally. Given elevated CFO and senior finance turnover nationally, this gap increases flight risk for FP&A leaders with remote-work options.
Tax Specialist pay signals a local-national disconnect worth investigating.
Metro median advertised pay of $36,835 has declined significantly while the national median of $69,556 is rising sharply — nearly double the local figure. This spread may reflect role-scope differences in local postings, but it warrants a direct comparison before using it to set offers.
Contract staffing growth complicates headcount cost forecasting.
With 70% of finance and accounting leaders nationally increasing contract talent use in H2 2026, flat Mississippi labor force participation (54.7%, lowest since April 2024) suggests local employers may lean further into contractors to fill finance gaps. Budget cycles built on FTE-only assumptions may understate true staffing costs.
Median advertised pay by role — Jackson, MS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $92,180 | $109,155 | $125,000 | Moderate decline | $115,420 |
| Senior Accountant | $73,525 | $80,000 | $90,864 | Moderate increase | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $63,155 | $87,028 | $97,849 | Moderate increase | $94,646 |
| Billing Specialist | $34,251 | $39,393 | $46,852 | Moderate decline | $49,000 |
| Tax Specialist | $29,162 | $36,835 | $55,841 | Significant decline | $69,556 |
| Credit Analyst | $41,053 | $42,822 | $44,692 | Moderate decline | $71,397 |
| FP&A Manager | $112,192 | $119,209 | $123,869 | Significant decline | $130,000 |
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
Jackson MSA unemployment held at 3% in September, even as nonfarm payrolls reached 301.3 thousand in July on strength concentrated in leisure and hospitality, while financial activities employment contracted 1.8% year-over-year. Average weekly earnings across all metro industries rose 6.1% year-over-year to $1,056.44, but Mississippi finance and insurance wages moved in the opposite direction, falling 1.1% statewide to $1,019 — a divergence that signals finance talent is not capturing the broader wage gains flowing through the local labor market.
What it means
Metro-level earnings growth masks a finance-specific wage contraction, and advertised pay data confirms it: Controller postings in Jackson are down to a $109,155 median against a rising $115,420 national figure, and FP&A Manager pay has fallen significantly to $119,209 against a national median climbing toward $130,000. With CFO turnover nationally projected at 18.3% and 85% of CFOs reporting finance talent shortages, Jackson employers offering below-market or declining pay for finance leadership roles risk losing candidates to remote and out-of-market competition during a period when close-cycle retention is already fragile. Organizations should evaluate whether current Controller and FP&A Manager pay bands reflect a local discount that is no longer defensible given national-level wage pressure in those same functions.
Looking ahead
Emerging pressure point: Mississippi's $65B data center investment wave has already added 23,000 jobs and is fragmenting the local labor pool across sectors. Finance teams should watch whether this draws accounting and FP&A talent toward tech-adjacent employers offering higher starting pay.
Worth watching: Jackson financial activities employment fell 1.8% year-over-year even as leisure and hospitality grew 6.3%. A continued shift in sector mix could tighten the local candidate pool for finance roles faster than metro-wide unemployment figures suggest.
Potential inflection point: National CFO external hiring rate has climbed to 37.5% from 35% in 2025, a signal of accelerating senior finance churn. Jackson employers should monitor whether this trend reaches local Controller and FP&A Manager searches, particularly with local pay for those roles already trailing the national market.
Early indicator: Mississippi labor force participation sitting at 54.7%, the lowest since April 2024, suggests any uptick in finance hiring demand will meet a shrinking local supply. Watch whether open finance requisitions in the metro start taking longer to fill over the next two reporting cycles.
Sources
- Mississippi Today — Jackson MSA unemployment at 3% in September 2026
- Mississippi Department of Employment Security — Metro average weekly earnings rose 6.1% year-over-year to $1,056.44
- Crist|Kolder Associates — CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic
- MAVI — 85% of CFOs report finance talent shortages
- Mississippi Department of Employment Security — Mississippi finance and insurance average weekly wage fell 1.1% to $1,019
- Mississippi state economic development reporting — Mississippi data center investment of $65B creating 23,000 jobs
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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