Labor Market Pulse · Finance · September 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX MSA — September 2026
Killeen finance pay slides as metro unemployment outpaces Texas.
Metro unemployment hit 5.4% in July against a 4.1% national rate, and Financial Analyst advertised pay fell to $80,146 locally even as the national median held near $94,782.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 5.4% — Up from 4.9% in June; vs 4.1% national
- Metro avg weekly wage: $1,288 — vs $1,654 national (Q1 2026)
- National finance sector job losses: -129,000 — Since May 2025, led by insurance carriers
- F&A Talent Shortage Index: 77% — Up from 108% surplus reading in 2025
Key takeaways
Killeen's finance pay gap with the nation is widening, not static.
Financial Analyst advertised pay fell significantly to $80,146 locally while the national median held stable near $94,782 — a 15% gap that reflects local labor softening rather than shared national headwinds. FP&A Manager pay moved in the same direction, down moderately to $122,125 against a stable national figure.
Credit Analyst pay is bucking the metro's downward drift.
Local Credit Analyst advertised pay rose significantly to $80,000, outpacing the national median of $71,758 — a signal of localized demand, possibly tied to consumer or installment lending activity around the Fort Hood population base. Worth isolating whether this reflects a genuine skills shortage or a smaller, thinner local posting sample.
Rising metro unemployment may be loosening finance hiring, not easing it.
Metro unemployment at 5.4% sits a full point above the national 4.1% rate, yet Tax Specialist and Financial Analyst pay are falling faster locally than nationally — consistent with Fort Hood transition flow adding supply faster than finance-specific demand absorbs it. That imbalance argues for sourcing strategies tuned to transitioning military talent rather than assuming broad-based easing applies evenly across finance roles.
National F&A shortage signals have not reached Killeen's advertised pay yet.
National Talent Shortage Index readings (77%, versus a 108% surplus in 2025) point toward tightening finance and accounting labor markets, but Killeen's Controller and Senior Accountant pay remain stable-to-down rather than showing comparable upward pressure. Consider whether this metro is lagging the national cycle or structurally insulated by its below-average wage base and military-adjacent labor supply.
Median advertised pay by role — Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $92,178 | $112,404 | $112,734 | Stable | $113,754 |
| Senior Accountant | $69,763 | $86,918 | $96,022 | Moderate decline | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $71,802 | $80,146 | $84,627 | Significant decline | $94,782 |
| Billing Specialist * | $37,997 | $47,256 | $54,692 | Moderate increase | $49,512 |
| Tax Specialist | $29,839 | $45,100 | $52,510 | Significant decline | $65,842 |
| Credit Analyst | $63,775 | $80,000 | $90,000 | Significant increase | $71,758 |
| FP&A Manager * | $104,393 | $122,125 | $132,700 | Moderate decline | $128,139 |
* 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
Killeen metro unemployment climbed to 5.4% in July, up from 4.9% in June, even as Texas statewide growth accelerates on data center and AI-related investment that largely bypasses this market. Fort Hood's steady discharge pipeline — up to 800 service members entering the civilian labor force monthly — continues to expand local labor supply against a metro average weekly wage of $1,288, nearly 22% below the national $1,654 figure.
What it means
National finance-sector headcount is contracting (financial activities down 129,000 positions since May 2025) even as F&A leaders nationally report aggressive 2026 hiring plans and a swing from talent surplus to a 77% shortage index — a contradiction that plays out locally as declining advertised pay for Financial Analyst (-significant) and Tax Specialist (-significant) roles despite national increases in both. Controllers and FP&A Managers in Killeen face a widening gap between what the metro pays and what national benchmarks command, raising retention exposure for finance leaders who promote from within rather than backfill externally. Consider reviewing whether Financial Analyst and Tax Specialist compensation has drifted so far below national medians that it now constrains the talent pool available for succession into Controller and FP&A Manager roles.
Looking ahead
Expected data release: BLS publishes September metro-level employment and unemployment figures for Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood on October 28. This will confirm whether the July uptick to 5.4% unemployment persisted or reversed, directly informing Q4 headcount cost assumptions.
Emerging pressure point: Texas WARN filings show Transportation & Logistics and Manufacturing absorbing most 2026 layoff activity statewide; watch whether any displaced finance or accounting talent from those sectors migrates toward Central Texas, given Killeen's lower cost base relative to Austin and Dallas.
Worth watching: National average hourly earnings growth decelerated to 3.0% year-over-year in September, below consensus — a signal that broader wage inflation pressure easing nationally may eventually filter into Texas finance role postings, tempering the upward pay pressure some roles like Credit Analyst are currently showing.
Potential inflection point: Dallas Fed's upward revision of 2026 Texas job growth to 2.0% is driven by data center and AI investment concentrated outside Killeen; monitor whether any of that capital spending extends into Bell County, which would be the clearest catalyst for reversing the metro's currently soft finance pay trend.
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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