Labor Market Pulse · Finance · August 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Lawrence, KS MSA — August 2026
Lawrence Finance pay splits: leadership climbs, tax talent falls behind.
Controller pay in Lawrence rose to $113,971 while Tax Specialist pay fell to $41,449 — a $25,000 gap versus the national Tax Specialist median of $66,725.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of August 2026.
Key indicators
- Controller advertised pay (metro): $113,971 — Up significantly vs $112,500 national, stable
- Tax Specialist advertised pay (metro): $41,449 — Down significantly vs $66,725 national, up significantly
- Kansas unemployment rate: 3.8% — Unchanged from July, up from 3.7% a year ago
- Kansas labor force participation: 66.6% — Declined in August, tightening available talent pool
Key takeaways
Controller pay is pulling away from the national median locally.
Lawrence Controller postings now sit above the national median ($113,971 vs $112,500) and are rising significantly, while national Controller pay holds stable. Local competition for senior finance leadership talent, likely linked to KU and regional employer demand, appears to be outrunning broader market movement.
Tax Specialist pay is diverging sharply from the national trend.
Metro advertised pay for Tax Specialist fell significantly to $41,449 even as national pay rose significantly to $66,725 — a widening gap of roughly $25,000. This may reflect a thinner or less competitive local requisition pool rather than reduced demand, and warrants a fresh look before assuming market-rate parity for compliance-cycle hiring.
FP&A and analyst roles show the clearest signs of local tightness.
Financial Analyst pay rose significantly to $76,719 locally and FP&A Manager pay rose moderately to $116,040, both trending opposite their stable national counterparts. Combined with national data showing 82% of F&A leaders paying AI-skill premiums, this suggests Lawrence employers are actively bidding up forecasting and analytics talent rather than simply following broader market inflation.
State wage growth is uneven enough to distort metro-level assumptions.
Q4 2025 county wage growth ranged from 3.8% in Sedgwick to 5.3% in Shawnee, both bracketing the 4.2% national average. Applying a single statewide escalation factor to Lawrence compensation planning risks over- or under-shooting actual local market movement.
Median advertised pay by role — Lawrence, KS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $104,145 | $113,971 | $115,000 | Significant increase | $112,500 |
| Senior Accountant | $68,674 | $82,608 | $82,785 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $70,000 | $76,719 | $76,719 | Significant increase | $82,905 |
| Billing Specialist * | $32,447 | $38,480 | $46,826 | Stable | $49,700 |
| Tax Specialist * | $31,075 | $41,449 | $56,390 | Significant decline | $66,725 |
| Credit Analyst * | $55,107 | $62,500 | $65,087 | Stable | $72,000 |
| FP&A Manager * | $91,433 | $116,040 | $121,500 | 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
Lawrence MSA labor conditions remain anchored by the University of Kansas and a services-heavy employment base, with nonfarm payrolls growing roughly 2.0% over the year to July 2025 even as statewide labor force participation softens to 66.6%. Kansas wage data shows uneven acceleration by county — Shawnee and Wyandotte outpacing the 4.2% national average while Johnson and Sedgwick trail — a divergence that appears consistent with Lawrence's mixed advertised pay signals this month, where Controller and FP&A Manager postings climbed but Tax Specialist pay fell sharply.
What it means
Divergent local pay trends — Controller up significantly, Tax Specialist down significantly — suggest Lawrence Finance functions are bidding aggressively for leadership and forecasting talent while tax compliance roles face softer local demand or a thinner requisition pipeline, a pattern that complicates flat-rate headcount cost assumptions in FY planning. With 74% of national F&A leaders planning permanent headcount increases and 90% reporting difficulty filling roles, Lawrence employers competing against Kansas City and Topeka pay scales may face longer time-to-fill on Financial Analyst and Controller searches even as advertised local pay outpaces national medians. Consider reviewing role-by-role advertised pay trends rather than applying a blanket cost-of-labor adjustment across the finance department this budget cycle.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Kansas labor force participation dropped to 66.6% in August while unemployment held at 3.8% — watch whether Lawrence's KU-driven labor pool tightens further heading into fall hiring cycles, which could extend time-to-fill for Financial Analyst and Controller roles.
Emerging pressure point: The widening gap between local and national Tax Specialist pay could either signal a genuine value opportunity or an early warning of an under-resourced local talent pipeline ahead of year-end tax planning and audit season staffing needs.
Potential inflection point: Kansas City Fed labor market momentum decelerated from 0.39 to 0.25 in August even as activity stayed above historical average — a pattern that historically precedes softening in requisition volume, worth tracking against Lawrence Finance department hiring plans for Q4.
Early indicator: National F&A hiring data shows 63% of leaders increasing contract talent use; watch whether Lawrence employers begin supplementing tight Controller and FP&A searches with interim or fractional talent rather than holding out for permanent hires.
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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