Labor Market Pulse · Finance · October 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Lawrence, KS MSA — October 2026
Lawrence finance pay converges with national rates despite wage gap.
Metro FP&A Manager pay hit $117,124 and Controller pay $115,000 — nearly matching national medians — even as Kansas finance wages overall trail the U.S. by 32.7%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Douglas County unemployment: 4.2% — Up from 3.6% in May 2026
- Kansas finance sector wage gap: 32.7% below national — $83,306 KS vs $123,705 U.S. average
- Tax Specialist pay divergence: -$25,575 metro vs national — $43,981 metro vs $69,556 national
- CFO turnover rate, national: 18.3% — Highest since pandemic, per Crist|Kolder
Key takeaways
FP&A and Controller pay is closing the gap with national rates.
Metro FP&A Manager pay ($117,124) and Controller pay ($115,000) are now within single digits of national medians, even though Kansas finance wages overall trail the U.S. average by nearly a third. Budget for these roles against national scarcity pricing rather than the statewide average.
Tax Specialist pay is diverging sharply from the national trend.
Metro Tax Specialist advertised pay fell significantly to $43,981 while the national figure rose to $69,556 — a widening gap of nearly $26,000. That divergence raises flight risk for tax talent with remote-work options and complicates seasonal and close-cycle staffing.
County wage policy signals where private employers may need to follow.
Douglas County held its market pay pool at 3.4% specifically to address retention, an explicit acknowledgment that public-sector pay was losing ground. Private finance employers competing for the same local labor pool should treat this as a floor when setting 2027 merit budgets.
Unemployment drift in Douglas County warrants a second look before year-end planning.
County unemployment moved from 3.6% to 4.2% between May and July, a notable swing for a metro this size with no corresponding WARN activity. Absent a clear layoff driver, this pattern aligns with labor force churn around KU's academic calendar.
Median advertised pay by role — Lawrence, KS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $107,500 | $115,000 | $115,658 | Moderate increase | $115,420 |
| Senior Accountant | $68,674 | $82,608 | $85,666 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $71,000 | $81,262 | $89,894 | Moderate increase | $94,646 |
| Billing Specialist * | $34,506 | $38,480 | $43,666 | Stable | $49,000 |
| Tax Specialist | $32,995 | $43,981 | $68,000 | Significant decline | $69,556 |
| Credit Analyst * | $55,046 | $58,706 | $62,500 | Moderate decline | $71,397 |
| FP&A Manager * | $96,904 | $117,124 | $129,880 | Moderate increase | $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
Douglas County unemployment ticked up to 4.2% in July 2026 from 3.6% in May, a shift that appears to reflect labor force dynamics around the University of Kansas, with no Kansas WARN notices reported for the metro this month. Wage pressure is building through a tight regional labor market: Douglas County's 3.4% market pay pool for county staff and statewide finance-sector job-finding rates climbing to 26.4% both point to employers competing harder for the same pool of finance and accounting talent.
What it means
Kansas finance-sector pay averages $83,306 against a $123,705 national figure — a 32.7% gap that widens retention exposure as remote and hybrid roles let Lawrence-based talent benchmark against Kansas City, Topeka, or national employers. Metro advertised pay for FP&A Manager ($117,124) and Controller ($115,000) now sits close to or above national medians, suggesting local employers are already bidding up scarce senior finance talent even as broader Kansas wages lag. Consider reviewing retention risk for mid-to-senior finance roles where metro advertised pay has converged with national levels, since that convergence signals the local talent pool is being priced at national scarcity rates despite a lower regional cost base.
Looking ahead
Data release ahead: KDOL publishes October Kansas labor data on November 20, and BLS metro-level figures for Lawrence won't arrive until December 2. Finance leaders finalizing 2027 headcount budgets this month are working with July-vintage county data as their most current local read.
Emerging pressure point: Kansas finance-sector wages trail the national average by 32.7%, a gap that could accelerate attrition if remote work normalizes further. Watch whether open finance roles see rising candidate pull-through from outside the metro, a sign local comp is being tested against national offers.
Worth watching: National CFO turnover is projected at 18.3% for 2026, the highest since the pandemic, with external hiring now at 37.5% of CFO placements. A single senior finance departure in a metro this size carries outsized budget and continuity risk heading into close and audit cycles.
Potential inflection point: Douglas County's unemployment uptick to 4.2% in July could reverse, hold, or extend once fall KU enrollment effects clear. A sustained move above 4% would mark a departure from the metro's historically tight labor market and could ease some hiring pressure on finance support roles.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics / Kansas Dept. of Labor (LAUS) — Douglas County unemployment at 4.2% in July 2026, up from 3.6% in May
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW — Kansas finance sector wages average $83,306 vs. $123,705 national average
- Douglas County Commission — Douglas County maintained a 3.4% market pay pool for county employees
- Crist|Kolder Associates — CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, external hiring rate 37.5%
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — BLS metro-level October 2026 data scheduled for December 2, 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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