Labor Market Pulse · Finance · August 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Memphis, TN-AR-MS MSA — August 2026
Memphis finance pay splits: FP&A climbs, transactional roles retreat.
Memphis FP&A Manager advertised pay hit $130,008 even as Tax Specialist pay fell to $45,122 — 32% below the national median — against a backdrop of Shelby County's 2.2% year-over-year employment decline.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of August 2026.
Key indicators
- Shelby County employment change: -2.2% — YoY through Dec 2025, largest decline among TN's big counties
- Memphis metro job growth pace: ~153/month — 5-year average net new jobs, signals stagnation
- TN financial activities employment: -700 jobs — August 2026 statewide decline
- Tennessee unemployment rate: 3.4% — vs 4.1% national rate, August 2026
Key takeaways
FP&A talent is getting expensive while transactional roles get cheaper.
Memphis FP&A Manager advertised pay rose to $130,008, above the national median, while Senior Accountant, Tax Specialist and Billing Specialist pay all declined locally. Budget models built on uniform finance-department pay inflation will misallocate dollars this cycle.
Shelby County's shrinking employment base is a recruiting headwind, not just a headline stat.
A 2.2% year-over-year employment decline in the metro's core county, paired with statewide financial activities losing 700 jobs in August, points to a tightening supply of experienced local finance candidates. Roles requiring in-market audit or close experience may take longer to fill regardless of posted pay.
Tax Specialist pay is falling locally against a rising national tide.
Memphis Tax Specialist advertised pay dropped moderately to $45,122, roughly 32% below the $66,725 national median — an unusually wide gap. Controllers relying on national compensation data to justify local offers risk overpaying against actual market clearing rates, or underpaying if talent becomes mobile.
Contract staffing may be absorbing the transactional-role pay softness.
National data shows 63% of F&A leaders increasing contract engagement even as 74% plan permanent headcount growth — a pattern consistent with Memphis's declining Billing Specialist and Senior Accountant advertised pay. Falling permanent pay in commodity finance roles may reflect employers shifting that work to contingent labor rather than genuine demand softness.
Median advertised pay by role — Memphis, TN-AR-MS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $100,340 | $116,352 | $122,139 | Stable | $112,500 |
| Senior Accountant | $72,927 | $79,922 | $82,500 | Moderate decline | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $63,434 | $73,412 | $82,569 | Stable | $82,905 |
| Billing Specialist | $34,031 | $39,256 | $45,760 | Significant decline | $49,700 |
| Tax Specialist | $31,701 | $45,122 | $53,040 | Moderate decline | $66,725 |
| Credit Analyst | $52,826 | $57,446 | $62,833 | Stable | $72,000 |
| FP&A Manager | $98,102 | $130,008 | $155,640 | Significant increase | $127,341 |
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
Shelby County's employment base contracted 2.2% year-over-year through December 2025, the sharpest decline among Tennessee's large counties, while Memphis metro job creation averaged just 153 net new positions per month over five years — a structural stagnation, not a one-month blip. Financial activities and professional/business services losses at the state level compound local pressure, as Memphis's finance talent pool draws from a shrinking regional base even as national F&A hiring intent remains aggressive.
What it means
Memphis Finance leaders face a bifurcated market: local advertised pay for mid-tier roles like Senior Accountant, Billing Specialist and Tax Specialist is falling or flat while FP&A Manager pay climbs sharply — signaling employers are concentrating scarce compensation dollars on strategic finance capacity rather than transactional roles. Shelby County's employment contraction and Tennessee's statewide financial activities job losses mean close-cycle and audit-support staffing may face longer fill times even as budgeted pay for those roles softens, a mismatch that can stretch close timelines. Consider reviewing whether transactional-role vacancies are being backfilled through contract talent rather than permanent hires, given national trends toward 63% of F&A leaders expanding contractor use.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Tennessee's financial activities sector lost 700 jobs statewide in August alongside a 2,100-job decline in professional and business services. Watch whether Memphis-specific WARN filings or Business Journal reporting confirm this reaches local finance departments over the next reporting cycle.
Emerging pressure point: Shelby County's labor force contraction, if it continues into Q1 2026 data releases, could tighten competition for controller and FP&A talent even as transactional-role pay softens. Track whether Williamson County-style wage gains (+7.0% year-over-year) spread to Shelby as employers compete for a shrinking pool.
Early indicator: National AI-skills premiums of up to 56% for finance roles have not yet shown up distinctly in Memphis advertised pay data. Watch for FP&A Manager and Controller postings beginning to specify AI or automation skills as a premium driver locally, which would signal the national trend reaching this metro.
Potential inflection point: Tennessee's labor force participation rate, now 38th nationally and down 1.4 points year-over-year, suggests the applicant pool for finance roles will keep shrinking. Organizations planning FY2027 headcount should model longer fill times into close and audit-readiness staffing plans.
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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