Labor Market Pulse · Finance · October 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Morristown, TN MSA — October 2026
FP&A pay slides locally while Controller demand firms up.
Morristown FP&A Manager pay fell to $102,239 against a rising $130,000 national median, even as Controller pay climbed to $116,353 and Tennessee's financial activities sector shed 4,100 jobs statewide.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Hamblen County unemployment: 3.7% — vs 3.4% statewide, 4.1% national
- FP&A Manager pay gap: $102,239 vs $130,000 — Metro down significantly, national up moderate
- TN financial activities jobs: -4,100 — Statewide loss over past year
- National CFO turnover rate: 18.3% — Highest since pandemic, Crist|Kolder 2026
Key takeaways
FP&A pay is falling locally while rising nationally.
Metro FP&A Manager pay dropped significantly to $102,239 even as the national median climbed to $130,000, a $28,000 gap that did not exist at this scale a year ago. That divergence may signal local employers are deprioritizing planning and analysis investment relative to peer metros, a decision worth revisiting before the next budget cycle.
Controller demand is the one bright spot in local finance pay.
Controller advertised pay rose to $116,353, slightly ahead of the national median and moving in the opposite direction from FP&A and Credit Analyst roles. Consider whether this reflects real scarcity of close and audit-ready talent in a market where manufacturing accounting needs remain high, or a shift of responsibility onto fewer senior hires.
Tennessee's financial activities sector is shrinking against a tight labor market.
Statewide financial activities employment fell by 4,100 jobs over the past year even as overall unemployment held at 3.4%, meaning finance talent is being displaced into a labor market with little slack elsewhere. Released finance professionals may be harder to re-absorb locally than in Nashville or other metros with deeper financial-services employment bases.
Contract staffing shift adds audit-readiness risk during close cycles.
National data shows 70% of finance and accounting leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026, a trend consistent with soft FP&A Manager demand locally. Morristown's smaller finance talent pool may make contract-to-FTE transitions harder to manage cleanly through audit documentation requirements.
Median advertised pay by role — Morristown, TN MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller * | $94,417 | $116,353 | $126,408 | Moderate increase | $115,420 |
| Senior Accountant * | $72,888 | $82,332 | $85,906 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $100,600 | $107,909 | $111,155 | Stable | $94,646 |
| Billing Specialist * | $35,891 | $43,077 | $50,680 | Stable | $49,000 |
| Tax Specialist | $31,773 | $42,068 | $45,764 | Significant increase | $69,556 |
| Credit Analyst * | $52,826 | $60,770 | $65,537 | Moderate decline | $71,397 |
| FP&A Manager * | $83,283 | $102,239 | $125,210 | Significant decline | $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
Hamblen County unemployment held near 3.7% through mid-2026, consistent with a manufacturing base that still accounts for roughly a quarter of the county workforce even as statewide manufacturing employment slipped 1.7% over the past year. Tennessee's financial activities sector shed 4,100 jobs statewide this year, a contraction that is consistent with the soft local demand showing up in FP&A Manager and Credit Analyst advertised pay, both down this month while Controller pay continues to climb.
What it means
Divergence between rising Controller pay ($116,353 metro median) and falling FP&A Manager pay ($102,239, down significantly against a national figure of $130,000) suggests employers are consolidating strategic finance work into fewer, more senior roles, leaving planning and analysis layers thinner than before. That pattern, paired with a national CFO turnover rate projected at 18.3% for 2026, raises succession and bench-depth risk for finance organizations that have been thinning mid-level analytical headcount. Consider reviewing whether FP&A capacity has been cut faster locally than workload has, since a $28,000 metro-to-national pay gap in that role may reflect under-leveling instead of a true drop in demand.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether Controller pay growth continues into Q4 as a sign of lasting scarcity versus a one-quarter spike tied to a specific employer search. A sustained climb above the national median would justify revisiting compensation bands ahead of FY2027 planning.
Emerging pressure point: Tennessee's financial activities sector lost jobs statewide this year; track whether any of that displacement surfaces in Morristown-area postings or candidate flow, particularly from Knoxville-adjacent employers restructuring finance functions.
Potential inflection point: National CFO turnover at 18.3% and a 37.5% external hire rate raise succession exposure heading into year-end close. Finance leaders overseeing thin FP&A benches should map internal readiness before a departure forces an external search in a market already short on senior analytical talent.
Worth watching: No October WARN filings have surfaced yet for Hamblen County manufacturers, but statewide filings reached 49 notices affecting 6,603 workers through October 20. A single large local filing would materially shift available finance and accounting talent given the county's concentration in manufacturing support roles.
Sources
- Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development — Hamblen County unemployment rate near 3.7% in mid-2026
- Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development — Tennessee manufacturing employment fell 1.7% over past year
- Bureau of Labor Statistics / TDLWD — Tennessee financial activities sector lost 4,100 jobs over past year
- Crist|Kolder Associates — CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic
- Robert Half / AFP FP&A Forum — 70% of finance and accounting leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026
- Tennessee WARN Act Notices — 49 WARN notices affected 6,603 Tennessee workers through October 20, 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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