Labor Market Pulse · Finance · October 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: San Angelo, TX MSA — October 2026
San Angelo Controller pay lags national rate by 44%.
San Angelo's Controller median sits at $65,000 against a $115,420 national figure even as the metro's 3.5% unemployment rate keeps local finance hiring tight.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- San Angelo unemployment rate: 3.5% — vs 4.4% Texas, 4.1% national (Sept. 2026)
- Controller pay gap: $65,000 metro — vs $115,420 national median
- CFO turnover rate: 18.3% — Highest since pandemic, per Crist|Kolder 2026
- San Angelo nonfarm employment: 54,100 — Series-high, +600 jobs (1.1%) year-over-year
Key takeaways
Controller pay gap looks less like a market and more like a risk.
Metro Controller advertised pay sits near $65,000, roughly 44% below the $115,420 national median, the widest spread in this month's dataset. Combined with a national CFO turnover rate projected at 18.3% for 2026, finance leadership pipelines in San Angelo may be more exposed to poaching than headline unemployment figures suggest.
Financial Analyst pay has quietly closed the gap with national rates.
Local Financial Analyst pay moved up to $93,875, within 1% of the $94,646 national median — an unusual convergence for a metro this size. Finance leaders benchmarking mid-level analytical roles should treat national data as the live comparison point.
Billing Specialist pay decline may reflect automation alongside steady demand.
Metro Billing Specialist pay fell to $34,568, well below the $49,000 national median and down significantly month-over-month. Given 70% of finance leaders nationally report expanding contract staffing and AI-adjacent postings have more than doubled since 2022, this looks consistent with employers restructuring lower-skill finance work.
San Angelo's tight labor market cuts against cost-conscious headcount plans.
A 3.5% unemployment rate and a series-high 54,100 jobs point to limited slack for backfilling finance roles locally. Controllers and FP&A leaders planning 2027 headcount should factor in longer time-to-fill for any role requiring specialized accounting or audit experience.
Median advertised pay by role — San Angelo, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $53,628 | $65,000 | $69,546 | Significant decline | $115,420 |
| Senior Accountant * | $76,930 | $87,731 | $92,500 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst * | $73,013 | $93,875 | $101,920 | Moderate increase | $94,646 |
| Billing Specialist | $34,299 | $34,568 | $36,273 | Significant decline | $49,000 |
| Tax Specialist * | $43,847 | $68,974 | $77,500 | Moderate increase | $69,556 |
| Credit Analyst * | $57,041 | $70,862 | $80,000 | Moderate increase | $71,397 |
| FP&A Manager * | $106,400 | $125,340 | $137,139 | Stable | $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
San Angelo's not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate held at 3.5% in September, among the lowest of any Texas metro, as total non-farm employment reached a series-high 54,100 on gains in healthcare, construction, and government. Tight local labor supply — against a statewide backdrop where the Dallas Fed has downgraded Texas job growth to under 1% for 2026 on immigration-driven labor constraints — is compounding recruitment friction for finance and accounting roles that already compete with national remote-work options.
What it means
Metro Controller pay sits at a $65,000 median against a $115,420 national figure, a gap wide enough that local finance leaders filling senior roles are likely losing candidates to remote or hybrid postings offered by employers outside San Angelo. At the same time, Financial Analyst pay has moved up to $93,875 locally, nearly matching the $94,646 national figure — signaling that mid-level finance talent now commands near-parity pricing even in a smaller metro. Consider reviewing Controller-level total rewards packages against national remote benchmarks before the next budget cycle, since a 44% pay gap creates real flight risk during close and audit season.
Looking ahead
Expected: Watch whether San Angelo's unemployment rate holds near 3.5% through year-end or drifts toward the statewide 4.4%, which would signal loosening local competition for finance talent heading into 2027 budget cycles.
Emerging pressure point: National CFO turnover at 18.3% and a 37.5% external-hire rate mean finance leadership vacancies are more likely to be filled from outside, often at national pay levels that exceed metro benchmarks — a cost planning variable worth modeling now.
Worth watching: Texas HB 149's AI governance penalties, up to $200,000 per violation, take direct aim at FP&A teams using AI in forecasting models; finance leaders should confirm audit trails exist before year-end model reviews.
Potential inflection point: Continued Controller-level pay compression locally, against rising national rates, may force a choice between raising advertised pay or accepting longer vacancies during Q1 close and audit season.
Sources
- Texas Workforce Commission — San Angelo unemployment rate at 3.5% in September, series-high employment of 54,100
- Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas — Dallas Fed downgraded Texas 2026 employment growth forecast below 1%
- Crist|Kolder Associates — CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, external hire rate 37.5%
- Robert Half — 70% of finance and accounting leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026
- Texas Legislature — Texas HB 149 AI governance penalties range $10,000-$200,000 per violation
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National unemployment rate 4.1%, Texas 4.4% in latest reporting
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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