Labor Market Pulse · Finance · August 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: St. Joseph, MO-KS MSA — August 2026
St. Joseph Controller pay falls as FP&A pay surges past national rates.
Metro Controller advertised pay dropped to $102,632 against a national $112,500 median, even as FP&A Manager pay climbed significantly to $130,029 — outpacing the national figure of $127,341 — while Buchanan County unemployment held near 3.2%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of August 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.70% — vs 4.1% national, May 2026 reading
- FP&A Manager pay vs national: $130,029 — Up significantly; exceeds $127,341 national
- Controller pay vs national: $102,632 — Down significantly; trails $112,500 national
- Buchanan County avg weekly wage: $1,238 — Highest among MO's smaller counties, Q4 2025
Key takeaways
FP&A Manager pay is outrunning the national market.
Metro advertised pay for FP&A Manager ($130,029) now sits above the national median ($127,341) and is rising significantly, while the national figure holds stable. This inversion suggests local employers are bidding up scarce forecasting and planning talent faster than national competition — a signal worth flagging before assuming national data applies locally.
Controller pay is softening even as the labor market tightens.
Metro Controller advertised pay ($102,632) is down significantly and now trails the national median ($112,500) by roughly $10,000, an unusual pattern given falling local unemployment. This may reflect a smaller pool of open Controller reqs locally rather than genuine cost relief — worth confirming against actual req volume before treating it as a durable trend.
Credit Analyst pay diverges sharply from national direction.
Metro Credit Analyst advertised pay ($62,577) is down significantly while the national figure is up moderately to $72,000, a roughly $9,400 gap. Finance leaders recruiting for credit or collections functions should expect local advertised ranges to undershoot national benchmarking tools, which may complicate remote or hybrid recruiting against national employers.
Manufacturing softness could loosen adjacent talent pools.
Missouri manufacturing shed 1,000 jobs in August even as mining, logging, and construction gained 2,200, a sectoral split that may release finance and operations-adjacent talent (plant controllers, cost accountants) into the local market. Worth monitoring whether this shows up as increased Controller or Senior Accountant candidate flow in Q4.
Median advertised pay by role — St. Joseph, MO-KS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $86,332 | $102,632 | $106,187 | Significant decline | $112,500 |
| Senior Accountant | $75,095 | $78,679 | $82,016 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $61,640 | $67,135 | $69,756 | Moderate increase | $82,905 |
| Billing Specialist | $36,014 | $47,952 | $59,155 | Moderate increase | $49,700 |
| Tax Specialist | $42,460 | $64,752 | $72,308 | Significant increase | $66,725 |
| Credit Analyst | $49,328 | $62,577 | $64,723 | Significant decline | $72,000 |
| FP&A Manager | $95,790 | $130,029 | $130,627 | 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
St. Joseph's metro unemployment sat at 3.70% in May, tighter than the national 4.1% rate, while Buchanan County's steady decline from 4.4% in January 2025 to 3.2% by December 2025 reflects a labor pool that has continued to shrink even as job postings climb, with roughly 7,949 openings advertised locally as of August 10. Manufacturing softness statewide (-1,000 jobs in August) sits alongside continued strength in healthcare and mining/logging/construction, meaning Finance leaders across sectors are competing for a fixed pool of workers rather than benefiting from broad slack in labor supply.
What it means
Buchanan County's $1,238 average weekly wage — highest among Missouri's smaller counties — combined with sub-4% unemployment signals this metro is not a low-cost labor market relative to peer counties, which should factor into any headcount cost modeling for FY2027 budget cycles. Divergent local pay signals — Controller compensation down significantly while FP&A Manager pay is up significantly — suggest Finance leadership roles are being repriced unevenly rather than uniformly, complicating flat-line assumptions in workforce planning models. Consider reviewing role-level advertised pay trends before finalizing Q4 headcount budgets, rather than applying a single blended wage inflation assumption across the finance function.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Manufacturing's monthly job losses statewide, paired with 15 Missouri WARN notices filed in manufacturing this year, could feed released cost accounting and plant-controller talent into the St. Joseph pool over the next two months.
Emerging pressure point: FP&A Manager advertised pay rising significantly locally while Controller pay falls suggests budget owners may need to defend inconsistent pay bands across finance leadership tiers during year-end compensation reviews.
Potential inflection point: July was Missouri's heaviest WARN month (797 workers affected), and any lagged reporting into September could reshape candidate supply for Buchanan County finance and accounting roles heading into Q4 close season.
Early indicator: National F&A hiring data shows 69% of hiring managers already offering above planned salary range; watch whether that pattern reaches St. Joseph employers competing for scarce Tax Specialist and Financial Analyst talent, both trending up moderately-to-significantly here.
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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