Labor Market Pulse · Finance · August 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Tyler, TX MSA — August 2026
Tyler Controller pay surges while FP&A pay quietly slips.
Metro Controller advertised pay climbed significantly to $104,040 even as FP&A Manager pay fell to $121,841, a split that signals uneven repricing beneath Tyler's 3.9% unemployment rate.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of August 2026.
Key indicators
- Tyler MSA unemployment: 3.9% — vs 4.4% Texas, 4.1% national
- Controller advertised pay (metro): $104,040 — up significantly; national flat at $112,500
- FP&A Manager advertised pay (metro): $121,841 — down moderately vs stable $127,341 national
- Texas private payroll growth (Aug): Flat — despite 5,600 total nonfarm jobs added statewide
Key takeaways
Controller pay is repricing locally while national rates sit still.
Metro Controller advertised pay rose significantly to a median of $104,040, narrowing the gap with the $112,500 national figure even as national Controller pay held flat. That convergence points to genuine local scarcity for close-cycle leadership rather than a broader market-wide adjustment.
FP&A Manager pay is falling here just as demand for the role rises nationally.
Metro FP&A Manager pay dropped moderately to $121,841 while national F&A leaders report paying premiums of up to 56% for AI-adjusted forecasting skills. A widening skills gap between what local postings offer and what forecasting-heavy roles now command elsewhere may make replacement hiring harder than current budgets assume.
Tax Specialist pay looks disconnected from national direction.
Metro Tax Specialist advertised pay fell significantly to $33,732, roughly half the $66,725 national median, which is itself climbing significantly. Consider evaluating whether this reflects a genuinely thinner local candidate pool being underpriced, or a role definition mismatch against national postings skewing toward specialized tax technology skills.
Tight metro unemployment is colliding with flat state payroll growth.
Tyler's 3.9% unemployment sits below both state and national rates, but Texas private payrolls were essentially flat in August despite record headline job counts. Headcount planning built on the assumption that Texas's growth story guarantees local hiring ease may not hold in a metro this close to full employment.
Median advertised pay by role — Tyler, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $65,957 | $104,040 | $115,000 | Significant increase | $112,500 |
| Senior Accountant | $75,000 | $82,620 | $82,621 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst * | $69,919 | $80,953 | $90,000 | Stable | $82,905 |
| Billing Specialist | $31,640 | $41,558 | $45,789 | Stable | $49,700 |
| Tax Specialist | $29,812 | $33,732 | $41,094 | Significant decline | $66,725 |
| Credit Analyst | $60,356 | $65,000 | $69,235 | Moderate increase | $72,000 |
| FP&A Manager * | $103,580 | $121,841 | $132,700 | Moderate decline | $127,341 |
* 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
Tyler MSA unemployment held near 3.9% in the latest reading, well below both the Texas rate of 4.4% and the national rate of 4.1%, reflecting a metro economy anchored by healthcare, education, and distribution employers adding roughly 100 jobs a month. That tightness is layering onto statewide finance-specific pressure — Texas private payrolls were flat in August even as headline job counts hit records, signaling that available finance and accounting talent locally is scarcer than the topline growth numbers suggest.
What it means
Controller pay in the Tyler metro moved up significantly this month against a national median that held stable, a divergence that likely reflects local competition for close-cycle and audit-readiness talent rather than a broad regional repricing. FP&A Manager advertised pay fell moderately even as national F&A hiring managers report offering above-range salaries 69% of the time, suggesting Tyler employers may be under-pricing a role tied directly to forecasting and headcount planning capability. Current conditions suggest reviewing whether Controller and FP&A compensation bands reflect this local divergence before the next budget cycle locks in assumptions built on stale benchmarks.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Watch whether Controller pay convergence with the national median continues into Q4 — a sustained trend would justify a formal band adjustment rather than a one-month anomaly.
Emerging pressure point: Dallas Fed contacts report tightening labor conditions tied partly to immigration policy effects on hiring; monitor whether this shows up in Tyler's finance and accounting candidate flow given the metro's reliance on regional commuting labor pools.
Early indicator: National F&A hiring data shows 82% of leaders now paying premiums for AI skills — track whether Tyler-area postings for FP&A and Controller roles begin reflecting AI/automation requirements, which would signal the local repricing gap is about to widen further.
Potential inflection point: Texas WARN filings are down 45% year-over-year statewide, but Transportation & Logistics and Manufacturing remain the most-affected sectors; a local filing tied to Tyler's distribution-center employers would be the first real test of talent absorption into finance-adjacent roles.
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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