Labor Market Pulse · Finance · September 2026
Finance Labor Market Report: Waco, TX MSA — September 2026
Waco Finance pay splits: analysts surge, managers retreat.
Financial Analyst advertised pay jumped to $81,358 in Waco even as FP&A Manager pay slipped to $122,125, diverging from a metro where overall weekly wages fell $49 quarter-over-quarter.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Waco unemployment rate: 4.2% — vs 4.1% national, 4.4% Texas
- Waco avg weekly wage: $1,213 — down $49 QoQ, Q1 2026
- Financial Analyst advertised pay: $81,358 — up significantly, metro vs $94,782 national
- Manufacturing employment change: -5.8% YoY — Waco, sharper than state trend
Key takeaways
Financial Analyst pay is running hot while the sector cools nationally.
Metro advertised pay for Financial Analyst roles rose significantly to $81,358, nearly closing the gap with the $94,782 national median even as national Finance payrolls contracted. This divergence suggests Waco employers are competing hard for analytical talent despite broader sector softness, a signal worth isolating from aggregate Finance hiring data.
FP&A Manager pay softened locally against a stable national trend.
Metro FP&A Manager advertised pay fell moderately to $122,125 while the national figure held flat near $128,139, narrowing what had been a wider gap. Falling local demand for senior FP&A talent may reflect automation and process consolidation trends cited nationally, where F&A functions are scaling without proportional headcount growth.
Tax Specialist and Billing Specialist pay declines look like local anomalies, not market signals.
Both roles fell significantly in Waco (Tax Specialist down to $44,117, Billing Specialist down to $34,000) while rising at the national level, a gap wide enough to suggest thin local posting volume or employer-specific postings rather than a genuine metro wage trend. Treat these figures cautiously until confirmed against a broader sample before adjusting entry-level compensation ranges.
Manufacturing's local contraction may be freeing finance support talent.
Manufacturing employment fell 8.1% quarter-over-quarter and 5.8% year-over-year in Waco, a sharper drop than the state's broader 4.8% wage growth trend would suggest. Controllers and cost accountants tied to manufacturing operations may be entering the local candidate pool, a potential sourcing opportunity for Finance leaders in other sectors.
Median advertised pay by role — Waco, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | $41,600 | $93,763 | $110,688 | Moderate increase | $113,754 |
| Senior Accountant | $70,711 | $76,122 | $79,492 | Stable | $87,731 |
| Financial Analyst | $67,138 | $81,358 | $85,091 | Significant increase | $94,782 |
| Billing Specialist | $29,782 | $34,000 | $37,418 | Significant decline | $49,512 |
| Tax Specialist | $39,660 | $44,117 | $63,025 | Significant decline | $65,842 |
| Credit Analyst * | $57,384 | $70,684 | $80,000 | Moderate increase | $71,758 |
| FP&A Manager * | $104,393 | $122,125 | $132,700 | Moderate decline | $128,139 |
* 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
Waco's 4.2% unemployment rate and nearly flat 0.8% annual job growth through August reflect a metro economy in holding pattern, with manufacturing contracting 5.8% year-over-year even as Education and Health Services anchors 27% of total employment.Average weekly wages fell $49 quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026 to $1,213, a sharper local pullback than anything visible in state or national wage data, suggesting Waco employers are pulling back on compensation momentum faster than Texas as a whole, where private hourly earnings rose 3.9% year-over-year.
What it means
National Finance sector job losses (-129,000 since May 2025, concentrated in insurance) are not translating into local relief for every role — Financial Analyst advertised pay rose significantly in Waco even as Controller and FP&A Manager roles cooled, pointing to uneven, role-specific demand rather than a uniform sector contraction. That divergence complicates headcount cost planning: a blanket assumption of softening Finance labor costs would miss real upward pressure in analytical roles tied to FP&A and data-driven decision support. Consider reviewing role-level advertised pay trends rather than sector averages when building FY2027 compensation budgets, particularly for analyst-level positions showing localized tightness.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Waco's average weekly wage dropped $49 quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026 despite a modest year-over-year gain. Watch whether Q2 2026 data (expected in coming weeks from Workforce Solutions for the Heart of Texas) shows this as a one-quarter dip or the start of a trend relevant to merit budget planning.
Emerging pressure point: National Finance and accounting leaders report 74% plan to increase permanent headcount alongside a 2026 Talent Shortage Index of 77%, reversing 2025's talent surplus. If this national tightening reaches Waco's smaller Finance labor pool, expect faster advertised pay movement in Controller and Senior Accountant postings over Q4.
Potential inflection point: Texas's 2026 job growth forecast was revised upward to 2.0% from 1.1%, driven partly by data center and AI-related activity concentrated in larger metros. Whether that momentum extends to Waco or stays concentrated in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin will shape regional competition for Finance talent.
Expected: National average hourly earnings growth decelerated to 3.0% year-over-year in September, below consensus expectations. A continued national slowdown would ease salary budget pressure heading into 2027 planning cycles, though Waco's own wage pattern has moved independently of national trends this cycle.
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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