Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Akron, OH MSA — September 2026
Akron's falling jobless rate hides a shrinking workforce, not growth.
Akron's unemployment rate sits at 3.6%, its lowest in months, even as the metro has averaged a loss of 92 jobs per month in 2026 against a five-year trend of positive 317 monthly gains.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Akron MSA unemployment rate: 3.6% — July 2026, down from 4.1% in March
- Akron average monthly job change: -92 jobs — 2026 YTD vs. +317/month five-year average
- Ohio labor force change: -95,000 — Year over year through August 2026
- National wage growth vs. inflation: 3.0% vs 3.4% — Wage growth trails CPI for first time since 2021
Key takeaways
Akron's 3.6% jobless rate is masking a shrinking labor force, not economic strength.
Monthly job counts have averaged a loss of 92 positions in 2026 against a five-year trend of +317 monthly gains, while the unemployment rate has fallen each of the last several months. Low joblessness and job losses moving together is consistent with discouraged workers or retirees exiting the labor force rather than genuine hiring momentum.
Healthcare and skilled trades are pulling away from consumer-facing service pay.
Registered Nurse pay rose significantly to a metro median of $104,662 and Electrician pay rose moderately to $73,861, while CNA/Home Health Aide pay fell significantly to $35,360 and Food Service Worker pay fell significantly to $29,112. Divergence this sharp across the basket may suggest localized demand pressure concentrated in healthcare and construction/trades, not a broad-based upturn in business activity.
Charter Communications' 259-job closure adds to a thin but real local WARN count.
Ohio logged 18 WARN notices affecting 3,134 workers over the trailing 90 days, concentrated in manufacturing, transportation and retail, with Akron's Charter closure part of that pattern. Numbers remain modest relative to the metro's size, but manufacturing's historic weight in Akron's economy makes this worth tracking for spillover into adjacent supplier or logistics activity.
Software Engineer pay strength is an outlier, not a metro-wide signal.
Metro Software Engineer pay rose significantly to $143,872, outperforming several national comparators, but this sits alongside broad softness in office and administrative roles (Administrative Assistant pay flat, HR Generalist pay down significantly). Isolated high-wage-sector strength is not yet evidence of a diversifying commercial base beyond a narrow set of employers.
Median advertised pay by role — Akron, OH MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $24,228 | $28,675 | $33,248 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $24,355 | $29,120 | $31,200 | Moderate decline | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $32,775 | $38,480 | $41,600 | Stable | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,201 | $82,500 | $95,423 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $31,372 | $37,710 | $47,136 | Moderate increase | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $33,227 | $37,440 | $41,153 | Moderate decline | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $66,511 | $73,861 | $83,000 | Moderate increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $33,280 | $39,520 | $42,020 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $31,200 | $37,440 | $41,600 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $27,831 | $29,112 | $31,200 | Significant decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $35,360 | $35,360 | $37,440 | Significant decline | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $33,248 | $39,557 | $43,857 | Stable | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $57,034 | $68,640 | $73,346 | Stable | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $85,709 | $104,662 | $114,653 | Significant increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $110,325 | $143,872 | $154,307 | Significant increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer | $91,893 | $123,222 | $145,431 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $57,911 | $68,752 | $75,000 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $69,625 | $83,500 | $90,114 | Moderate increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $39,818 | $57,877 | $61,113 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist | $48,880 | $59,485 | $65,000 | Significant increase | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,929 | $82,546 | $92,484 | Stable | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $30,836 | $39,520 | $46,729 | Moderate increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $55,000 | $74,819 | $90,000 | Stable | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $52,327 | $67,000 | $67,500 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $74,786 | $85,763 | $91,251 | Moderate increase | $98,279 |
* 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
Industry snapshot
| Sector | Median advertised pay | Pay trend | Postings trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | $58,240 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $60,130 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $36,856 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $63,430 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $58,000 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $66,678 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $49,920 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $41,819 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $32,240 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $66,793 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Akron's unemployment rate held near a cycle low of 3.6% in July, yet the metro has shed an average of 92 jobs monthly through 2026, a reversal from its five-year trend of +317 jobs per month, indicating the low jobless rate reflects labor force exits as much as hiring strength. Ohio's parallel pattern—95,000 fewer residents in the labor force statewide than a year ago alongside falling unemployment—suggests Akron's tight-looking labor market is consistent with workforce contraction rather than robust business expansion.
What it means
Falling unemployment paired with negative job growth signals a local economy where labor scarcity may be easing even as underlying demand softens, a combination that complicates simple reads on whether this is a good moment for capital investment or facility expansion. Named wage divergence—Registered Nurse pay up significantly to $104,662 and Electrician pay up moderately to $73,861, against declines in Food Service Worker and CNA/Home Health Aide pay—points to a metro economy bifurcating between skilled-trade and healthcare demand and softening consumer-facing service demand. Commerce leaders and economic development officials should consider weighing site-selection and expansion conversations against this bifurcation rather than Akron's aggregate unemployment figure alone.
Looking ahead
Potential inflection point: Watch whether Ohio's statewide labor force contraction (95,000 fewer participants year over year) shows up in Summit County's participation data over the next two monthly releases. A continued pattern would reinforce that Akron's low unemployment reflects exits, not expansion, directly relevant to workforce-availability assumptions in local site-selection pitches.
Emerging pressure point: Manufacturing accounts for the largest share of Ohio's WARN activity (23 of recent notices), and Akron's legacy manufacturing base, anchored by employers like Goodyear, makes the metro exposed to further notices. Track whether any new filings surface locally in October, distinct from the Charter Communications closure already on record.
Worth watching: National wage growth (3.0% annually) has fallen behind inflation (3.4%) for the first time in two years, per BLS data through September. If that gap persists, expect softer discretionary consumer spending locally, a relevant input for retail and hospitality-dependent commercial districts in the Akron core.
Expected: Ohio's October jobs report will show whether the state's sub-national job growth (2,100 added in August vs. 127,000 nationally in private-sector terms) is stabilizing or deepening. Akron's monthly figure typically tracks closely with the statewide trend and will be the clearest near-term read on local momentum.
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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