Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Altoona, PA MSA — September 2026
Altoona holds steady at 3.7% unemployment while wages lag the nation.
Altoona's unemployment rate near 3.7%-3.9% signals a tight but flat labor market, with average weekly wages of $1,028 still well below the $1,394 national figure even as manufacturing and nursing pay post moderate local gains.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Altoona MSA unemployment rate: 3.7% — July 2026; vs 4.1% PA and 4.1% national
- Altoona nonfarm employment: 62,100 — Down 100 from June 2026
- Altoona avg weekly wage: $1,028 — Q3 2024; vs $1,394 national average
- PA WARN notices, trailing 90 days: 17 notices / 1,899 workers — Statewide, Sept 2026 data
Key takeaways
Flat job count masks a labor market holding steady, not growing.
Nonfarm employment dipped only 100 jobs from June to July while unemployment stayed near 3.7%-3.9%, consistent with a metro economy in equilibrium rather than expansion or contraction. Economic development planning should treat this as a baseline-stability story, not a growth story.
Healthcare remains the metro's structural anchor sector.
Education and health services represent the largest local employment category, mirroring the statewide pattern where health/education added 36,000 jobs since August 2025 while construction and government contracted. Registered Nurse advertised pay rose moderately to $96,899 locally, reinforcing healthcare's role as the metro's most resilient wage and employment driver.
Manufacturing wage gains outpace the metro's broader wage stagnation.
Manufacturing production worker pay rose moderately to $41,600 locally, above the $39,520 national median, even as manufacturing headcount held flat at 7,400 jobs. Divergence between rising pay and static headcount may suggest employers competing for a narrow pool of skilled production workers rather than broad-based sector growth.
Local wages trail the state and national wage-inflation gap already in motion.
Q3 2024 data put Altoona's average weekly wage at $1,028 against a national average of $1,394, a gap that predates the national wage deceleration to 3.0% annual growth against 3.4% inflation reported this month. Commerce leaders should treat any read on local consumer spending capacity as conservative given this compounding effect.
Median advertised pay by role — Altoona, PA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $23,147 | $28,954 | $33,157 | Moderate increase | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,880 | $27,040 | $28,080 | Moderate decline | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,200 | $35,379 | $37,440 | Stable | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,194 | $83,200 | $91,904 | Moderate increase | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $30,397 | $33,269 | $37,983 | Moderate decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $33,423 | $39,964 | $42,120 | Significant increase | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $59,280 | $67,540 | $73,299 | Moderate increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $32,240 | $41,600 | $43,680 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $29,120 | $33,763 | $36,924 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $26,061 | $32,335 | $37,500 | Moderate decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $33,760 | $43,025 | $50,960 | Stable | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $34,320 | $38,607 | $43,823 | Stable | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $60,996 | $70,720 | $75,970 | Significant decline | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $83,223 | $96,899 | $108,534 | Moderate increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer * | $111,718 | $148,564 | $162,683 | Moderate increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,171 | $131,431 | $149,994 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $60,408 | $68,694 | $85,883 | Significant increase | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $71,118 | $85,633 | $96,468 | Stable | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $60,308 | $66,835 | $68,112 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $49,487 | $62,371 | $70,265 | Stable | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $71,998 | $82,960 | $98,931 | Stable | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $34,320 | $49,166 | $56,597 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $45,348 | $59,623 | $60,725 | Moderate decline | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $52,917 | $74,000 | $81,500 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $80,206 | $96,244 | $107,000 | Stable | $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 | $43,680 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $71,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $33,280 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $58,621 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $61,250 | Moderate decline | Significant decline |
| Financial Activities | $48,162 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $45,349 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $59,280 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $29,514 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $66,660 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Altoona MSA unemployment held near 3.7%-3.9% through mid-2026, tight by historical standards, even as total nonfarm employment edged down to 62,100 in July and manufacturing payrolls stayed flat at 7,400 — a signal of a labor market that is stable but not expanding. Statewide forces are shaping the metro's trajectory: Pennsylvania's health and education sector hit record employment while construction, government, and trade/transportation shed nearly 14,000 jobs since August 2025, a divergence likely echoed in Altoona's own sector mix given its reliance on healthcare employers like UPMC Altoona.
What it means
Advertised wage data showing metro average weekly pay below national levels, paired with Pennsylvania's broader wage-vs-inflation squeeze, suggests local purchasing power is not keeping pace with national trends, which has direct implications for consumer spending projections used in commercial investment and development decisions. Commerce leaders evaluating expansion timing should weigh that labor supply looks stable rather than constrained — unemployment near historic lows but job growth flat — meaning the metro can likely support measured investment without the wage inflation pressures seen in faster-growing peer metros. Consider monitoring county-level employment releases alongside sector mix data before finalizing investment or development timelines tied to assumptions about local labor availability.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: September's national payroll report showed just 29,000 jobs added against a 45,000 monthly average, with July and August revised down a combined 60,000. Watch whether Pennsylvania's next monthly release shows similar downward revisions that would reframe the state's recent 'record employment' narrative.
Early indicator: Pennsylvania labor force dropouts jumped from roughly 8,000 to over 15,000 between early and late 2025, a participation signal worth tracking at the county level for Blair County in the next quarterly release.
Potential inflection point: Construction and government employment remain below year-ago levels statewide; any announced public infrastructure or facility investment in Blair County over the next two months would be a meaningful counter-signal worth flagging for regional development planning.
Expected: National health care hiring (+17,000 in September) continues to outperform white-collar sectors, a pattern likely to persist locally given UPMC Altoona's regional employment weight — a useful baseline for assessing whether local health sector momentum tracks or diverges from the national trend.
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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