Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Ames, IA MSA — September 2026
Ames holds near-full employment while logistics and clerical pay soften.
Ames metro unemployment remains near 2.5%–2.8% against a 4.2% national rate, even as warehouse/fulfillment pay falls significantly and administrative assistant pay drops to a $38,480 local median.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Ames MSA unemployment rate: 2.5%–2.8% — vs 4.2% national, 3.2% Iowa statewide
- Government sector size, Ames: 13,660 jobs — Largest supersector, driven by Iowa State University
- Iowa trade/transportation job loss: -5,200 jobs (YoY) — Transportation alone down 3,300 statewide
- National payroll growth, September: 29,000 jobs added — Well below 45,000 12-month average pace
Key takeaways
Ames unemployment looks strong, but the mix underneath is uneven.
A 2.5%–2.8% local jobless rate remains well below the 4.2% national figure, yet advertised pay for warehouse/fulfillment, customer service and administrative roles is down moderately to significantly locally while registered nurses and electricians post solid gains. Local economic strength appears concentrated in healthcare, education and skilled trades rather than broad-based.
Public institutions remain the metro's shock absorber.
Government is Ames' largest supersector at roughly 13,660 positions, driven by Iowa State University, at a time national government payrolls have shed 216,000 jobs over the past year. That structural weighting toward public and university employment helps explain why Ames continues to outperform both state and national unemployment readings.
Statewide retail and logistics softness is visible in local pay data.
Iowa shed 5,200 trade and transportation jobs over the year, and Ames mirrors this with warehouse/fulfillment pay down significantly and delivery driver pay down moderately against stable national figures. Commerce leaders tracking retail and distribution activity should treat these as leading indicators of softening consumer-facing demand rather than isolated local anomalies.
Healthcare wage strength is a statewide, not just local, pattern.
Registered nurse pay in Ames rose significantly to a $115,188 median, consistent with Iowa's healthcare and social assistance sector adding 5,700 jobs annually, the strongest sector in the state. Sustained healthcare wage growth against a backdrop of flat overall state job creation suggests this sector will keep absorbing a disproportionate share of local economic momentum.
Median advertised pay by role — Ames, IA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $25,257 | $29,354 | $34,124 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $26,506 | $30,160 | $31,028 | Moderate increase | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $30,496 | $34,149 | $35,714 | Significant decline | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,414 | $80,304 | $92,160 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $27,551 | $31,899 | $37,916 | Moderate decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $33,166 | $41,600 | $45,000 | Stable | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $58,518 | $70,093 | $74,693 | Moderate increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $31,126 | $36,517 | $40,560 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $29,874 | $35,618 | $38,119 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $27,664 | $29,433 | $30,150 | Moderate decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $34,703 | $41,910 | $44,531 | Moderate increase | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $30,687 | $38,480 | $41,141 | Significant decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $59,429 | $63,500 | $63,500 | Moderate decline | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $87,544 | $115,188 | $122,920 | Significant increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $108,379 | $121,453 | $142,095 | Significant increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer | $118,326 | $134,830 | $139,486 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $54,062 | $60,660 | $69,693 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $72,074 | $86,378 | $89,750 | Significant increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $56,631 | $75,000 | $75,000 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist | $44,708 | $57,164 | $70,824 | Significant increase | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $64,060 | $94,296 | $101,538 | Moderate increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $32,240 | $48,594 | $54,456 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $66,874 | $96,133 | $110,680 | Significant increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $52,500 | $60,000 | $60,000 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $77,184 | $95,278 | $97,214 | Significant 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 | $60,440 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $78,600 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $46,580 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $66,585 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $111,120 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $62,500 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $62,400 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $55,794 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $33,280 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $64,469 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Ames metro unemployment held near 2.5%–2.8% through the latest readings, roughly half the national 4.2% rate, with Iowa State University and Mary Greeley Medical Center anchoring a government and health-care-heavy employment base that insulates the metro from the national slowdown in payroll growth. Statewide, manufacturing drove most of Iowa's modest August job gains while trade, transportation and professional services contracted, a divergence that appears to be reaching Ames through soft advertised pay in warehouse, customer service and administrative roles even as nursing and skilled trades post gains.
What it means
Tight local unemployment alongside flat-to-declining advertised pay in logistics, clerical and manufacturing-adjacent roles points to a metro where labor is scarce but demand for lower-wage positions has softened — a signal that consumer-facing and back-office activity may be cooling faster than the headline jobless rate suggests. Public-sector stability tied to Iowa State and healthcare systems continues to anchor the local economy even as national government payrolls shrink, making Ames more insulated than most peer metros from federal workforce volatility. Commerce leaders evaluating expansion timing should consider weighing sector-specific signals — healthcare and skilled trades strength versus logistics and clerical softness — rather than reading the low headline rate alone as a uniform green light.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Iowa Workforce Development has not yet posted September-specific Ames MSA unemployment and payroll figures; confirm whether the metro's outperformance versus the 3.2% state rate holds once new data posts in October.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide professional and business services shed 1,000 jobs in a single month and administrative/clerical advertised pay in Ames is down significantly; watch whether this spreads into broader office-based employment locally.
Early indicator: Iowa's labor force participation rate climbed to third-highest nationally even as total working Iowans declined on retirement outflows; watch whether Ames, with its university-driven younger population, diverges from this aging-workforce pattern seen statewide.
Potential inflection point: National WARN notices remain elevated at major employers (Amazon, Meta, Tyson) while Iowa's own WARN-affected worker count fell 58% year over year; a continued gap between national layoff headlines and Iowa's low-layoff reality would reinforce the metro's relative insulation story.
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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