Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Anniston-Oxford, AL MSA — October 2026
Anniston's jobless rate improves as manufacturing pay outruns the trades.
Anniston-Oxford unemployment fell to 4.0% in August even as Alabama's statewide rate climbed to 3.5%, with manufacturing pay rising sharply locally while electrician pay dropped significantly against a national gain.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.0% — Down from 4.2% in July; state rose to 3.5%
- Metro avg. hourly earnings: $26.39 — vs. $33.54 national average (May 2025 base)
- Alabama unemployment rate: 3.5% — Up from 2.8% a year ago; 10-year high
- Manufacturing production worker pay: Up, significant — Local trend vs. stable national trend
Key takeaways
Metro unemployment improved while the state's worsened.
Anniston-Oxford's rate fell to 4.0% in August from 4.2% in July, diverging from Alabama's statewide climb to 3.5% in September from 2.8% a year earlier. That divergence is consistent with localized stabilization in manufacturing, and warrants tracking before being read as a durable local trend.
Manufacturing pay strength looks like the metro's clearest bright spot.
Production worker/assembler advertised pay rose sharply this month, consistent with the metro's long-standing concentration in production occupations (13.4% of local employment). Statewide manufacturing wages also hit records in July ($1,389.75 average weekly), reinforcing that goods production remains the metro's most dependable wage engine.
Skilled trades pay is softening even as national trades pay climbs.
Electrician advertised pay fell significantly locally while rising nationally, and construction laborer pay declined locally against a national increase. That gap may suggest softer local construction-related demand even as the national trades market tightens, a divergence worth watching for infrastructure and site-development planning.
Wage-to-inflation math remains unfavorable across the basket.
Nationally, median weekly earnings rose 1.5% against 3.5% CPI growth in Q3, and Alabama's broader wage gains have not closed the metro's roughly 27% wage gap to the national average. For a metro already paying below-national wages, continued real-wage erosion carries more weight for local consumer spending power than it would in a higher-wage market.
Median advertised pay by role — Anniston-Oxford, AL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $20,259 | $25,812 | $28,670 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,880 | $24,100 | $24,857 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $28,508 | $35,313 | $39,520 | Moderate increase | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $58,218 | $76,250 | $84,890 | Moderate increase | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $29,507 | $35,100 | $38,025 | Moderate decline | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $29,120 | $29,120 | $36,434 | Moderate decline | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $49,968 | $58,802 | $65,798 | Significant decline | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $29,949 | $33,273 | $33,379 | Significant increase | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $30,670 | $35,111 | $36,889 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $26,696 | $35,273 | $37,117 | Significant increase | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $27,629 | $33,731 | $36,400 | Moderate decline | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $17,160 | $17,160 | $29,873 | Significant decline | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician * | $53,567 | $65,414 | $70,798 | Moderate increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $81,120 | $92,801 | $97,192 | Stable | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer * | $104,079 | $148,031 | $160,000 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,179 | $136,840 | $155,677 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $52,114 | $71,583 | $77,943 | Stable | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst * | $71,592 | $90,151 | $101,623 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $65,193 | $81,819 | $94,949 | Stable | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $43,355 | $56,056 | $69,005 | Moderate decline | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $55,900 | $70,072 | $75,737 | Significant decline | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $27,684 | $54,404 | $61,076 | Moderate increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $50,000 | $84,310 | $85,822 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $43,698 | $57,387 | $77,854 | Moderate decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $80,265 | $97,933 | $108,351 | Moderate increase | $98,302 |
* 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 | $46,891 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $53,539 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $36,946 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $62,400 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $59,400 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $49,059 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $83,425 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $73,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $29,506 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Government | $64,168 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Anniston-Oxford's unemployment rate improved to 4.0% in August from 4.2% in July, moving against the statewide trend of rising unemployment (3.5% in September, up from 2.8% a year earlier), even as the metro's civilian labor force held nearly flat near 49,000 through summer. Production and manufacturing roles remain disproportionately large in the local employment base, and advertised pay for manufacturing production workers rose sharply this month even as several other blue-collar categories, including construction labor and electricians, posted notable local declines.
What it means
Manufacturing's wage strength alongside softness in construction and skilled trades pay points to uneven momentum across the metro's goods-producing base, a distinction that matters for anyone assessing whether to expand local footprint or diversify into services. Alabama's record construction and manufacturing wages statewide have not fully reached Anniston, where average hourly earnings ($26.39) still trail the national figure by roughly $7, suggesting the metro's cost advantage for site location remains intact even as skilled-trades pay softens. Local economic development leaders should consider evaluating which sectors are driving the metro's unemployment improvement before attributing it broadly to demand strength.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Whether Anniston-Oxford's August unemployment improvement persists into Q4 data, or converges with the statewide uptick, will clarify whether the metro's labor market is diverging in a lasting way from Alabama's broader softening.
Emerging pressure point: Skilled trades pay (electricians, construction labor) is moving in the opposite direction locally versus nationally. Continued divergence could signal softening in local construction-linked investment even as manufacturing holds firm.
Early indicator: Manufacturing production worker pay gains, if sustained into November data, would reinforce the metro's goods-producing base as the primary driver of any broader economic momentum, relevant for development officials courting industrial investment.
Potential inflection point: Statewide prime-age labor force participation rose to 79.5% from 78.4% a year earlier; local participation data lags but a similar shift in Calhoun County would ease often-cited workforce availability concerns for commerce leaders evaluating expansion.
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.
Free to read and cite with attribution to WageScape. Terms of use.