Labor Market Pulse · Restaurant Industry · September 2026
Restaurant Industry Labor Market Report: Binghamton, NY MSA — September 2026
Binghamton manager pay climbs as national trend reverses.
Metro Restaurant Manager/GM pay rose to $59,736 even as the national median declined, while local unemployment held steady at 4.4%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Binghamton metro unemployment: 4.4% — Steady August 2026; NY state at 4.3%
- Restaurant Manager/GM pay, metro: $59,736 — Up vs. national median down to $59,618
- National food service job openings: 673,000 — Down from 916,000 in Jan 2026
- NY upstate tipped cash wage: $10.70/hr — Plus $5.30 tip credit; forfeited below $3.40/hr tips
Key takeaways
Management pay is rising locally while the national trend reverses.
Binghamton's Restaurant Manager/GM median climbed to $59,736, up against a declining national figure, suggesting local operators are defending against management turnover even as national competition for the role cools. Treat this as a retention signal specific to this metro, not a trend to assume will mirror national benchmarking.
Server pay softening locally cuts against the regional wage-floor story.
Metro Server pay moved down moderately even as New York's upstate minimum cash wage sits at $10.70/hr plus tip credit, implying softer competition for front-of-house labor than the statutory wage floor alone would predict. Falling national job openings data (673,000 in July, down from 916,000) supports reading this as a demand-side easing rather than a local anomaly.
Tip-credit mechanics are the real Q4 labor-cost risk, not posted wages.
Upstate employers lose tip-credit eligibility in any week tipped staff average below $3.40/hr in tips, a real exposure during slower fall and winter service periods. Budgeting off posted wage data alone understates potential effective labor cost swings tied to seasonal demand.
Catering Manager pay decline points to a distinct demand story.
Metro Catering Manager pay fell moderately while the national median held stable, a divergence worth separating from broader FOH/BOH trends tied to banquet and event volume in the Southern Tier rather than general restaurant labor tightness.
Median advertised pay by role — Binghamton, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assistant Restaurant Manager | $35,473 | $39,051 | $40,828 | Stable | $39,000 |
| Catering Manager * | $35,239 | $47,840 | $56,767 | Moderate decline | $50,960 |
| Crew | $28,239 | $33,280 | $34,125 | Stable | $29,839 |
| Line Cook | $34,580 | $37,700 | $40,560 | Stable | $36,826 |
| Restaurant Manager/General Manager | $43,680 | $59,736 | $63,682 | Moderate increase | $59,618 |
| Server | $27,768 | $32,489 | $36,400 | Moderate decline | $35,012 |
| Shift Manager | $30,035 | $35,360 | $36,660 | Stable | $32,731 |
* 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
Binghamton metro unemployment held at 4.4% in August, with the two-county labor force adding 1,500 employed residents even as the region's largest private sector, health care and social assistance, continues to out-hire accommodation and food services locally and nationally. New York's dual-rate minimum wage structure ($17.00 downstate, $16.00 upstate) and tip-credit mechanics now shape restaurant payroll planning year-round, with 2027's shift to CPI-indexed increases removing the predictability operators have relied on for multi-year budgeting.
What it means
National job openings in accommodation and food services fell from 916,000 to 673,000 between January and July, and local Restaurant Manager/GM pay climbing to $59,736 against a declining national median suggests Binghamton operators are retaining or bidding for scarce management talent even as broader hiring pressure eases. Server pay moving down locally while national server pay holds stable is consistent with easing front-of-house turnover pressure, but New York's tip-credit forfeiture rule during low-tip weeks means Q4 seasonal softness could still spike effective labor cost regardless of posted wage trends. Consider reviewing scheduling practices for tipped staff against the 20%/two-hour non-tipped work threshold before holiday staffing ramps begin.
Looking ahead
Expected: 2027's shift to CPI-indexed minimum wage increases removes the fixed-dollar predictability operators have used for annual budgeting. Review 2027 labor cost projections using a range rather than a single point estimate.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide job openings in food services continue tightening nationally; watch whether Binghamton's modest local employment gains (103,800 employed, +1,500) extend into leisure and hospitality specifically, since NYC data shows hospitality as the only sector still down year-over-year statewide.
Worth watching: Health care and social assistance's dominance in local hiring (16% of metro employment) may continue drawing hourly workers away from food service roles, particularly BOH positions competing on similar entry wage bands.
Early indicator: Seasonal staffing pullback nationally was smaller than prior year as students returned to school, suggesting tighter candidate pools during peak demand windows; monitor local fall hiring fill rates as an early signal for winter holiday staffing.
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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