Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Bremerton-Silverdale, WA MSA — October 2026
Federal anchor shields Bremerton as state labor market contracts.
Bremerton-Silverdale's 4.3% unemployment rate has held steady on the strength of Naval Base Kitsap's 42,700-person federal workforce even as Washington lost 15,400 jobs statewide in September and healthcare pay climbs while white-collar advertised pay — Accountant, Financial Analyst — falls sharply.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.3% — vs 4.1% national, 4.8% Washington state
- Federal employment share: 22.9% — Highest of any Washington county
- Statewide job change, Sept 2026: -15,400 jobs — Unemployment fell anyway on labor-force shrinkage
- Naval Base Kitsap workforce: 42,700 — 24,340 civilian + 18,360 active-duty
Key takeaways
Federal anchor keeps Kitsap steadier than Seattle or the state.
Naval Base Kitsap's combined civilian and active-duty workforce of roughly 42,700 and the county's 22.9% federal employment share — the highest in Washington — explain why Bremerton's 4.3% unemployment rate has avoided the sharper swings tied to Seattle's tech pullback and statewide public-sector job losses of 10,400 in September.
Healthcare pay strength diverges sharply from professional-services softness.
Registered Nurse and CNA advertised pay both climbed this month even as Accountant, Financial Analyst, and Operations Manager job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), showed significant declines, a split that may suggest the metro's healthcare system, led by St. Michael Medical Center, is absorbing demand that white-collar employers are not.
Logistics wages are outrunning the state's broader wage-vs-inflation gap.
Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate pay rose significantly to $45,552 and Warehouse Manager pay rose significantly to $76,250, both well above the statewide 2.7% average weekly wage growth, suggesting goods-movement activity in the metro is a bright spot even as national job ad data shows wages trailing CPI.
Public-sector job losses statewide have not yet reached Kitsap's numbers.
Washington lost roughly 10,400 public-sector jobs in September, yet Kitsap's federal-heavy employment base appears to have been shielded so far — a dynamic worth tracking given Oracle's 359-worker WARN filing in Seattle and the state's overall contraction in labor force alongside steady demand.
Median advertised pay by role — Bremerton-Silverdale, WA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $35,630 | $38,480 | $47,060 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $35,630 | $38,507 | $42,640 | Moderate increase | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $38,376 | $45,552 | $48,360 | Significant increase | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $61,360 | $74,565 | $83,136 | Moderate increase | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $35,471 | $39,520 | $54,080 | Moderate increase | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $41,640 | $46,325 | $47,920 | Stable | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $65,753 | $79,481 | $93,335 | Moderate decline | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $38,396 | $39,742 | $44,720 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $39,655 | $43,532 | $48,755 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $40,172 | $49,188 | $53,664 | Moderate decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $42,026 | $51,240 | $52,853 | Moderate increase | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $38,700 | $51,526 | $53,556 | Moderate decline | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $63,925 | $75,777 | $81,120 | Moderate decline | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $98,772 | $116,680 | $126,657 | Moderate increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $95,800 | $119,099 | $120,706 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $98,893 | $114,112 | $129,166 | Significant decline | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $58,621 | $70,398 | $75,000 | Significant decline | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $76,050 | $86,549 | $98,800 | Significant decline | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $57,834 | $63,440 | $71,361 | Moderate decline | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $45,011 | $62,485 | $74,241 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $83,648 | $101,095 | $112,134 | Significant decline | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $40,560 | $60,058 | $71,899 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $61,941 | $79,423 | $82,330 | Moderate increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $62,400 | $76,250 | $80,000 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $84,378 | $101,512 | $112,400 | Stable | $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 | $62,400 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $88,350 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $42,373 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $52,403 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $43,526 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $54,949 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $84,421 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $81,291 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $37,960 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $75,404 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Bremerton-Silverdale's unemployment rate held at 4.3% in August 2026, running slightly above the national 4.1% but reflecting a labor market anchored by federal employment, which has limited exposure to cyclical private-sector swings. Naval Base Kitsap's 24,340 civilian employees and 18,360 active-duty personnel, combined with Kitsap County's 22.9% share of workers employed by the federal government (highest of any Washington county), continue to insulate the metro from the job losses hitting Seattle's tech sector and statewide manufacturing and agriculture layoffs.
What it means
Metro wage data shows a bifurcated picture: healthcare roles (Registered Nurse up moderate to $116,680, CNA/Home Health Aide up moderate to $51,240) and warehouse/logistics (up significant to $45,552) are advertising higher pay, while white-collar roles tied to professional services — Accountant, Financial Analyst, Operations Manager — show significant declines, a pattern distinct from Seattle's tech-driven posting slowdown. For commerce leaders, this suggests the local business climate favors expansion in healthcare-adjacent and logistics investment ahead of professional-services buildout, while government economists should watch whether federal payroll stability continues to buffer Kitsap from the labor-force contraction showing up in statewide figures. Consider evaluating which sectors of the local economy are actually absorbing the softening in white-collar advertised pay before drawing conclusions about overall metro health.
Looking ahead
Potential inflection point: Washington's unemployment rate has fallen for three straight months, but state economists attribute this to labor-force shrinkage, not hiring strength. Watch whether Kitsap's federal employment base continues to diverge from this statewide contraction or begins tracking it.
Worth watching: Statewide WARN filings have hit 16,776 workers, the highest of any state, concentrated in agriculture, technology, and food/hospitality. None of the largest filings (Gebbers Farms, Oracle, National Frozen Foods) are in Kitsap County, but commerce leaders should monitor whether displaced technology workers migrate toward the Bremerton-Silverdale labor pool.
Emerging pressure point: Metro advertised pay for white-collar roles — Accountant, Financial Analyst, Data Engineer — is declining significantly while national figures for the same roles hold stable, a local-specific softening that merits a closer look at whether it reflects reduced local demand or employers sourcing elsewhere.
Early indicator: Washington's minimum wage rises to $17.73 per hour on January 1, 2027, a 3.5% increase. Retail and food-service employers in the metro, where Retail Cashier and Food Service Worker pay already shows mixed movement, will be the first test of how this increase interacts with local wage-setting.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics / USAFacts — Bremerton-Silverdale MSA unemployment rate was 4.3% in August 2026
- Kitsap Economic Development Alliance — Naval Base Kitsap employs 24,340 civilian and 18,360 active-duty personnel
- Washington State Employment Security Department — 22.9% of Kitsap County's labor force works in federal government, highest in WA
- Washington Employment Security Department — Washington lost 15,400 jobs in September 2026 while unemployment fell to 4.8%
- Washington Department of Labor & Industries — Washington minimum wage rises to $17.73/hour effective January 1, 2027
- Washington OFM / WARN registry — Washington WARN filings cover 16,776 workers, highest of any state
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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