Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Brunswick, GA MSA — October 2026
Brunswick wages outpace the nation while white-collar pay softens.
Average weekly wages in the Brunswick MSA rose roughly 4.7% year-over-year to $895.49, even as advertised pay for Accountants and Financial Analysts fell significantly and the metro's 2.8% jobless rate stayed near a full point below the 4.1% national figure.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Brunswick MSA unemployment rate: 2.8% — vs 4.1% national, 3.3% Georgia (Aug/Sep 2026)
- Avg weekly wage, Brunswick MSA: $895.49 — up from $855.60 a year earlier (Aug 2025)
- Georgia labor force: 5.5 million — 9th straight monthly record, Sept 2026
- Georgia initial jobless claims: 15,874 — 50-year low, last seen April 1974
Key takeaways
Brunswick wage growth is outrunning the national pace.
Average weekly wages rose about 4.7% year-over-year in the Brunswick MSA, well above the national 4.1% average hourly earnings gain and ahead of the real-wage erosion reported nationally. This is consistent with a metro economy where frontline labor supply is scarce enough to push pay up faster than inflation, a distinct condition from the national wage-vs-CPI squeeze.
Skilled trades show the metro's sharpest upward pay signal.
HVAC Technician advertised pay rose significantly (to $64,571) and CDL Truck Driver pay rose moderately (to $83,200, now above the national median), pointing to tight local supply in trades tied to construction, logistics and coastal infrastructure. This pattern tracks the statewide gains in manufacturing and transportation sectors noted in Georgia's WARN and job-gain data.
Professional-services pay softness cuts against the low jobless rate.
Accountant, Financial Analyst, Business Analyst and Account Manager advertised pay all declined significantly locally even as unemployment sits near 2.8%. This divergence may suggest Brunswick's office-based professional labor pool has more slack than the headline unemployment figure would indicate, a distinction relevant to any economic-development pitch built on overall tightness.
Manufacturing pay softness bears watching against a thin layoff count.
Manufacturing Production Worker pay fell significantly locally even as Georgia's job gains data shows non-durable goods manufacturing adding positions statewide and Brunswick's food manufacturing sector remains active. No WARN filings have been identified for the Brunswick MSA this period, so the pay dip looks like a compositional or demand-mix shift.
Median advertised pay by role — Brunswick, GA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $22,784 | $29,462 | $34,481 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $23,400 | $26,224 | $30,030 | Moderate decline | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $33,853 | $39,520 | $41,600 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $64,176 | $83,200 | $94,200 | Moderate increase | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,159 | $33,330 | $42,577 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $31,298 | $37,440 | $41,350 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $43,680 | $58,240 | $67,184 | Moderate decline | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $36,134 | $37,648 | $42,640 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $31,522 | $34,163 | $35,880 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker * | $26,632 | $30,750 | $34,386 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $29,120 | $32,801 | $34,037 | Moderate decline | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $32,056 | $38,781 | $42,000 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $60,424 | $64,571 | $72,800 | Significant increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $80,309 | $90,377 | $96,330 | Stable | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer * | $113,585 | $150,217 | $163,776 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,106 | $134,539 | $151,343 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $53,851 | $62,103 | $70,190 | Significant decline | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $47,500 | $61,701 | $66,421 | Significant decline | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $54,363 | $66,731 | $79,110 | Moderate increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $45,966 | $58,500 | $70,334 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $67,500 | $84,405 | $92,220 | Significant increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $29,189 | $51,376 | $55,553 | Stable | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $61,664 | $76,000 | $85,000 | Significant decline | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $57,500 | $82,500 | $95,500 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $67,600 | $75,838 | $76,560 | Significant decline | $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 | $79,257 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $62,901 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,691 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $47,635 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $54,390 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $57,991 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Professional & Business Services | $41,600 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $39,520 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $31,200 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $65,778 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Glynn County's unemployment rate held near 2.7-2.8% through August, a full percentage point below the national rate, while average weekly wages in the Brunswick MSA rose to $895.49 from $855.60 a year earlier — a gain of roughly 4.7%, outpacing the national wage-vs-CPI gap seen in most comparable metros. Local momentum appears concentrated in healthcare and food manufacturing, consistent with Georgia's statewide pattern of local-government and professional-services job gains, even as several white-collar advertised-pay categories in the metro show notable softening.
What it means
Divergence between a tight headline unemployment rate and declining advertised pay in professional roles — Accountant, Financial Analyst, Business Analyst all down significantly — suggests the metro's labor tightness is concentrated in frontline and operational occupations. Commerce leaders evaluating expansion or relocation decisions should weigh this unevenness: a 2.8% unemployment rate signals limited slack for frontline and skilled-trade roles, while office-based professional categories show more available capacity than the headline rate implies. Current conditions suggest reviewing sector-specific advertised pay trends before drawing conclusions about overall business-climate tightness from the unemployment rate alone.
Looking ahead
Data gap to resolve: October BLS metro-level unemployment figures for Brunswick had not posted as of this writing; watch for the Georgia Department of Labor's release to confirm whether the 2.7-2.8% rate held or moved alongside September's statewide uptick to 3.3%.
Early indicator: Track whether CDL Truck Driver and HVAC Technician advertised pay continues climbing locally — both are now priced above or near national medians, a signal that logistics and trades capacity, alongside healthcare, may be the metro's binding constraint on commercial and residential project timelines.
Worth watching: Professional-services pay softness (accounting, finance, business analysis) warrants a second look next month to determine whether it reflects fewer job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), at the high end of those roles or a broader shift in the mix of professional work advertised in the metro.
Policy-relevant signal: Georgia's labor force hit a ninth straight monthly record in September even as national labor-force growth faces structural headwinds from slower immigration and retirements; whether Brunswick's smaller labor market mirrors that statewide participation gain will matter for any capacity planning tied to coastal tourism and port-adjacent industries.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics / Georgia Department of Labor — Brunswick MSA unemployment rate 2.8% in August 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW — Average weekly wages in Brunswick MSA rose to $895.49
- Georgia Department of Labor — Georgia labor force and employment hit 9th consecutive monthly record
- Georgia Department of Labor — Georgia initial jobless claims fell to 15,874, lowest since April 1974
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National unemployment rate held at 4.1% in October 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Median weekly earnings rose 1.5% vs 3.5% CPI gain, Q3 2026
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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