Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Cedar Rapids, IA MSA — September 2026
Cedar Rapids splits: data-center trades boom, logistics sector contracts.
Cedar Rapids unemployment held at 3.7% in July versus 4.2% nationally, but electrician pay jumped to $83,200 even as a 49-worker logistics plant closure and statewide trade-sector job losses point to an uneven recovery.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.7% — vs 4.2% national, down from 4.1% in June
- Electrician advertised pay: $83,200 — Up significantly, vs $71,404 national median
- Iowa trade/transportation job losses: -5,200 jobs — Over past year, statewide (BLS/Iowa Workforce Dev.)
- NFI Interactive Logistics closure: 49 workers — Cedar Rapids facility, closing by Sept. 30, 2026
Key takeaways
Data-center construction is the metro's clearest growth engine right now.
Electrician pay rose significantly to $83,200 and HVAC technician pay to $71,718, both outpacing national figures, tracking directly with reported data-center buildout in Linn County. This concentrated demand is also a likely driver of the area's faster-than-statewide rent increases, a cost pressure local officials should factor into economic development planning.
Logistics and retail pay softness mirrors a statewide sector split, not a local anomaly.
Metro Delivery Driver and CDL Truck Driver pay both declined moderately, consistent with Iowa's trade/transportation sector shedding 5,200 jobs over the year. Combined with the NFI Interactive Logistics closure, this points to continued contraction in the metro's warehousing and freight segment even as construction expands.
Local unemployment beating the national rate masks a labor-supply story, not a demand story.
Cedar Rapids' 3.7% unemployment compares favorably to the national 4.2%, but Iowa's statewide employed population is falling due to retirement outflows rather than job creation. Readers should treat a low jobless rate here as evidence of a tight, aging labor pool rather than confirmation of accelerating local hiring.
Public-sector and healthcare pay movement signals where stability remains.
Registered Nurse pay rose significantly to $104,242 locally, consistent with Iowa's healthcare sector posting the state's strongest annual job gains. Combined with steady education-sector wage movement, this suggests public-facing and healthcare employment remains the metro's most dependable economic anchor amid softer trade and logistics activity.
Median advertised pay by role — Cedar Rapids, IA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $23,733 | $27,984 | $31,408 | Moderate decline | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $25,368 | $29,573 | $30,867 | Stable | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,964 | $37,440 | $40,560 | Stable | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $56,960 | $78,000 | $88,500 | Moderate decline | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,019 | $36,112 | $44,000 | Moderate decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $35,705 | $42,886 | $48,880 | Moderate increase | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $64,731 | $83,200 | $101,920 | Significant increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $32,697 | $37,009 | $39,440 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $31,499 | $36,468 | $39,520 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $26,893 | $31,658 | $32,529 | Stable | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $35,324 | $41,891 | $46,689 | Stable | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $35,360 | $40,635 | $45,760 | Moderate decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $63,500 | $71,718 | $82,347 | Significant increase | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $83,026 | $104,242 | $114,453 | Significant increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $100,000 | $132,586 | $156,000 | Moderate increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer | $91,434 | $127,035 | $127,170 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $57,352 | $71,706 | $79,931 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $71,250 | $89,486 | $95,178 | Stable | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $53,913 | $57,500 | $60,000 | Moderate decline | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist | $46,345 | $73,528 | $82,500 | Significant increase | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager | $77,042 | $96,001 | $98,767 | Significant increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $31,200 | $47,806 | $55,898 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $57,000 | $80,000 | $89,263 | Moderate increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $52,500 | $60,000 | $60,000 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $79,749 | $88,870 | $109,094 | 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 | $56,676 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $71,656 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $35,837 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $64,578 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Information | $119,256 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $73,784 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $54,816 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $62,802 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $30,886 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $65,626 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Cedar Rapids metro unemployment sat at 3.7% in July, well below the national 4.2% rate, even as the labor market absorbs offsetting signals: a data-center construction boom lifting local pay for electricians (up to $83,200) and HVAC technicians ($71,718), against a 49-worker closure at NFI Interactive Logistics and a smaller RTX reduction, both completing by September 30. Statewide, Iowa's labor force is contracting through retirement rather than layoffs — total employed Iowans down 7,500 year over year despite 60,378 open positions — a demographic pattern that appears to be replicating locally as construction and skilled-trades wage growth outpaces flat-to-declining retail and logistics pay.
What it means
Divergence between construction/skilled-trades wage growth and softness in retail, logistics, and administrative pay (Administrative Assistant down, Retail Sales Associate down) suggests the metro's current expansion is concentrated in data-center and infrastructure-adjacent activity rather than broad-based consumer or office-sector growth. For commerce leaders evaluating local investment timing, the combination of sub-4% unemployment, a tightening skilled-trades labor pool, and uneven sector performance points to a metro economy that is resilient but narrowly so — strong in construction and healthcare, soft in trade/transportation. Current conditions suggest monitoring whether data-center-driven trades demand (electrician, HVAC) is pulling workers from adjacent sectors before drawing conclusions about overall labor supply tightness.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: NFI Interactive Logistics' 49-worker closure completes by September 30; watch whether those workers surface in nearby warehouse/fulfillment postings or reflect a broader pullback in metro logistics capacity.
Emerging pressure point: Rents in Cedar Rapids and Linn County are rising faster than the rest of Iowa, linked to data-center construction activity. Commerce leaders should track whether housing-cost pressure begins to affect the area's ability to draw workers for non-construction roles.
Early indicator: The Novalex strike that began September 10 drew formal legislative attention from all 33 Iowa House Democrats; its resolution, and any spillover to other local labor actions, is worth monitoring as a gauge of broader labor relations sentiment in the metro.
Potential inflection point: Iowa's $2.1 billion unemployment insurance trust balance will enable the lowest possible employer tax rates in 2027, a modest but real cost tailwind for metro employers across sectors heading into next year's budget planning.
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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