Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · September 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Cleveland, TN MSA — September 2026
Cleveland's HR pay splits: coordinators rise, business partners fall behind.
HR Business Partner advertised pay in Cleveland dropped to $61,225 even as the national median climbed to $83,766, while HR Coordinator pay locally rose to $53,820 against Bradley County's 3.3% unemployment rate.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Bradley County unemployment: 3.3% — vs 4.1% national, 3.4% Tennessee
- HR Business Partner pay, metro vs national: $61,225 vs $83,766 — Metro down significant, national up significant
- Tennessee job growth projection, 2026: 0.9% — 31,400 jobs, below historical average
- Statewide WARN-affected workers, 2026 YTD: 5,982 — Manufacturing and logistics most cited
Key takeaways
HR Business Partner pay is falling locally while surging nationally.
Metro median advertised pay for HR Business Partner dropped to $61,225 against a national median of $83,766, a gap wide enough to signal either role scope compression locally or a national bidding war Cleveland employers aren't yet part of. Organizations recruiting senior HR talent from outside the metro should expect resistance at local pay levels.
Non-compete repeal reshapes retention math for industrial wage workers.
HB 1034 voids non-competes for anyone earning under $70,000 in total compensation, directly affecting warehouse, logistics, and manufacturing staff at employers like Duracell and Whirlpool. Retention now depends more on advertised pay competitiveness and shift incentives than contractual restriction.
Coordinator and payroll roles are pulling ahead of strategic HR titles.
HR Coordinator advertised pay rose to $53,820 locally, now within striking distance of HR Business Partner's $61,225, while Payroll Specialist climbed to $56,160. Compression at these levels may signal employers prioritizing operational HR execution over strategic headcount amid slower statewide job growth.
Bradley County's sub-4% unemployment masks a scarcity, not a boom.
3.3% unemployment looks tight, but it sits against 0.9% projected state job growth and flattening healthcare/education hiring — this is a supply-constrained market, not an expanding one. Sourcing timelines should assume scarcity of qualified candidates rather than abundant churn-driven supply.
Median advertised pay by role — Cleveland, TN MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst * | $67,600 | $91,500 | $103,510 | Significant increase | $101,727 |
| HR Business Partner | $54,918 | $61,225 | $80,000 | Significant decline | $83,766 |
| Benefits Manager * | $87,391 | $114,729 | $118,412 | Significant increase | $117,888 |
| HRIS Analyst * | $76,921 | $84,846 | $96,308 | Moderate increase | $97,555 |
| HR Coordinator | $53,430 | $53,820 | $54,080 | Significant increase | $50,000 |
| Recruiter | $44,640 | $44,640 | $54,375 | Stable | $68,167 |
| Payroll Specialist * | $47,293 | $56,160 | $60,477 | Moderate increase | $59,855 |
* 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
Bradley County's unemployment rate held at 3.3% in May 2026, tighter than both the national 4.1% and Tennessee's 3.4% rate, as logistics and industrial employers like Mars, Duracell, and Amazon continue active hiring into the fall shift cycle. Statewide employment growth has slowed to 0.9% projected for 2026 and healthcare/education hiring has flattened to 0.2% annual growth, meaning Cleveland's labor supply tightness now reflects scarcity more than demand surge.
What it means
Metro-level HR Business Partner advertised pay fell sharply to a $61,225 median even as the national figure climbed to $83,766, a divergence that suggests Cleveland employers are either under-leveling senior comp roles or facing softer demand for strategic HR capacity relative to coordinator and payroll functions, both of which posted gains. Tennessee's new non-compete ban for workers under $70,000 annualized, effective July 1, removes a retention lever for a large share of Bradley County's hourly and lower-salary workforce right as industrial employers compete for forklift operators, material handlers, and warehouse staff. Consider reviewing retention design for sub-$70K roles now that non-competes are void, shifting toward schedule flexibility, shift differentials, and internal mobility paths.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Recruiter advertised pay in Cleveland remains flat at $44,640 against a national median of $68,167 — one of the widest local-to-national gaps in the dataset. Watch whether this spread narrows as logistics and industrial hiring intensifies through Q4.
Emerging pressure point: Non-compete enforcement for sub-$70K workers ended July 1, removing a tool many Bradley County manufacturers relied on for hourly retention. Expect increased lateral movement among warehouse and production staff as competitors advertise shift premiums.
Potential inflection point: Statewide WARN filings have reached 5,982 affected workers this year, with manufacturing and transportation/logistics the most-cited sectors. Monitor whether any regional filings touch Bradley County's industrial base given its concentration of logistics employers.
Early indicator: National information-sector layoffs continue averaging 8,000 monthly job losses, a trend unlikely to directly hit Cleveland's economy but worth tracking for remote-eligible talent entering the regional candidate pool at lower wage expectations.
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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