Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · October 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Colorado Springs, CO MSA — October 2026
Colorado Springs jobs stall as pay gap with Denver persists.
Colorado Springs added just 200 jobs in September against a 4.5% unemployment rate, while county wages run 15.8% below the Colorado average — a structural gap shaping both recruiting and retention decisions.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.5% — vs 4.1% Colorado, 4.1% U.S. (Sept 2026)
- Net job growth, September: +200 jobs — Total nonfarm employment 331,600
- County wage gap vs. state: -15.8% — El Paso County vs. Colorado average wage
- Q1 job posting growth: +16% — Led all Colorado metros; job ads signal hiring demand and often cover several openings each
Key takeaways
Job growth has stalled even as postings climb.
Nonfarm employment rose by only 200 positions in September against 331,600 total jobs, while Q1 job ads — a signal of hiring demand, with each ad often covering several openings — grew 16%, the fastest in Colorado. That gap suggests employers are advertising ahead of actual headcount additions, pointing to longer fill times.
The metro's wage discount is a retention liability as well as a recruiting one.
El Paso County wages trail the state average by 15.8% and the national average by 9.9%, a structural gap unlikely to close through a single cycle of merit increases. Organizations retaining talent against Denver or remote-market offers should treat this discount as a standing input to compensation strategy, revisited on an ongoing basis.
Benefits Manager pay signals a local shift in HR function value.
Metro median advertised pay for Benefits Manager roles sits at $121,093, up moderately and outpacing several other HR functions tracked locally. Rising demand for this role locally mirrors national patterns tied to benefit cost management, suggesting employers are investing in plan-design expertise ahead of anticipated cost increases.
Tech sector momentum offers a hiring lever most metro employers aren't using.
Colorado Springs posted 12% tech worker growth over five years and is recognized as an emerging tech hub, yet overall employment growth remains flat. Employers outside tech may be able to draw on this talent pipeline for adjacent roles — IT-adjacent HRIS and systems work, for example — before competition for that pool intensifies.
Median advertised pay by role — Colorado Springs, CO MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst * | $71,000 | $100,000 | $111,451 | Stable | $100,798 |
| HR Business Partner | $65,000 | $84,173 | $94,099 | Moderate increase | $83,900 |
| Benefits Manager * | $82,574 | $121,093 | $127,135 | Moderate increase | $118,618 |
| HRIS Analyst * | $82,365 | $97,578 | $105,000 | Stable | $95,000 |
| HR Coordinator | $39,099 | $46,178 | $49,504 | Moderate increase | $50,460 |
| Recruiter | $57,030 | $70,000 | $88,200 | Stable | $67,234 |
| Payroll Specialist | $54,080 | $62,315 | $64,740 | Moderate increase | $61,103 |
* 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
Colorado Springs MSA unemployment held at 4.5% in September against a nearly flat jobs count — 200 net payroll additions in a metro of 331,600 nonfarm jobs — consistent with an economy adding positions at a rate too slow to move the unemployment rate. Structural wage pressure persists alongside this stagnation: El Paso County wages sit roughly 15.8% below the Colorado average and 9.9% below the national average, a gap that employers must overcome even as statewide labor force participation falls to its lowest level in decades.
What it means
Flat local job growth paired with a below-average wage floor creates a recruiting disadvantage for Colorado Springs employers competing against Denver-metro and national pay levels, particularly for tech and professional roles the metro is actively trying to attract. Retention economics favor internal investment given the metro's 16% Q1 growth in job ads — a signal of hiring demand, where one ad often covers several openings — outpacing actual headcount gains; this mismatch typically reflects longer time-to-fill. Consider reviewing total rewards packages for roles exposed to Denver or remote-market competition, where the metro's wage discount is most likely to cost organizations candidates.
Looking ahead
Expected: BLS releases October unemployment data for Colorado on November 20; watch whether the metro's 4.5% rate moves toward or away from the state's rising 4.1% figure, which will clarify whether Colorado Springs is diverging from or tracking statewide softening.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide labor force participation has fallen to its lowest level since 1979, driven by aging demographics and declining migration. Colorado Springs employers should monitor whether local applicant pools thin further, particularly for roles historically filled by mid-career workers exiting the labor force.
Worth watching: Job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), grew 16% in Q1 even as actual headcount barely moved — watch whether that gap closes in Q4 data or widens, which would indicate deepening difficulty converting postings into filled roles.
Potential inflection point: Colorado's federal workforce development grant reimburses up to 80% of training costs for new and current employees. Metro employers facing the local wage discount may find this an underused lever to fund internal mobility and upskilling alongside advertised pay.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Colorado Springs MSA unemployment rate at 4.5% and nonfarm employment of 331.6K in September
- Colorado Springs Gazette / regional labor market research — El Paso County wages 15.8% below Colorado average, 9.9% below national average
- Colorado Chamber Foundation — Colorado Springs led state in Q1 2026 quarterly job posting growth at 16%
- Regional economic development research — Colorado Springs tech worker growth of 12% over five years
- Colorado Department of Labor and Employment — Colorado labor force participation fell to lowest level since 1979
- Colorado Department of Labor and Employment — CDLE federal grant reimburses employers up to 80% for training costs
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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