Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Corvalis, OR MSA — September 2026
Corvallis holds its edge, but the cushion is thinning.
Benton County's 4.1% unemployment rate still beats Oregon's 5.1% statewide figure, but it's up from 3.9% a year ago, and local pay for CDL drivers and electricians is falling even as national medians for both roles climb.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Benton County unemployment: 4.1% — vs 5.1% Oregon, up from 3.9% a year ago
- Corvallis MSA unemployment (July): 4.8% — up from 4.0% in June 2026
- National wage growth vs inflation: 3.0% vs 3.4% — first sustained real-wage decline since 2021
- Oregon 12-month payroll change: -16,100 jobs — Oregon ranks 48th nationally for job growth
Key takeaways
Corvallis stays an outlier of stability, not growth.
Benton County's 4.1% unemployment rate sits roughly a full point below Oregon's 5.1% statewide figure, but the rise from 3.9% a year ago suggests the cushion is thinning rather than strengthening. That distinction matters for anyone reading low unemployment as a growth signal rather than a sign of a small, slow-churning labor pool.
Blue-collar trades are pricing down even as national peers rise.
CDL driver and electrician pay in Corvallis fell significantly this month while national medians for both roles climbed, a divergence that may suggest softer local construction and logistics demand relative to the rest of the country. Commerce and development leaders tracking build-out costs for infrastructure or facilities projects should treat this as a local-specific signal, not a national trend.
Healthcare remains the metro's steadiest economic pillar.
Registered nurse pay rose moderately in Corvallis to a $122,436 median, well above the $102,581 national figure, consistent with statewide healthcare job growth of 3.5% over the past year. Public-sector and hospital-system stability continues to anchor the local economy even as other sectors soften.
Administrative and clerical wage declines track a broader white-collar cooling.
Administrative assistant and accountant pay both fell significantly locally this month, echoing the national pattern of financial and administrative sector softness (financial activities down 129,000 jobs from their 2025 peak). For a university- and services-heavy metro like Corvallis, this points to thinner office-sector activity rather than a broad-based downturn.
Median advertised pay by role — Corvalis, OR MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $28,426 | $34,301 | $37,440 | Moderate increase | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $31,032 | $33,189 | $34,320 | Stable | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,119 | $37,440 | $37,960 | Moderate decline | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $63,930 | $76,722 | $87,500 | Significant decline | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $30,447 | $34,374 | $37,543 | Stable | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer * | $37,440 | $43,160 | $46,800 | Stable | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $72,592 | $74,914 | $88,500 | Significant decline | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $31,949 | $45,968 | $48,401 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $34,320 | $41,600 | $46,820 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker * | $31,560 | $37,209 | $40,448 | Stable | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $37,500 | $54,152 | $54,153 | Stable | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $38,345 | $44,096 | $52,000 | Significant decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician * | $65,353 | $75,920 | $81,230 | Moderate decline | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $107,447 | $122,436 | $127,797 | Moderate increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $78,786 | $102,942 | $108,478 | Stable | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $101,502 | $142,002 | $155,413 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $53,040 | $60,333 | $62,174 | Moderate decline | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst * | $77,006 | $95,877 | $105,048 | Moderate increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $61,826 | $75,920 | $83,652 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $53,257 | $69,195 | $79,714 | Moderate increase | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $73,495 | $84,271 | $95,506 | Significant decline | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $38,220 | $61,311 | $72,323 | Stable | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $72,500 | $92,500 | $113,159 | Stable | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $62,370 | $79,475 | $109,959 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $82,917 | $94,848 | $104,114 | Moderate decline | $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 | $67,600 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $93,261 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,372 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $65,565 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $118,600 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $50,991 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $76,092 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $90,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $33,306 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $74,377 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Corvallis-area unemployment held at 4.1% in Benton County for August, well under Oregon's 5.1% statewide rate, even as the county's jobless rate has drifted up from 3.9% a year earlier and the broader MSA touched 4.8% in July before easing. Underlying momentum is mixed: Oregon State University and health care anchor local payrolls while statewide manufacturing and professional-services contraction, a slowing national hiring pace (29,000 jobs added nationally in September, well below the 45,000 monthly average), and wage growth that has fallen behind inflation are pulling against the metro's historically tight labor conditions.
What it means
Corvallis's unemployment advantage over Oregon and the nation signals a comparatively stable local consumer and tax base, but the widening gap between advertised pay growth and the 3.4% national inflation rate points to softening real purchasing power even where jobs are plentiful. Commerce leaders weighing expansion or investment timing should read the county's sub-5% unemployment as a sign of continued economic resilience, not acceleration — local payroll growth is not confirmed until county-level data post October 20, so near-term capital and staffing decisions should weight the metro's historical stability over any assumption of fresh momentum. Consider reviewing locally advertised pay trends across sectors before assuming national wage softness has reached Corvallis uniformly.
Looking ahead
Expected release: September county and metro unemployment data publish October 20 — the first real read on whether Benton County's 4.1% rate held or continued drifting toward the state average. Local economic development messaging should wait for this confirmation before citing a 'tight' labor market.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide manufacturing has shed 14,600 jobs over two years and professional/business services lost 1,100 jobs in August alone; watch whether either trend shows up in Benton County's sector mix given the county's reliance on OSU and adjacent small-scale manufacturing and R&D employers.
Worth watching: National wage growth has slipped to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation — the first sustained real-wage decline in two years. If advertised pay in Corvallis's trade and service occupations continues softening locally while inflation stays elevated, local consumer spending capacity could tighten faster than the unemployment rate implies.
Policy signal: Oregon's minimum wage tiers rose July 1 (Corvallis falls under the $15.55 standard rate), and WARN filings statewide have fallen to a six-month average of 261 workers. Track whether either shift shows up in local retail and hospitality pay data over the next two reporting cycles.
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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