Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Dothan, AL MSA — October 2026
Dothan's labor pool grows while advertised pay cools.
Dothan unemployment rose to 3.5% from 2.9% a year ago alongside Alabama's climb in prime-age participation to 79.5%, even as advertised pay for roles like Registered Nurse and Operations Manager declined locally while national figures held or rose.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Dothan MSA unemployment rate: 3.5% — Up from 2.9% a year ago (Oct 2025)
- Alabama prime-age labor force participation: 79.5% — Up from 78.4% a year earlier
- Dothan nonfarm employment: 63,200 — Stable vs. Oct 2025 level
- National unemployment rate: 4.1% — vs. 3.5% in Dothan metro
Key takeaways
More Dothan-area residents are entering the workforce.
Unemployment ticked up to 3.5% from 2.9% a year ago, but Alabama's parallel statewide pattern — unemployment rising alongside participation gains to 79.5% — indicates labor supply expansion. That combination typically signals a market gaining capacity, a relevant data point for any employer evaluating whether the metro can support a larger workforce.
Metro pay trends are diverging from national wage gains.
Registered Nurse, Administrative Assistant, Operations Manager and Electrician advertised pay all declined locally this month while national figures for the same roles held flat or rose. The gap may suggest Dothan employers face less competitive pressure to raise advertised pay than peer metros, a relevant signal for assessing local cost-of-doing-business advantages.
HVAC and skilled trades pay bucks the softening trend.
HVAC Technician advertised pay rose significantly to $67,234, outperforming most other metro roles even as Electrician and Construction Laborer pay slipped. The divergence is consistent with Alabama's broader skilled-trades strength — the state ranks sixth nationally in trades employment growth since 2019 — pointing to a pocket of real demand within an otherwise cooling trade and construction segment.
Public-sector and healthcare anchors continue to stabilize the base.
Government, Southeast Alabama Medical Center, Flowers Hospital and Houston County Schools remain among the area's largest employers, and statewide government payrolls grew by 4,300 over the year. That stability gives commerce leaders a predictable floor for local consumer spending even as private-sector wage signals soften.
Median advertised pay by role — Dothan, AL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $20,173 | $24,616 | $27,040 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $21,840 | $24,569 | $28,073 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $30,695 | $35,291 | $39,442 | Moderate increase | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,094 | $80,600 | $91,000 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,643 | $32,500 | $33,933 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $27,170 | $30,160 | $32,528 | Moderate decline | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $57,200 | $60,616 | $63,547 | Moderate decline | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $28,483 | $30,104 | $33,065 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $28,598 | $36,763 | $39,780 | Significant increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $26,488 | $30,255 | $31,092 | Moderate decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $28,471 | $34,049 | $36,458 | Moderate decline | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $30,160 | $37,771 | $48,488 | Significant decline | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $54,834 | $67,234 | $70,263 | Significant increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $80,143 | $93,973 | $102,670 | Moderate decline | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer * | $104,079 | $148,031 | $160,000 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $92,210 | $107,500 | $110,822 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $56,313 | $65,900 | $70,870 | Moderate increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst * | $71,592 | $90,151 | $101,623 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $47,500 | $59,090 | $64,707 | Stable | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $43,355 | $56,056 | $69,005 | Moderate decline | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $55,900 | $70,072 | $75,737 | Significant decline | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $25,894 | $56,176 | $61,575 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $58,747 | $80,000 | $85,332 | Stable | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $43,698 | $57,387 | $77,854 | Moderate decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $80,265 | $97,933 | $108,351 | Moderate increase | $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 | $54,553 | Moderate increase | Significant decline |
| Manufacturing | $61,614 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $32,434 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $58,567 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Information | $71,757 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $49,920 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $74,308 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $91,069 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $29,080 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Government | $64,169 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Dothan's unemployment rate held at 3.5% in October, up from 2.9% a year earlier even as nonfarm employment stayed near 63,200 — a pattern consistent with more residents entering the labor force, mirroring the statewide trend where prime-age participation climbed to 79.5%. Houston County's 3.7% rate and the metro's concentration in government, health services, agriculture and trade mean local momentum is tracking a slower, steadier path than the national 4.1% print, with no major WARN filings reported locally this month.
What it means
Rising participation alongside a still-low unemployment rate signals a local labor pool that is deepening, which supports the case for expansion-minded investment decisions by commerce and economic development leaders. Wage data across metro roles skews softer than national figures — Registered Nurse, Administrative Assistant, and Operations Manager pay all moved down locally while national pay rose — suggesting employers here are not yet bidding aggressively for talent, a sign of available capacity. Current conditions suggest economic development leaders highlight this labor-supply cushion when courting employers considering Southeast Alabama for site selection.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether Houston County's unemployment rate, currently 3.7%, converges with or diverges from the metro's 3.5% rate in coming months — a widening gap would point to uneven conditions within the metro worth flagging for site-selection conversations.
Worth watching: National softening in information, professional/business services and financial activities has not yet shown up meaningfully in Dothan's employer base, given limited local concentration in those sectors; a continued national slide would be a useful indicator to monitor, separate from immediate local risk.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide WARN activity included a Dothan-area filing (Flagstone Foods, 98 workers) earlier in 2026; any additional filings in the Alabama WARN tracker over the next 60 days would be the clearest early sign of a shift from labor-supply growth to labor-market stress.
Potential inflection point: Wage-versus-CPI divergence nationally (1.5% earnings growth against 3.5% inflation) has not yet been matched by comparable local wage data; if Alabama's Q3 wage figures confirm a similar gap, consumer spending power in the metro could soften heading into the holiday season.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Dothan MSA unemployment rate at 3.5% in October 2026, up from 2.9% a year earlier
- Alabama Department of Workforce — Houston County unemployment rate at 3.7% in September 2026
- Alabama Department of Labor — Alabama prime-age labor force participation rose to 79.5% from 78.4%
- Alabama Department of Labor / Secretary Greg Reed — Alabama ranked 6th nationally for skilled trades employment growth 2019-2025
- Alabama WARN Notice Tracker — Flagstone Foods Dothan-area layoff of 98 workers in 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National median weekly earnings rose 1.5% vs 3.5% CPI gain in 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.
Free to read and cite with attribution to WageScape. Terms of use.